Recently there have been a number of subjects, which I have read about or that have happened to me personally, which have caused me to again roll my eyes in disgust and ask this question. It seems to happen so often, over and over again -monarchists being their own worst enemy. I have seen it time and time again, monarchists turning against each other rather than saving their vitriol for the revolutionary foe. Why is it that so many self-proclaimed monarchists seem to prefer handing yet another victory to republicans rather than see some other sort of monarchy besides their own preference prevail? Why are there so many who seem all to eager to make enemies of other monarchists when they are so relatively few of us left these days?
Very recently yours truly was called out by a very unpleasant British royalist for not being sufficiently “British”. This struck me as rather odd considering that I am not even British myself so I don’t know why I would be expected to be, but also because I’m more often accused of being too stuck on the British monarchy rather than others. This individual admitted that he was more royalist than monarchist, a difference he described as being more committed to supporting the British monarchy than monarchy in general. That is all well and good but it hardly seemed like a good reason for someone to wish to make an enemy of one of the extraordinarily few Tory loyalists on this side of the Atlantic.
This is also a very short-sighted mentality that has brought down a number of monarchies. Bucking the trend is a hard thing to do and today the trend is toward republics. It could be argued that nothing has been more harmful to the old monarchial order of the world than the policies adopted by a number of monarchies who were willing to sacrifice all and make deals with whatever devil was at hand in order to save themselves. The most idiotic part of this is that it invariably leads to their own downfall as well. You can see it with France recognizing the United States of America, Imperial Germany setting Vladimir Lenin at liberty in Russia and the policies of Winston Churchill that effectively put the fate of the British Empire in the hands of two Democrat Presidents of the United States.
There are also those people who call themselves monarchists but seem to have very scant support for any of the monarchs still managing to hang on to their thrones. I could literally name off every single monarch in Europe and these people would find something wrong with them to cause them to withhold their support. True enough there are policies virtually all of them have gone along with that I detest and many have done things in their private lives that I very much disapprove of, but that does not change their status. There are also those who oppose any monarchy born out of a separation from another monarchy like Mexico, Brazil or Belgium only the last of which is still a monarchy. Yet, I have come across those who sniff indifferently at the idea of the breakup of Belgium because it is not a “legitimate” country anyway instead of appreciating having one more monarchy in Europe still carrying on and leave it at that.
If Belgium were ever to divide it would certainly not divide into two monarchies. When either of the Mexican Emperors were overthrown did it bring back the rule of the King of Spain? Of course not, anymore than the loss of Emperor Pedro II brought back the rule of the King of Portugal over Brazil. In the same vein some have withheld their support from the Italian monarchy because of the complicity of the House of Savoy in the destruction of the other Italian monarchies during the wars for unification. I can understand that, I mourn the loss of those states as well, but getting rid of the Kingdom of Italy did not bring them back did it?
Then of course there are those who oppose a number of modern monarchs for being of the wrong dynasty. I have heard this argument put forward in regards to (I am not kidding) Great Britain, Spain, Holland and Belgium and Sweden. Obviously, that doesn’t leave very many untouched! Each case is different on that issue but do any of these people actually think that if the British people reject Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Charles they will really embrace the Duke of Bavaria? Does anyone really think that if King Juan Carlos of Spain is deposed he will be replaced by a Carlist absolute monarch? Do any of these people have any idea how near impossible it is to restore a monarchy once it has been lost? I ask because I don’t have the answer…I am at a loss…and I am, The Mad Monarchist.
Very recently yours truly was called out by a very unpleasant British royalist for not being sufficiently “British”. This struck me as rather odd considering that I am not even British myself so I don’t know why I would be expected to be, but also because I’m more often accused of being too stuck on the British monarchy rather than others. This individual admitted that he was more royalist than monarchist, a difference he described as being more committed to supporting the British monarchy than monarchy in general. That is all well and good but it hardly seemed like a good reason for someone to wish to make an enemy of one of the extraordinarily few Tory loyalists on this side of the Atlantic.
This is also a very short-sighted mentality that has brought down a number of monarchies. Bucking the trend is a hard thing to do and today the trend is toward republics. It could be argued that nothing has been more harmful to the old monarchial order of the world than the policies adopted by a number of monarchies who were willing to sacrifice all and make deals with whatever devil was at hand in order to save themselves. The most idiotic part of this is that it invariably leads to their own downfall as well. You can see it with France recognizing the United States of America, Imperial Germany setting Vladimir Lenin at liberty in Russia and the policies of Winston Churchill that effectively put the fate of the British Empire in the hands of two Democrat Presidents of the United States.
There are also those people who call themselves monarchists but seem to have very scant support for any of the monarchs still managing to hang on to their thrones. I could literally name off every single monarch in Europe and these people would find something wrong with them to cause them to withhold their support. True enough there are policies virtually all of them have gone along with that I detest and many have done things in their private lives that I very much disapprove of, but that does not change their status. There are also those who oppose any monarchy born out of a separation from another monarchy like Mexico, Brazil or Belgium only the last of which is still a monarchy. Yet, I have come across those who sniff indifferently at the idea of the breakup of Belgium because it is not a “legitimate” country anyway instead of appreciating having one more monarchy in Europe still carrying on and leave it at that.
If Belgium were ever to divide it would certainly not divide into two monarchies. When either of the Mexican Emperors were overthrown did it bring back the rule of the King of Spain? Of course not, anymore than the loss of Emperor Pedro II brought back the rule of the King of Portugal over Brazil. In the same vein some have withheld their support from the Italian monarchy because of the complicity of the House of Savoy in the destruction of the other Italian monarchies during the wars for unification. I can understand that, I mourn the loss of those states as well, but getting rid of the Kingdom of Italy did not bring them back did it?
