Carroll Quigley (; November 9,
1910 – January 3, 1977) was an American historian and theorist of the evolution of
civilizations. He is remembered for his teaching work as a professor at Georgetown
University, and his seminal works, The Evolution of Civilizations: An
Introduction to Historical Analysis, and Tragedy And Hope; A History Of
The World In Our Time, in which he states that an Anglo-American banking
elite have worked together for centuries to spread certain values globally.[1]
Life and career
Born in Boston, Quigley attended Harvard University,
where he studied history and earned B.A, M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. He taught at
Princeton
University, and then at Harvard, and then from 1941 to 1976 at the School
of Foreign Service at Georgetown
University.[2]
From 1941 until 1972, he taught a two-semester course at Georgetown on the
development of civilizations. According to his obituary in The Washington
Star, many alumni of Georgetown's School
of Foreign Service asserted that this was "the most influential course in
their undergraduate careers".[2]
In addition to his academic work, Quigley served as a consultant to the U.S.
Department of Defense, the United States Navy,
the Smithsonian
Institution, and the House
Select
Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration in the 1950s.[2] He was
also a book reviewer for The Washington
Star, and a contributor and editorial board member of Current
History.[1]: 94
Quigley retired from Georgetown in June 1976 after being honored by the
student body with its Faculty Award for the fourth consecutive year.[3][2] He died
the following year at Georgetown
University Hospital following a heart attack.[3]
Major conclusions
Inclusive diversity
Quigley's work emphasized "inclusive diversity" as a core value of Western
civilization,[4]
contrasting it with the dualism of
Plato.[5] He
concluded the book Tragedy and Hope
with the hope that the West could "resume its development along its old patterns
of Inclusive Diversity".[6] From his
study of history, "it is clear that the West believes in diversity rather than
in uniformity, in pluralism rather than in monism or dualism, in inclusion
rather than exclusion, in liberty rather than in authority, in truth rather than
in power, in conversion rather than in annihilation, in the individual rather
than in the organization, in reconciliation rather than in triumph, in
heterogeneity rather than in homogeneity, in relativisms rather than in
absolutes, and in approximations rather than in final answers."[7]
Quigley asserts that any intolerance or rigidity in the religious practices
of the West are aberrations from its nature of inclusivity and diversity.
Quigley points to the tolerance and flexibility in Aquinas's belief that
theological truth is revealed over time through dialogue within the Christian
community, which allows the community to adapt to a changing world.[8][9]
Institutionalization
and the fall of civilizations
Having studied the rise and fall of civilizations, "Quigley found the
explanation of disintegration in the gradual transformation of social
'instruments' into 'institutions,' that is, transformation of social
arrangements functioning to meet real social needs into social institutions
serving their own purposes regardless of real social needs".[10]
Weapons and democracy
From a historical study of weapons and political dynamics, Quigley concludes
that the characteristics of weapons are the main predictor of democracy.[11][12]
Democracy tends to emerge only when the best weapons available are easy for
individuals to buy and use.[13] This
explains why democracy occurs so rarely in human history.[14]
In the 1800s (peaking in the 1880s), guns were the best weapon available. In
America, almost everyone could afford to buy a gun, and could learn how to use
it fairly easily. Governments couldn't do any better: it became the age of mass
armies of citizen soldiers with guns.[13]
(Similarly, Periclean Greece was an age of the citizen soldier and of
democracy[14]).
