Love History! One of my Favorite Periods in History that I learn this year has to be the Middle Ages! There's something about the Middle Ages that catches my interest. I wish we learned about the French Revolution this year thats my another Favorite of mine.
I'm also a big history fan! What I enjoy the most about it is learning how our world got to the way it is today. My favorite topics are: The Roman and Byzantine Empires Austria-Hungary World War I World War II Imperial Germany through the Nazi Regime Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union Mustafa Kemal and the creation of modern Turkey One of the most fascinating things for me to learn was that a great deal of our contemporary world was shaped by the peace agreements that ended World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was aimed at crippling Germany to the point that it would never again pose a threat to Britain or France. Germany was saddled with massive war reparations to the Allies that ruined her economy. When the Great Depression rolled along in the 1930s average Germans were so desperate that they listened to anyone who promised to make things better. Enter Hitler and his Nazi Party, who promised to ease Germany's economic suffering and reverse the hated Versailles Treaty. We all know how that turned out... One of my favorite figures in history, however, is Mustafa Kemal, a general in the Ottoman Turkish army during World War I and the founder of modern Turkey. After Turkey lost the war to the Allies (alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary), Britain and France proceeded to divide up the country between them, like they did to the rest of the Middle East. Kemal rallied the Turkish people to repel the foreign invaders and succeeded in bringing the British and French to the negotiating table. In the end he protected Turkey's sovereignty and it's one of the few instances that the European great powers were successfully resisted. Following this the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished and Kemal became the first president of the Republic of Turkey, initiating many modernization reforms that brought the country into the 20th century.
I personally do agree with the Greeks not being the philosophical society they were made out to be, in fact if it wasn't for the philosophers, no one would really be influenced by anything the Greeks did except for video games because of the mythology of ancient Greece, which is really what drew me to the Greeks, just the myths of the Greeks are unlike any others. A good example of why the Greeks were actually not all that good is Sparta, the land was worked by the helot caste(slaves), because the people of Sparta although focusing on war couldn't be bothered doing labour like that so in some ways you could say the Greeks were full of arrogance, they did set stones for democracy and theatre and all of that stuff, but I guess in a way, it is because they used slaves to do all the simple and meaningless tasks that the Greeks were able to achieve all that they did. We don't hear about Persia much because as someone wise once said, "The winners write history," and Persia lost to the Greeks. I think to look at someone incredibly xenophobic look at the Chinese, they didn't let anyone into their lands and they didn't trade and the people were secretive(incredibly secretive). Personally for me I've liked mostly the warrior societies of the Ancient world, it is only now that I've begun to realize that the warrior societies weren't all they were worked out to be. They were successful but the most interesting stories are ones where the empire manages to bring about great achievements through peaceful means and through just plain simple greatness. You are also right about the Xenophobia, great example was Aristotle(he was Macedonian and the Greeks hated him with their guts because he wasn't born in Greece and although he considered himself a Greek just like Alexander the Great did, the Greeks still hated him for being born not in Greece). It could be possible that is also the reason Alexander the Great died at a young age because the Greeks hated him and decided to poison him simply for not being a true Greek, that's just a theory by the way.
Actually I find history to be one of the most boring subjects there is, unless when it's related to philosophy/psychology/religion/languages/astronomy/other things I like. If it's just things standing on its own, then no, I really don't like it. =] So what did I find the most boring? Everything related to empires, I really don't care about those things at all. Oh, things related to knights and all that.. Please, no. :lol: Sometimes (like I said before) I do like it, but history is just a part of that. I do like thoughts and views, and yes, I do like to know why people thought like that in those days. =) But for me, when talking about subjects I like, it makes no difference whether it was back then or now for me (in terms of how much I enjoy it). =] About looking the past, it depends. Although I MUCH rather look into the future. Things that have yet to come.. I find that so much more interesting than things that have happened already.
History is an important subject and I have always enjoyed it. There is a lot to learn from an LGBT perspective too and that's why events like LGBT History Month are so important.
Personally, I believe History to be almost essential knowledge. There is truth to the whole, those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Many of the same political tactics, that we see in the world today, were birthed in the past, and will, if we don't recognize and deal with them, linger on into the future. While there is some debate as to whether or not this was said, most seem to accept it as fact. For that reason, it is still worth considering, when weighing in on the significance of knowing History: "Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?" Adolf Hitler If this is indeed true, and not something tacked on for the Nuremberg Trials, it goes to show, that even the most corrupted minds are aware of humanity's disinterest in the past, and they use that to their advantage.
