Why Study History? (1985) By William H. McNeill Why should anyone bother learning about things that happened far away and long ago? Who cares about Cleopatra, Charlemagne, Montezuma or Confucius? Historical knowledge is no more and no less than carefully and critically constructed collective memory. Without individual memory, a person literally loses his or her identity, and would not know how to act in encounters with others. Often it is enough for experts to know about outsiders, if their advice is listened to. This value of historical knowledge obviously justifies teaching and learning about what happened in recent times, for the way things are descends from the way they were yesterday and the day before that. Memory is not something fixed and forever. . . . the changing perspectives of historical understanding are the very best introduction we can have to the practical problems of real life. But what if the world is more complicated and diverse than words can ever tell? Memory, indeed, makes us human.
How did soldiers cope with war? - The British Library Curator Dr Matthew Shaw, explores notions of patriotism, social cohesion, routine and propaganda, to ask how soldiers of World War One were able to psychologically cope with the realities of combat. Introduction Given our understanding of the horrors of war, it is often difficult to understand how men coped with life at the Front during the First World War. Many, of course, did not: it is during this period that shell shock and what we now know as post-traumatic stress disorder were first described and diagnosed . Hundreds, across all the armies involved in the war, deserted, and both sides faced large mutinies – among the French in 1917 and by the German navy in 1918, as well the Russian Revolution in 1917. Ideology The ability for both sides to place so many men in the field for so long is testament not just to the power and control the military could exert but also to the strength of belief of those involved in the fighting. Friends and enemies View images from this item (1)
World War One: How did 12 million letters a week reach soldiers? During World War One up to 12 million letters a week were delivered to soldiers, many on the front line. The wartime post was a remarkable operation, writes ex-postman and former Home Secretary Alan Johnson. When a soldier on the Western Front wrote to a London newspaper in 1915 saying he was lonely and would appreciate receiving some mail the response was immediate. The newspaper published his name and regiment and within weeks he'd received 3,000 letters, 98 large parcels and three mailbags full of smaller packages. Had that soldier had the time to respond to every letter he could have done. How the General Post Office (GPO) maintained such an efficient postal service to soldiers and sailors during World War One is a story of remarkable ingenuity and amazing courage. The imperative was clear from the start. For fighting soldiers it was essential to morale and the British Army knew that. The GPO was already a huge operation before war broke out in 1914.
Rudbeck-IB-History-Revision - 2.1 Causes of the First World War Past Exam Questions:Paper 2 -Compare and contrast the causes of the First World War and the Second World War (May 2008)Compare and contrast the reasons for Germany’s involvement in the First and Second World Wars (Nov 2007)Examine the part played by each of the following in the outbreak of the First World War: alliances; mobilization; Balkan nationalism. (Nov 2006)In what ways did the causes of the Second World War differ from the causes of the First World War? (May 2004)Paper 3 -“Wars frequently begin ten years before the first shot is fired.” After 1871, the war atmosphere engendered by the secret alliances led to an armaments race among the powers. Background: Tripple alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy The countries had promised to aid each other militarily in the event war. The Balkan Crisis 1912-1913 The Agadir crisis brought European politics ro a pitch of tension and the implications spread eastwards down the Meditterranean.
What the Spanish civil war can reveal about Syria As the battle for Aleppo continues unabated, this intense episode in the Syrian civil war harkens back to a vicious battle for another Mediterranean city, Barcelona, during the Spanish civil war. July 2016 marked the 80-year anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict in Spain, lasting from 1936 to 1939. In July 1936, General Francisco Franco led a rebellion among the Spanish military and his allies, collectively referred to as the Nationalists, against the recently elected left leaning Republican Government. The Republican government rallied its military forces to its defence, in addition to anarchist and communist militia, and a civil war ensued. I refrain from invoking the cliched phrase, "history repeats itself". The similarities Comparisons between these two conflicts have been made before. OPINION: Spain - searching for Garcia Lorca Both these parties demonstrated their dependence on airpower, even though 80 years have transpired, and aerial technology has developed significantly.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) President John F. Kennedy was informed about the deployment of Soviet medium-range missiles on Cuba shortly after 8 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 16, 1962. His first reaction on hearing the news from National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy was to accuse the Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev of a double-cross. Thus began the celebrated “13 days” that brought the world closer than ever before — or since — to a nuclear war, a period now remembered in the West as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khrushchev’s motivations in sending nuclear-tipped missiles to Cuba in the summer of 1962 have been the subject of great debate. In memoirs written after his ouster as Soviet leader in 1964, Khrushchev claimed that he was primarily motivated by the desire to defend the Cuban revolution, and his ally Fidel Castro, from aggression by the United States. Fortunately for Kennedy, he knew that the Soviet missiles were not yet operational. The uniformed military, including Taylor and Gen.
The debate on the origins of World War One - The British Library Beginning with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Dr Annika Mombauer explores the opposing debates about the origins of World War One. Is it possible for historians to arrive at a consensus? The hundred-year debate How could the death of one man, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was assassinated on 28 June 1914, lead to the deaths of millions in a war of unprecedented scale and ferocity? Satirical drawing by R. 'Cupidity', a satirical drawing showing the hands of men from countries involved in World War One, arguing for control of the world. View images from this item (1) Copyright: © Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico The need to fight a defensive war Establishing the responsibility for the escalation of the July Crisis into a European war – and ultimately a world war – was paramount even before fighting had begun. The French and Belgians, Russians, Serbs and British were convinced they were indeed involved in a defensive struggle for just aims. Treaty of Versailles Footnotes
10 Common Misconceptions of the Names of Places in Singapore | Remember Singapore Is Ang Mo Kio “ang mo kio” (tomato)? Or is Holland Village named after the Dutch community in Singapore? Are there any links between the new Chong Pang estate and the old Chong Pang Village? Let’s find out more… 1. Tomatoes are called “ang mo kio” (Caucasian’s brinjal) in Hokkien, which probably led to the misconception that the name of Ang Mo Kio New Town was named after the fruit. A more likely explanation of the name Ang Mo Kio was the bridge purportedly built by the British Government Surveyor John Turnbull Thomson (1821–1884), where the locals referred it as the “Caucasian’s bridge”. But for the time being, the tomato sculptures near the Ang Mo Kio Town Centre shall stay on. 2. Holland Village has one of the most common misnomers in Singapore, mistakenly thought to be named after the Low Country of Europe. 3. The pronunciation of the name Tampines may sound embarrassing to some, but it has really nothing to do with the male reproductive organ. 4. Established in 1876, the St. 5. 6.
Art forever changed by World War I - Los Angeles Times A scene from “All Quiet on the Western Front” from 1930. (Universal Pictures, Universal…) Along with millions of idealistic young men who were cut to pieces by machine guns and obliterated by artillery shells, there was another major casualty of World War I: traditional ideas about Western art. The Great War of 1914-18 tilted culture on its axis, particularly in Europe and the United States. Nearly 100 years later, that legacy is being wrestled with in film, visual art, music, television shows like the gauzily nostalgic PBS soaper "Downton Abbey" and plays including the Tony Award-winning"War Horse," concluding its run at the Ahmanson Theatre. "It created an epoch in art," said Leo Braudy, a USC professor of English and author of "From Chivalry to Terrorism: War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity." Particularly in his country, he said, World War I resonates louder than the even greater cataclysm that followed it 20 years later.