Although events in history occurred over a long span of time and development, history first became an academic subject a little more than 100 years ago (McNeill 12). Since then, a plethora of controversies appeared regarding how historians, scholars, and intellectuals should examine and analyze history. Among the initial methods of studying history was the scientific research method, or scientific source criticism, which fundamentally extracts valid, legitimate facts from a diverse range of historical sources. Throughout time, however, the facts derived from this method of historical study gradually altered, leading to a new method of historical study: using facts and combining them with opinions and goals to constitute personal interpretations. As Oscar Handlin zealously asserts, historians and scholars should provide a strict examination of history based on a chronological study of known and verifiable facts as opposed to using verifiable facts as the basis for their own interpretation, influenced by their own group, experiences, beliefs, and personal motives. Through implementing a strict examination of history, historians can successfully detect and eradicate bias in their writings, allow the government as well as individuals to gain an insight into the past in order to secure and progress the future, and grasp the magnitude of truth.…
History is always about perceptions. Therefore there are generally two sides of history: the “winner´s” and the “loser´s” side. As history is normally written down by the winners, which is called grand narrative, only few people know which experiences the losers, or…
Among the reading assignments, the chapter “Who Owns the Past?” in Dangerous Game by MacMillan piqued my interest to elaborate on. In this chapter, she emphasizes that history is written by many historians who have their own views, interpretations, and biases. In this regard, she implies that we should not simply believe in what historians claim, but dig into its sources and figure out from many perspectives. There are many ‘bad’ history produced by historians without offering a wide range of views and this can be used as an instrument that can largely influence on people by giving them prejudice on certain events. There are always reasons behind each event and it is important to find out what indeed happened as well as where the history is…
1. Paul feels alone in battle and his only friend and family seems to be mother earth. He finds comfort and protection with earth since he’s alone in battle and there’s nothing else protecting him except for earth’s materials like bushes and trees hiding him form the enemy. Like a mother would protect her son. I’m not sure if this has much to do with the Oedipus Complex but since Paul is loving the earth ever so passionately he probably subconsciously is yearning for something more than just a mother figure in his life.…
Stalemate during war is when no action can be taken or progress made. The Stalemate on the Western front, a line of trenches stretching from the Swiss Alps all the way across France to Nieuwpoort in Belgium, was a dilemma that was not foreseen by either the allies or Germany. Originally it had been predicted that the war would be over after a quick and decisive battle, this perception was quickly diminished once the war had begun. No one reason explains why the situation on the western front developed into a stalemate but many factors can be considered.…
Andrew Cockburn writes about how generals or different designation holders pretend to be at front line and hold various decisions with themselves rather than letting the ones who fight for us make the decisions. Firstly, Cockburn argues overall about the different incidents happened so far by holding the decisions and taking longer time to decide by the generals. Likewise, he discusses about the consequences of holding the decisions for a longer time by trying to watch through virtually, and how far can it be damaging for us. Supporting his arguments, Cockburn wisely asserts viable opinions and facts about how the commanders feel while they are battling. The most supporting document or the important document Cockburn includes in this article…
Baumer receives seventeen days of leave, but will then be reported to a training base to return to the front in six weeks. While on leave we receive a better understanding of how war has changed our brave soldier and how he will never be the same. “I imagined leave would be different from this… at the time i still knew nothing about the war”(Remarque 75). As our narrator sees people in his hometown he now realizes he isn't the person he was before war “I have been crushed without knowing it… I find i do not belong here anymore”. He cannot shake the feeling of “strangeness” as he no longer feels at home in a place that used to think of as his safe place . His mother starts to asks if it was “very bad out there” yet Paul lies to her (Remarque…
Written by Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front is a sort of a historical fiction type of book. I would classify it as a fiction because the book is based on an odd point of view in war.…
Written by Erich Maria Remarque is a novel about young men who are fighting in the German army on the French front in World War I. The story expresses life in the war from the view point of Paul Baumer a young German soldier fighting for his life in the war. Throughout the novel, Remarque expresses vivid details based on his own experiences at war. “During World War I, Remarque was conscripted into the army at the age of 18. On June 12, 1917, he was transferred to the Western Front...”…
The Great war greatly affected the European home front during the course of war. Many countries were happy and saw much benefit in their position during the war, like Britain and Austria; however, citizens in Germany and Russia saw themselves as suffering because of their nation's participation in the war, and women generally ignored their working conditions and proudly served their home along with the men of their country.…
Paul Baumer leaves for the western front a young boy, but as All Quiet on the Western Front goes on, Paul becomes more of a soulless soldier. Multiple events while fighting for Germany caused Paul to become this way. He began pushing away his family, friends, everyone, everything. This was a technique he used to survive. He cut off all emotions to become the best possible soldier he could be. When Paul and his friends signed up to go overseas, and fight for Germany, they had the idea planted in their heads that their actions were actions of patriotism. They never stopped to think about the opposite side of the spectrum. Training gave the boys a chance to start to realize that enlisting in the war was no joke. The boys didn't fully understand how brutal and violent the war was until they were out, fighting in total war.…
All Quiet on The Western Front is an autobiographical novel written by German WWI veteran Erich Maria Remarque and was published in 1928. What makes this novel so unique and enticing is Remarque’s personal insight on the war which comes from his experiences in WWI. Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front in order to overcome his own traumas that had set in after the war. Remarque was a militant pacifist after his time serving in the German army and bluntly exposes the horrors of war in hopes that the next generation of German youth may learn from their countries mistakes and lead better leaves without the grievance of war. It is precisely for this reason that Adolf Hitler had Remarque’s book burned and forced him to flee the country under the danger of certain execution. Paul Baumer the main character of the novel is a young, intelligent, enthusiastic patriotic teenager with strong ideals which are vehemently strained upon during the war not only because of the fighting but also because of the social ramifications that came with it. Paul Baumer believes that the people he was taught to trust have betrayed him or let him down.…
In 1916 witnessed the commencement of the battle of the Somme. Through the course of that one battle, a million British men were slaughtered compared to the combined number of American casualties in both the first and Second World War. The Battle of the Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation, approved by Haig. However, the German attack on Verdun in February 1916 turned the Somme offensive into a large-scale British attack. Haig accepted responsibility for the action and with the help of Rawlinson who devised his own plan of attack. The vital part of Haig's strategy was an eight-day attack to destroy the German defenses. Soldiers were lined up according to battlefield strategies, and led by major officers. The blood of the nations was poured into conditions of such horror and violence. “Lions led by donkeys”, was how the German soldiers referred to their British counterpart. Ever since the end of WW1 in 1918 which was won by the British allies against the Germans it has been hugely debated whether the phrase 'Lions Led by Donkeys' is correct. In this essay I am going to talk about the extent of which the phrase was a fair description of what had happened at the battle of the Somme, by looking at different people’s point of view about General Haig.…
“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” ~~epigraph…
Given the desperate need to produce weapons and other equipment of war, explain the impact of total war on the civilian populations of Britain and Germany.…