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a. In the past, most of our interventions have taken place when a revolution was in full force or when the spirit of revolution was rampant. In view of these conditions (which are so often encountered in small wars) it may be well to consider briefly some of the characteristics of revolutions.

b. The knowledge of the people at any given moment of history involves an understanding of their environment, and above all, their past. The influence of racial psychology on the destiny of a people appears plainly in the history of those subject to perpetual revolutions. When composed largely of mixed races—that is to say, of individuals whose diverse heredities have dissociated their ancestral characteristics—those populations present a special problem. This class is always difficult to govern, if not ungovernable, owing to the absence of a fixed character. On the other hand, sometimes a people who have been under a rigid form of government may affect the most violent revolutions. Not having succeeded in developing progressively, or in adapting themselves to changes of environment, they are likely to react violently when such adaptation becomes inevitable.