public power itself is forced to defend itself against allattacking factions.8Some of what Robespierre said in 1793 would be repeated byLenin in 1917 and after: we will look more closely at both the Frenchand the Russian Revolutions below. But, for present purposes,constitution is taken to mean continuity and stability, revolution—radical change amid turbulence.The first kind of order was elaborated by the middle of theeighteenth century in L’Esprit des Lois (The Spirit of the Laws), whereMontesquieu argued that government in various parts of the worldshould accord with the basic circumstances of particular states,geographical as well as historical. Later in the century, after thework had established a great reputation, it was adopted byCatherine the Great and the ‘Founding Fathers’. The RussianEmpress sought to compose a ‘constitution’ for her ‘enlightenedabsolutism’, while Hamilton, Madison and other leading formu-lators of the constitution of the USA wanted to devise a rationalefor their federal republic. Before the century was over, however,constitutional government on both transcontinental andtransoceanic frontiers of Europe was challenged by its antithesisembodied in the most radical phase of the French Revolution.Against this background, in 1792 and 1796 respectively, Catherinethe Great and George Washington asserted in her and his ownfashion the advantages of constitutional order. These were alsoexpounded by Edmund Burke in Britain, while Robespierre inFrance made his early comparison of constitutional andrevolutionary government.Revolutionary order was proclaimed in a more developedfashion fifty years or so later by Marx and Engels in theirCommunist Manifesto, followed by a series of works culminatingin the unfinished Capital. This expanded the argument that thedevelopment of capitalism was a world process leading towardsits own collapse reinforced by the maturation of a new class, theproletariat. The Marxist analysis found apparent confir-mationfifty years after the publication of Volume 1 of Capital in theOctober 1917 Revolution in Russia. But how should Marxism beinterpreted and used? Three differing answers were given to thissignificant question by Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin. And othersignificant questions were posed in the years preceding andfollowing the October Revolution. Was the only road to socialism