In the 1900s, expensive, specialist weapons (such as tanks and bombers)
became available, and citizen soldiers became dominated by specialist
soldiers.[15] Quigley
notes that the slaughter of World War I (1914-1918) was
due to the mismatch between the traditional armies (citizen soldiers) and the
available weapons (machine guns used defensively).[16]
Style
Quigley's writing style is dense, influenced by a former history professor of
his:
"As we raced along, Goethe was covered in fifteen minutes, Schiller in ten,
Fichte in five...he covered any topic simply by slicing it up into a small
number of parts and giving a name to each part. The complex character and
achievement of Goethe, for example, were divided into six portions, each was
given a title, and, ever after, the whole of Goethe could be evoked merely by
reciting six words...I should like to outdare even my former professor by
dividing this greater complexity [Classical culture] into only five
parts."[17]
Quigley's analytical style is scientific, stemming from his earlier training
in physics.[18][19]
In this book we are concerned with the social sciences...and particularly
with the effort to apply a scientific method of observation, formulation of
hypotheses, and testing to such phenomena. The enormous size of this field has
made it advisable to curtail our attention to the process of social change,
especially in civilizations.[20]
Influence on Bill Clinton
In his first year (1965) in the School
of Foreign Service at Georgetown, Bill Clinton took
Quigley's course, receiving a 'B' as his final grade in both semesters (an
excellent grade in a course where nearly half the students received D or
lower).[1]: 94, 96 In 1991, Clinton named
Quigley as an important influence on his aspirations and political philosophy,
when Clinton launched his presidential campaign in a speech at Georgetown.[1]: 96 He
said he learned from Quigley that “The future can be better than the past, and
that each of us has a personal, moral responsibility to make it so.” Bill
Clinton told his audiences, “that is what the new choice is all about....We are
not here to save the Democratic party. We are here to save the United States of
America.” It was Clinton's most effective speech, and he repeated variations
time and time again as the blueprint for his campaign message in winning the
Democratic nomination and the general election for President of the United
States in 1992.[21][22]
The same remark on American greatness was recalled by Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi, who met her husband in Quigley's class on African history.[23]
Quigley and the Round Table
group
One distinctive feature of Quigley's historical writings is his
assertion that the Round Table
movement played a significant role in recent world history. His writing on
this topic has made Quigley famous among many who investigate conspiracy
theories.[1]: 96, 98
Quigley and the Milner Group
In the "Anglo American Establishment he focuses on the Round Table group
founded in 1891 by Cecil Rhodes and Alfred
Milner. Quigley argues that "The organization was so modified and so
expanded by Milner after the eclipse of Stead in 1899, and especially after the
death of Rhodes in 1902, that it took on quite a different organization and
character, although it continued to pursue the same goals."[24] Quigley
greatly admired the British Empire and lamented that the secret society was not
very successful. Historian Robert Rotberg states:
- "But Quigley was not opposed to what Rhodes and Milner had purportedly
tried to accomplish. Indeed, Quigley wrote more in remorse at what had failed
than in antagonism to what he believed were their mutual efforts at extending
the British Empire,"[25]
The society consisted of an inner circle ("The Society of the Elect") and an
outer circle ("The Association of Helpers", also known as The Milner
Kindergarten and the Round Table
Group).[26] The
society as a whole does not have a fixed name:
This society has been known at various times as Milner's
Kindergarten, as the Round Table
Group, as the Rhodes crowd, as The Times crowd, as the
All Souls
group, and as the Cliveden set. ... I
have chosen to call it the
Milner group. Those persons who have used the other terms, or heard them
used, have not generally been aware that all these various terms referred to
the same Group...this Group is, as I shall show, one of the most important
historical facts of the twentieth century.[27]: ix
Quigley assigns this group primary or exclusive credit for several historical
events: the Jameson Raid, the Second Boer War, the
founding of the Union of South
Africa, the replacement of the British Empire with the
Commonwealth of
Nations, and a number of Britain's foreign policy decisions in the twentieth
century.[27]: 5
In 1966, Quigley published a one-volume history of the twentieth century,
titled Tragedy and Hope.
At several points in this book, the history of the Milner group is discussed.
Moreover, Quigley states that he has recently been in direct contact with this
organization, whose nature he contrasts to right-wing claims of a communist
conspiracy:
This radical
Right fairy tale, which is now an accepted folk myth in many groups in
America, pictured the recent history of the United States, in regard to
domestic reform and in foreign affairs, as a well-organized plot by extreme
Left-wing elements ... This myth, like all fables, does in fact have a
modicum of truth. There does exist, and has existed for a generation, an
international Anglophile network which
operates, to some extent, in the way the Radical right believes the Communists act. In
fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table
Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other
group, and frequently does so. I know of the operation of this network because
I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the
early 1960s, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to
it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and
to many of its instruments. I have objected, both in the past and recently, to
a few of its policies... but in general my chief difference of opinion is that
it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant
enough to be known.[28]: 949–950
According to Quigley, the leaders of this group were Cecil Rhodes and Alfred
Milner from 1891 until Rhodes' death in 1902, Milner alone until his own
death in 1925, Lionel Curtis from
1925 to 1955, Robert H.
