The Cult of History

History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.   - Edward Gibbon

I love history.  I have seriously read about it since I was in college, even although I studied engineering.  Having a military background, I read a lot of military history, but I try and balance that with reading about the peaceful times and what life was like for ordinary people.  It is all pretty fascinating stuff.  And of course, I have added my own little bit of history having written the book “We Are as One” (http://www.weareasone.ca), the story of the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy (sorry for the self-promotion). 

Along the way, I have come to some truths about the uses and abuses of history, and about what history has shown us. 

Truth #1 – history is made by ordinary people and their society, and can only progress as fast as these people can be moved.  Kings, Presidents and Emperors may try and influence the advancement of society but it will only move at the pace set by the ordinary man.

Truth #2 – history does not necessarily repeat itself, as some people expect, but it does show us what can happen in similar circumstances.

Truth #3 - You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake. Jeannette Rankin.      This obviously depends on what you consider by “winning” a war.  In general, both sides lose something during a war, whether it is wealth, resources, territory or, most tragically, the lives of its young adults.  The old men who make the decision for war hardly ever lose their lives, they send their young for that.

Truth #4 – In every war, one side fights to save the status quo.  They never succeed.  War inevitably changes society on both sides, whether it is changes in government, scientific discovery or the way we view ourselves and the rest of the world. See also idea #2 above.

Truth #5 – you cannot judge the past with the rules of the present.  There are great movements in revisionist history going on these days, whether it is the resurrection of figures like Louis Riel, apologies to nations for past wrongs, or condemning our ancestors for the way they lived their lives.  This is a travesty to the memory of those who made our world through the ages.  The men who found Louis Riel guilty of treason truly believed, given their education, fears, prejudices and life experience, that he was just that. And we can never understand them because we do not live in the same era, have the same education or life experiences.  This applies to those who made war with other nations and took whatever steps they thought they were necessary to protect their own citizens and win the war.  Someone who has not lived in a country in the middle of a war can understand this.  Our ancestors lived the way they did because that was all they knew.  They did not have access to our knowledge of medicine, the environment, philosophy, critical thought or any of the other ideas that we now use to condemn them.  Nor could the people of the past have foreseen the consequences of their decisions any more than we can today.

Truth #6 – in every war, look for the economic reason.  Whatever rationale is espoused for a war, there will be an underlying economic reason.  No warlord, country or group is going to undertake a war unless they think they see a profit in it.  The opposition may have to fight to save its existence, but one side at least is after the spoils.  Although the Crusaders went off to save the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, they also had in mind new lands and riches.  Many of the early Crusader knights were second and third sons who needed to find their own estates in order to prosper.  Hitler, for all his rhetoric about master races, really wanted to expand the size of Germany in order to enlarge the population, and increase the raw materials available to Germany.  By winning hegemony of Europe, he also gained economic hegemony.  Iraq was all about saving oil resources.  The various rationales that are spouted to justify war whether it be religion, “honour”, patriotism or power, are primarily used to rally the foot soldiers that will not necessarily benefit from the economic advantage gained.  The economic advantages will mainly accrue to the old men who send the foot soldiers off to war.  I sound cynical, don’t I?  Well, I am when it comes to war.

But I am also optimistic, because my study of history has shown me how much progress we have made over the centuries.  How men, and now women, have overcome their prejudices and limitations, and have really improved our lot.  And I don’t think so much of the material progress; the machines we have invented, the medicines and cures we have discovered, the wired (and wireless) world we have made.  I think of the advances in the human condition; of the intellect, of overcoming prejudices, of allowing us to express ourselves more fully.  Not just a small intellectual elite, but practically every member of society can now benefit from this type of advancement.  As long as we can balance human progress with material progress, and I admit that may be more difficult the faster material progress develops, we should be optimistic about the future which will soon enough become history.