I love history and it's always been one of my favourite subjects. Russian history (the Revolution, Stalinist period, and Cold War) is probably my favourite era of history, but I'm also very interested in the Middle Ages, especially the Crusades time. I bought a huge book on the Crusades--haven't read much of it yet, but I intend to finish it
Kaiser, what part of history do you see as essential? A country's own history? The history of neighbouring countries? A few subjects in particular? :icon_bigg I'm asking, because I've heard this a few times, and I'm curious about what is "mandatory" and what is not. =]
The nature of organizations, be they tribes, sects, countries, nations, or empires. You mention the arts and philosophy, and I would include these as part of that 'nature of organizations'. But more importantly, the legal processes -- and the motives behind them, as well as the allowance of authority that is obtained, to enforce those processes. In a way, it would be a psychological or sociological analysis, of our past, to keep our future from becoming a historical replay. Because behind the flags, the leaders, the weapons, and the technology, there are ideas, personalities, profits, and bias. The fuel of history, if you will. To take Nazi Germany as an example: While it is interesting to know Germany could have been led by Adolf Schicklgruber, it isn't what I would call essential. The reasons why that mustachioed asshole targeted the ones he did, is. It's not a bad thing to know the 1936 Olympics, in Nazi Berlin, were the first live televised, but it isn't what I would call essential. The political shenanigans that encouraged the temporary lapse in Nazi oppression, so that the Nazi Party could benefit from this propaganda, is. But too many times, we focus on the dates and places. Never so much the why these dates and places are to be focused on. Yes, we tend to know that World War II had a lot of fucked up shit going on, but it tends to be very catch phrase in it's message. Most can tell you, 6 million Jews. And almost everybody can say, yes, that mustachioed maniac disliked Jews. But that number drastically drops when you mention the Communists, the Slavic people, even "sexual deviants". As important as it is to remember the victims, it is, in my opinion, just as important to know the reasons why this happened, and how it was allowed to happen. But it's too easy to just say, "Well, those Nazis were evil...", and close the book. Meanwhile, nobody bats an eye on genocide in Africa, and everybody seemed oblivious, in the 90s, on what to do in the Balkans. They aren't those "evil Nazis". There is always a goal for hatred, even if it benefits nobody. There is always a reason for madness, even if it makes no sense. Knowing those things, and coming to understand them, allows society as a whole to be aware, and to stamp out those asinine atrocities before they take hold. To sum it up: Shit happens, ask why. LOL.
I also love Russian history on the 20th century. Well, I love the russians, period :lol: The cold war was a very interesting time indeed. Must have been terrifying for people living in fear of the nuclear armaggedon anytime. The fear even reached the 90s, if you watch Terminator 2 you'll find it there, alive and kicking, in one scene. It was one of the few scenes on movies that made me feel terrified when I was a child. It seemed somehow almost real to me. ... And at the same time that destruction has a kind of strange beauty, almost poetic.
I agree. I'm kind of a Russophile. Both of my parents grew up in Eastern European communist governments and so the whole thing interests me even more for that. The Nuclear Armageddon thing always seems so freaky--a whole generation grew up with that, around the world. Right now I'm on the early 20th century, reading a book on Rasputin
Thanks Kaiser for your elaborate reply! (*hug*) Though, it's the question 'where to draw a line' for me. :lol: Like you say, the motives behind them, that's actually what I liked about history. The actions in itself, meh, I was more interested in the reasons. My history teachers didn't like how bad I was with dates and all that - I forgot them so easily - it didn't make the experience with history any better
English major, French minor Medieval history The Stuart queens and kings The French Revolution The American Civil War The end of the Romanov Dynasty Any thing to do with the Titanic, except that God-awful movie with Leonardo DiCaprio
History of political ideas History of nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy Cold War history, especially Latin America, and in particular the Cuban Missile Crisis History of the Soviet Union History of Intelligence (the information gathering sort) 20th century diplomatic history in general History of terrorism Other than that, any area of history is interesting to me. Structure versus agency is something anybody who gets into my type of history will explore. The idea of whether or not, and if so, to what extent, individuals (agents) have any real influence on the course of history, or if it is just dictated by structures such as power relations, economics, political systems and so on, though that is arguably (for my areas of interest) more a history based approach to studying international relations and international politics than history for its own sake. Nevertheless, there are certain individuals who continue to draw my attention: Fidel Castro John F Kennedy Nikita Khrushchev Heinrich Himmler Ulysses S. Grant Napoleon George C. Marshall Dwight Eisenhower Mikhail Gorbachev Georgi Zhukov CIA spymasters Mao Zedong Ho Chi Minh Charles due Gaulle David Lloyd George Richard Nixon Lenin Trotsky Marx Jacobo Arbenz Fugenlico Batista Bernard Montgomery Einstein
History is fascinating, one of my favorite things i love to look at is mythology. You can learn a lot about civilizations just by looking at there mythology.