(Baron) Brand from 1955 to 1963, and Adam
D. Marris from 1963 until the time Quigley wrote his book. This organization
also functioned through certain loosely affiliated "front groups", including the
Royal Institute of
International Affairs, the Institute of
Pacific Relations, and the Council on
Foreign Relations.[28]: 132, 950–952
In addition, other secret societies are briefly discussed in Tragedy and
Hope, including a consortium of the leaders of the central banks of several
countries, who formed the Bank for
International Settlements.[28]: 323–324 Historian Robert
Rotberg reports that, "Unfortunately, Tragedy and Hope lacks the usual
scholarly apparatus. It cites nothing."[29]
Citations
of Quigley in exposés of purported conspiracies
Soon after its publication, Tragedy and Hope caught the attention of
authors interested in conspiracies. They proceeded to publicize Quigley's
claims, disseminating them to a much larger audience than his original
readership.[1]: 96, 98
This began in 1970, when W. Cleon Skousen
published The Naked Capitalist: A Review and Commentary on Dr. Carroll
Quigley's Book "Tragedy and Hope". The first third of this book consists of
extensive excerpts from Tragedy and Hope, interspersed with commentary by
Skousen. Skousen quotes Quigley's description of the activities of several
groups — the Milner Group, a cartel of international
bankers, the Communist Party, the Institute of
Pacific Relations, and the Council on
Foreign Relations. According to Skousen's interpretation of Quigley's book,
each of these is a facet of one large conspiracy.[30] The
following year, G. Edward Griffin
released the documentary The Capitalist Conspiracy: An Inside View of
International Banking, crediting the Skousen book: "We wish to acknowledge
that this film was inspired by Cleon Skousen's book, The Naked
Capitalist, which we believe is one of the most important documents of the
decade."[31] Quigley
responded directly to Skousen in a review stating that Skousen "has echoes of
the original Nazi 25 point program."[32]
In 1971, Gary Allen, a spokesman for
the John Birch Society,
published None Dare Call It Conspiracy, which became a bestseller. Allen
cited Quigley's Tragedy and Hope as an authoritative source on
conspiracies throughout his book. Like Skousen, Allen understood the various
conspiracies in Quigley's book to be branches of one large conspiracy, and also
connected them to the Bilderbergers and to
Richard Nixon.[33] The
John Birch Society continues to cite Quigley as a primary source for their view
of history.[34]
Quigley is also cited by several other authors who assert the existence of
powerful conspiracies. Jim Marrs, whose work was
used as a source by Oliver Stone in his film
JFK, cites Quigley in
his book Rule By Secrecy, which describes a conspiracy linking the Milner
Group, Skull and Bones, the Trilateral
Commission, the Bavarian Illuminati, the Knights Templar, and aliens who posed
as the Sumerian
gods thousands of years ago.[35] Pat
Robertson's book The New
World Order cites Quigley as an authority on a powerful conspiracy.[1]: 98
Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly has
asserted that Bill Clinton's political success was due to his pursuit of the
"world government" agenda he learned from Quigley.[1]: 98 G.
