Revolution is the overthrow of established order, resulting in a state of disorder. Thus, there can be no such thing as a “conservative revolution” but rather what is required, as Joseph de Maistre famously claimed, is “the opposite of a revolution“. To understand what Order is in the first place, we turn to Dante in De Monarchia who proposes the logical sequence: Being, Unity, followed by the Good.

Where Being is most, there Unity is greatest; and where Unity is greatest, there Good is also greatest.

In the social realm, this Unity is expressed as concord or harmony:

Concord then is the uniform motion of many wills.

Firstly, in the individual man himself, there must be harmony and balance of his inner forces. Dante then says the same is true of the family, the city, and the kingdom. This is the state of affairs in a Traditional society where harmony of wills comes from a common mind. The Monarch represents the Will of all in the Kingdom, which then follows in the city and the family. Individual men are expected to harmonize their own states of being, the methods are provided by the spiritual authority through its teachings and the city provides support.

Such a system is characterized by Justice. Now Dante, following Aristotle, points out that

the strongest opponent of Justice is Appetite [or eros].

Hence, Justice reigns only where eros is moderated by the Intellect. Hence, the primary tactic of Revolution is to unleash eros, on the promise it will make men free. However, just the opposite takes place. Dante explains:

If the Appetite [eros] in any way at all forestalls the Judgment and guides it, then the Judgment cannot be free: it is not its own: it is captive to another power.

Thus, the Revolution succeeds by breaking up the harmony of wills, with each man following his own Appetite. This puts them under a power other than the legitimate political and spiritual authorities. In understanding Revolution, it is necessary to identify the agents; this is seldom done. Instead people seem to believe in spontaneous generation, that events arise uncaused out of a rotting carcass. These agents are of three types:

1. Unconscious Agents. These people absorb the propaganda of Revolution without understanding its larger context.
2. Conscious Agents. These are the powers who deliberating foment revolution. There are two types:
   1. Public Agents. These are publically known through their organizations and platforms.
   2. Secret Agents. These work behind the scenes, often through a neutral sounding front organization.

Oldstock Ryder described the art of revolution in his pamphlet The Great Conspiracy.

Revolution is an art but the Revolutionaries would have us believe that it is a natural cataclysm, as inevitable as a volcanic eruption—a spontaneous up-rush of popular revolt against insufferable wrongs… The art of Revolution is that by which a small but well-organized minority compels an unwilling but unorganized majority to submit to the overthrow of the State and the dictatorship of a few professional agitators who grasp power in the name of the People. The method remains the same today as it was in 1789-1793:

1. First, to create a Revolutionary atmosphere by exploiting the existing grievances or hardships of any part of the population.
2. Secondly, where none exist, popular grievances must be created
3. Thirdly, having thus prepared the stage, demonstrations must be organized which will give the movement an appearance of being a spontaneous uprising of the masses.
4. Fourthly, trade and industry must be hampered and ultimately paralysed by strikes and revolutionary threats, creating widespread unemployment and discontent.
5. Lastly, forces of aliens, criminals, and hooligans must be enlisted and armed to overpower the forces of the State and to terrorize the law-abiding majority into submissions.

And this tragic farce is to be enacted in the name of the whole people, and is applauded as a noble revolt against tyranny and injustice.