The origins of Individualism are then sketched out. He proposes that it was born out of Christianity and the classical civilizations and then further refined during the renaissance. After this time this school of thought was most prominently implemented in the British isles and the Low Countries. Due to England’s intellectual leadership; individualism and laissez faire governance continued to be prominent in Europe. In the author’s view England lost her intellectual lead, in regard to political and social thinking, to Germany in the 1870’s. By this time Germany had adopted Socialism. The consensus of Germany’s intellectual thinking influenced the rest of continent.