Edward Griffin relies heavily on Quigley for information about the role Milner's
secret society plays in the Federal Reserve in his book The Creature from
Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve.[36]
Quigley was dismissive of the authors who used his writings to support
theories of a world domination conspiracy. Of W. Cleon Skousen's The Naked
Capitalist he stated:
Skousen's book is full of misrepresentations and factual errors. He claims
that I have written of a conspiracy of the super-rich who are pro-Communist
and wish to take over the world and that I'm a member of this group. But I
never called it a conspiracy and don't regard it as such. I'm not an "insider"
of these rich persons, although Skousen thinks so. I happen to know some of
them and liked them, although I disagreed with some of the things they did
before 1940.[37]
On Gary Allen's None Dare Call It Conspiracy he said:
They thought Dr. Carroll Quigley proved everything. For example, they
constantly misquote me to this effect: that Lord Milner (the dominant trustee
of the Cecil Rhodes Trust and a heavy in the Round Table Group) helped finance
the Bolsheviks. I have been through the greater part of Milner's private
papers and have found no evidence to support that. Further, None Dare Call
It Conspiracy insists that international bankers were a single bloc, were
all powerful and remain so today. I, on the contrary, stated in my book that
they were much divided, often fought among themselves, had great influence but
not control of political life and were sharply reduced in power about
1931-1940, when they became less influential than monopolized industry.[38]
Criticism
F. William Engdahl,
in an overview of financial imperialism entitled The Gods of Money,
criticized Quigley for stating that the power of international bankers declined
in the 1930s, and insofar as the influence of international bankers in America
was concerned, suggested that Quigley was confusing "international finance" with
Morgan interests. He suggested, like Sutton, that Quigley's
papers had been vetted. Engdahl argued that it was not the case that the power
of "international finance" declined, but rather, Morgan interests fell and were
replaced by Rockefeller interests.[39]
Quigley stated that the intentions and objectives of the group he profiled,
associated with Wall Street and the City
of London and Cecil Rhodes'
super-imperialism, were "largely commendable". Members of the group, in
statements recorded by the New York Times in 1902, proclaimed that they
formed their society for the purpose of "gradually absorbing the wealth of the
world".[40]
Quigley argued that the Round Table groups were not World Government
advocates but super-imperialists. He stated that they emphatically did not want
the League of Nations to become a World Government. Yet Lionel Curtis,
who, according to Quigley, was one of the leaders of the Round Table movement,
wished for it to be a World government with teeth, writing articles with H. G.
Wells urging this.[41]
Bibliography
Books written by Quigley
Collected works
Articles about Quigley
- Staff writer (January 6, 1977). "Obituary." Washington Star, p.
B4.
- Wilkinson, David (Aug. 25, 1995). "From Mesopotamia through Carroll Quigley to Bill Clinton: World
Historical Systems, the Civilizationist, and the President." Journal
of World-Systems Research.
- Wilkinson, David (Aug. 1996). "World-Economic Theories and Problems: Quigley vs. Wallerstein
vs. Central Civilization." Journal
of World-Systems Research, vol. 2, no. 1. pp. 117–185. doi:10.5195/jwsr.1996.63.
- McLemee, Scott (December 1996). "The Quigley Cult." George, vol. 1, no.
10, pp. 94–98.
- Rotberg, Robert I.
(2014). "Did Cecil Rhodes Really Try to Control the World?" Journal
of Imperial and Commonwealth History, vol. 42, no. 3,
pp. 551–567.
-
- Rotberg states: "Quigley nowhere proves anything. He hints, he implies,
he supposes and he presumes." (p. 554)
References
McLemee, Scott (Dec.
1996). "The Quigley Cult." George, vol. 1, no.
10, pp. 94, 96, 98.
Staff writer (Jan. 6,
1977). Obituary. Washington Star. p.
B-4.
Staff writer (Jan. 6, 1977). "Carroll Quigley Dies, GU Professor"(obituary). Washington Post
(Jan. 6, 1977), p. B10. Archived from the original.
Carroll Quigley (1966).
Tragedy and hope: a history of the world in our time.
Macmillan. pp. 1227–34. ISBN 9780945001010. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Quigley, Carroll
(1966). Tragedy
and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time. New York: Macmillan, p. 84.
ISBN 978-0945001010.
Carroll Quigley (1966).
Tragedy and hope: a history of the world in our time.
Macmillan. p. 1311. ISBN 9780945001010. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Carroll Quigley (1966).
Tragedy and hope: a history of the world in our time.
Macmillan. p. 1227. ISBN 9780945001010. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Aquinas, Thomas (October
26, 2006). Summa Theologiae: vol. 1, Christian Theology: 1a. 1. Cambridge
University Press. pp. 102–. ISBN 978-0521029094. Retrieved May 20,
2013., quoted on p1230 of Tragedy and
Hope.
Hogan, Harry J. (1979). Foreword to The Evolution of
Civilizations: An Introduction to Historical Analysis. Liberty Press, p.
18. ISBN 978-0913966563.
Harry J Hogan in the foreword
(p17) and Quigley in the conclusion (p416) to Carroll Quigley (1979).
The
evolution of civilizations: an introduction to historical
analysis. Liberty Press. ISBN 978-0-913966-56-3. Retrieved 26 May
2013.
Foreword, written by historian Harry J Hogan Archived 2013-09-01 at the Wayback Machine in
1982, to Quigley's Weapons Systems and Political Stability
See also: Starr, Chester G. (Feb.
