History

[lizziec]

It's amazing. I am a student of History. I am doing my Special Subject on perceptions of World War One, and yet the fact that today is the 90th anniversary of the start of that conflict nearly passed me by. Even though it is a week or so until the 90th Anniversary of Britain's entry into the warno mention has been made of this in the media. I find it completely amazing that such a momentous anniversary (as I see it) is completely ignored by everyone. Even the BBC seem to think it unworthy of their "On This Day" feature.

This led me to think some more about something that I've been pondering for a couple of months now on and off - stages of history. Within my lifetime World Wars One and Two have changed within public perception, with the former moving from living memory to hearsay handed down over two or three generations as the last veterans die...and World War Two is starting to go the same way. As it happens more perspective seems to be gained and more balance is applied to the evidence and yet...I still feel like something is being lost and I feel some sadness for this.

It's scary to think that I will see more transitions within my lifetime where events pass from current events to history. Within a life teaching I will start to teach about september 11th - an event I remember clearly, presumably just as my teachers taught about the Cuban Missile Crisis as an event they remember.

hrm...

This had a point somewhere I'm sure...

Comments

[reggitsti.livejournal.com]

It's wierd really, the only people who understand history are the historians, and of course the people who were there at the time. And of course their perceptions differ, I'm accutly aware that what I am working on now could be quite well picked to pieces by someone who was there, but I'm telling the story from my perception of what I think was important, neither of us are wrong, we both just have different viewpoints.

World War I is in my opinion the sadest, stupidest event in human history. World War II at least seems to have some element of purpose to it, unfinshed business from the first war, or just plain good VS evil, or whatever. But for mankind to slip so nievely into the Great War, and yet for so few apparent good reasons that actually matter in the big picture, just seems so unbelievably sad. Dates apart, in my opinion the 20th Century started not in 1900, but sometime between 1914 and 1918 with the destruction of an old way and the birth of a new one.

The thing that saddens me now though, is that so few people care, or are interested, it just doesn't seem right somehow. Still the whole perception thing sounds like a nice angle for a specialist subject extended essay ;)

[belethcalwen.livejournal.com]

don't agree only historians understand history...in both ways as in either also non historians understand it...or historians themselves will never inderstand ALL history. I make no sense.
True that first world war amazingly stupid...but for some reason i really loved studying it. I just find it very intersting while at the same time easy (big factor for me :p gimme the cold war and i'll cry )

[benc.livejournal.com]

I make no sense.

Very true.

[belethcalwen.livejournal.com]

I make no sense.

Very true.


Now is it me or does that then make no sense?

[no1typo.livejournal.com]

I rememer the death of Churchill, the civil rights fight in the US, the assassination of 2 Kennedys and Martin Luther King, vietnam ( I was in Grosvenor Square). The first space flight, the first man on the moon etc etc.

I was thinking about this yesterday too. It being about 30 years since I first went to the Home Office, and I was thinking about people I worked with then. Then I thought that if they themselves had looked back 30 years they were people in their late teens and early twenties watching the end of WW2.

Good Grief it's only 6:26 - far too much reflection.