Then of course there are those who oppose a number of modern monarchs for being of the wrong dynasty. I have heard this argument put forward in regards to (I am not kidding) Great Britain, Spain, Holland and Belgium and Sweden. Obviously, that doesn’t leave very many untouched! Each case is different on that issue but do any of these people actually think that if the British people reject Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Charles they will really embrace the Duke of Bavaria? Does anyone really think that if King Juan Carlos of Spain is deposed he will be replaced by a Carlist absolute monarch? Do any of these people have any idea how near impossible it is to restore a monarchy once it has been lost? I ask because I don’t have the answer…I am at a loss…and I am, The Mad Monarchist.
The problems you highlight are generally shared by republicans - executive or ceremonial presidencies, direct or parliamentary election, etc. It's an easy wedge when defending.
ReplyDeleteWhen attempting restorations however, there certainly are plenty of problems with these legitimist splits. Don't mind those who still support the House of Stuart. The House has long renounced its claim to the British throne. This Catholic doesn't mind bending his knee to the Matriarch of the House of Windsor, not to mention it doesn't matter since the Crown is quite secure.
Unfortunately, with the restoration attempts (especially in France and Russia), there are a lot of legitimist splits (as you have said). Really, one has to accept that no restoration will return us to the pre-1789 situation. Not immediately. These things will take time. But people have often invested so much time in researching the situation and developing a preference towards one or another House that they can't let that go.
Just as a little bit on Italy, here's a link that might interest you (http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/12/08/visualizza_new.html_1644338547.html).
As for the little swipe at you for not being "British" enough, its probably just a bit of British snobbery. They think they're the best in world, after all (they're not. We Aussies are :p).
Still, Rule Britannia!
Probably because they are the ideological sort but it does seem the republican swine have a better record of sticking together even when they dislike each other. The US and Mexico were not good friends but they still supported Juarez against Emperor Maximilian, Soviet Russia and Red China hated each other but the Soviets still covered China with their nukes until they got their own.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link on Italy, that is interesting and I do have a soft spot for the old Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies. They are still very much in the minority but I admire how many down there are still faithful to the House of Bourbon. Though, in context of the above rant, I would point out that loyal as they were to the Bourbons during the time of the referenedum most still had enough sense to vote for Umberto II over the republic. Too bad the results were announced before all their votes had even been counted (!).
I was annoyed by the complaint of not giving the British enough 'face time' (this was on YouTube) in one video clip considering I've done 25 vids solely on the British & Commonwealth monarchy -considerably more than any other country. And one of my ancestors lost the family fortune fighting for the King in the English Civil War. So, seemed like an odd thing for this guy to get his nickers in a wad over instead of just being grateful not quite everyone around here is a British royal-hating republican zombie.
Republicans are united by oen thing and en hting only- Hatred. I'll be back later to respnd in full, this article has me thinking I need to collect my thoghts before I think I can post. Do I think too much?
ReplyDeleteThis one is a very lucid, admirable text, MM.
ReplyDeleteBut, as LAW Wells mentioned, there are very legitimist splits.
Lets look at the portuguese monarchy case:
The actual heir to the throne to the portuguese throne, or at least, the one who is favoured by the greater part of the country, is of the Legitimist bloodline, he descends from an overthrown king, accused of absolutism, D. Miguel I.
However, there is one family that claims they descend upon one of the constitutionalis kings, wich came before the exiled king, Dom Miguel I.
This leaves us in a very dire situation...
Yes and in the interim I had another comment from someone who claimed to despise republicanism and yet would prefer a Republic of Britain to a British monarchy under the Windsors. If you let these things get out of control *nothing* will ever be accomplished. Just limited to those monarchies still around, the only ones I can say I have never heard thier "legitimacy" questioned are Denmark, Luxembourg, Monaco and Liechtenstein -that's it. Very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone claims to be a monarchist and yet supports virtually none of the monarchies that actually exist in the world, that really makes said person a "theoretical monarchist" which doesn't move us down the road at all.
Since the comment was on Youtube, I wouldn't worry. You've always got silly twits trolling there. Best policy is just to ignore them.
ReplyDeleteI'd think it would be a safe bet to say that legitimist splits occur if the throne of a country has changed hands in the last 350 or so years (so that takes in the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and Dutch thrones, as well as the unified nations of Germany and Italy). There are also splits in the Romanovs based on marriages being non-morganatic.
Understand though, that those who would, as that "monarchist" does, replace an incumbent Royal House with another one, are very much in the minority. With the internet, they gain a voice. But there is no real desire to change out incumbent royal families (when legitimist splits are observed) amongst the majority of monarchists. Best you can do is just face palm and ignore it (never argue with an idiot - they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experiance :p).
lol that's a good one, I'll have to try to remember that!
ReplyDeleteMonarchists are indeed divided. But I think LAWW Wells agrees with my perspective on it. I don’t think the Divides are as great as all that, just greater looking off the old Internet.
ReplyDeleteBut it does highlight a problem. W have no advocacy groups, no Governmental Lobbyists, and no one in Academia outside of a few like Hoppe who really makes headway for us.
As it is nowadays, our greatest problem is a lack of any sort of cohesive Strategy to re-establish the Legitimacy of our claims in the minds of the masses, and by so winning back the day.
Most Monarchists just Grumble, and I think that perhaps we need to be more united in a common cause of re-establishment of the Natural rder. In order to accomplish this, I think we need to really focus on the end goal. Any Monarchy existent today should be supported, people should be re-educate don their value, they should be given real power, and people should be taught to respect that. (Well, Politicians should.)
As with the Churches, who bemoan Modern Secularism, the greatest problem is our lack of Dedication and Discipline.
But that’s just my take, and I don’t mean individuals.
Excellent post; I fully agree and share your frustrations.
ReplyDelete