1984). Review of Weapons Systems and Political Stability: A
History, by Carroll Quigley. American
Historical Review, vol. 89, no. 1. pp. 98-99. JSTOR 1855933.
Quigley, Carroll
(1983). Weapons
Systems and Political Stability: A History. University
Press of America. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0819129475. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Carroll Quigley (1983).
Weapons Systems and Political Stability: A History. University
Press of America. p. 307. ISBN 978-0819129475. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Carroll Quigley (1983).
Weapons Systems and Political Stability: A History. University
Press of America. p. 58. ISBN 978-0819129475. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Carroll Quigley (1983).
Weapons Systems and Political Stability: A History. University
Press of America. p. 53. ISBN 978-0819129475. Retrieved 20 May
2013.
Evolution of Civilizations,
pp278-9
foreword (by Harry J Hogan) to
Evolution of Civilizations, pp.13-14
see also Evolution of
Civilizations, chapter 1: Scientific Method and the Social Sciences
Evolution of
Civilizations, p.47
Bill Clinton, My Life (2004) p.
366.
Bill Clinton, (July 16, 1992). "Acceptance Speech." New York: Democratic
National Convention.
Pelosi, Nancy (May 18,
2002). "Remarks at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Commencement, Washington, D.C." Archived from the original.
The Anglo-American
Establishment, ch.1
Robert I.
Rotberg (2014). "Did Cecil Rhodes Really Try to Control the World?." Journal
of Imperial and Commonwealth History, vol. 42, no. 3 (2014), pp.
551-567. doi:10.1080/03086534.2014.934000. (p. 554)
Quigley, Carroll (1981). The
Anglo-American Establishment, ch.1. Books in Focus. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-916728-50-2.
Carroll Quigley (1981).
The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to
Cliveden. New York: Books in Focus. ISBN 978-0916728502.
Carroll Quigley (1966).
Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time. New York: Macmillan.
Rotberg, "Did Cecil Rhodes Really Try to Control the World?" p.
553.
W. Cleon Skousen
(1970). The Naked Capitalist: A Review and Commentary on Dr. Carroll
Quigley's Book "Tragedy and Hope". Salt Lake City, UT: privately published.
pp. 1–6, 38–44 (communists), 6–24 (bankers),
26–38 (Rhodes and Milner), 45–48 (IPR), 50–57 (CFR).
Vol. 1 (1971). The Capitalist Conspiracy: An Inside View of International
Banking (credit at 1m:39s) (Documentary). American Media. OCLC 5558340.
Quigley, Carroll. "Quigleys Response." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon
Thought, Vol. 6, Nos. 3/4, Autumn/Winter 1971, p. 110. Full issue available.
Gary
Allen with Larry Abraham (1971).
None Dare Call It Conspiracy. Rossmoor, CA: Concord Press. Quigley is cited on pp. 12-13, 39, 42, 57, 59, 79-82, 85;
his photo is on p. 52.
For example, a quotation from
Quigley is displayed on the back cover of John
F. McManus (2004). The Insiders: Architects of the New World Order.
Appleton, WI: John Birch
Society.
Jim Marrs (2000). Rule By
Secrecy: The Hidden History that Connects the Trilateral Commission, the
Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids. New York: HarperCollins. Quigley is cited on pp. 7, 84, 86-89, 109.
Griffin, G. Edward.
The Creature from
Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve. Appleton, Wis.:
American Opinion, by arrangement with American Media (Westlake Village, Calif.),
1994. ISBN 978-0912986395.
Wes Christenson (Mar
1972). "Quigley ... making Birchers bark". Georgetown Today.
4 (4): 12–13.
Rudy Maxa (March 23, 1975). "The Professor Who Knew Too Much". The Washington Post
Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 10. pp. 17, 22, 26–28.
Engdahl, F. William
(2009). The Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American
Century. Wiesbaden, Germany: Edition.engdahl. pp. 81-135.
Staff writer (Apr. 9, 1902). "Mr. Rhodes's Ideal of Anglo-Saxon Greatness—Statement of His Aims,
Written for W.T. Stead In 1890. He Believed a Wealthy Secret Society Should Work
to Secure the World's Peace and a British-American Federation." New York
Times.
External links