An Interpretation of History
Note: I think I've posted this on LJ before but, thanks to LJ's *awesome* (not) search feature I couldn't verify it. So I updated the information in it and (re)post it here. Enjoy.
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We define our interpretation of history by the times in which we live. The history of the Second World War, while remaining static in terms of the events and persons involved, is interpreted very differently today than it was in 1980. In 1980, it was different still than it was in 1960. Today's interpretation of World War II seems based primarily in the effort to portray the Nazis and Japanese as terrorists. Sound familiar?
I can't help but wonder, as I read (and read, and read) what the interpretations of World War II will be in 2020 and again in 2040. I would think by 2040 there will only be a very very small number of actual veterans left. (It seems entirely plausible that there will be World War II veterans still alive 100 years later, given the advances in health care that will occur.) Because the number will be so small, the interpretations will be through a smoked mirror. No longer will we have the direct input of the veterans to draw from. There will be an enormous corpus of information, to be sure, but there will relatively soon be no one to ask who was actually there.
According to Wikipedia there are (as of 10 December 2009) 3 verified World War I veterans (with one unverified veteran and one WW I "era" veteran) still alive. All of the veterans are from the Allied Powers. The last Central Power veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died at the age of 107 on May 27, 2008. This is some 95 years after the beginning of the war in 1914. There are about 2.5 million U.S. World War II veterans living today, 68 years after the beginning of American combat activities on 7 December 1941.
But I digress. I started writing to ponder the view from the future upon the past. If we are fortunate enough to emerge from the present era in one piece and as a continuing world power, the view on the past will again reflect the situation of the contemporary time. As today we interpret WW II as largely a war on terror, perhaps the future will interpret it as a just action to allow oppressed populations facing genocidal extinction their guarantee of survival. If the United States emerges from these times as a faltering First World nation on the brink of entering Second World status, perhaps historians will interpret World War II as the last great period of American history. After that came our steady decline to secondary importance on the world's stage.
History is subjective. It is written by the winners, to be sure. But it continues to be rewritten and reinterpreted by those who succeed -- or defeat -- the winners who came before.
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We define our interpretation of history by the times in which we live. The history of the Second World War, while remaining static in terms of the events and persons involved, is interpreted very differently today than it was in 1980. In 1980, it was different still than it was in 1960. Today's interpretation of World War II seems based primarily in the effort to portray the Nazis and Japanese as terrorists. Sound familiar?
I can't help but wonder, as I read (and read, and read) what the interpretations of World War II will be in 2020 and again in 2040. I would think by 2040 there will only be a very very small number of actual veterans left. (It seems entirely plausible that there will be World War II veterans still alive 100 years later, given the advances in health care that will occur.) Because the number will be so small, the interpretations will be through a smoked mirror. No longer will we have the direct input of the veterans to draw from. There will be an enormous corpus of information, to be sure, but there will relatively soon be no one to ask who was actually there.
According to Wikipedia there are (as of 10 December 2009) 3 verified World War I veterans (with one unverified veteran and one WW I "era" veteran) still alive. All of the veterans are from the Allied Powers. The last Central Power veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died at the age of 107 on May 27, 2008. This is some 95 years after the beginning of the war in 1914. There are about 2.5 million U.S. World War II veterans living today, 68 years after the beginning of American combat activities on 7 December 1941.
But I digress. I started writing to ponder the view from the future upon the past. If we are fortunate enough to emerge from the present era in one piece and as a continuing world power, the view on the past will again reflect the situation of the contemporary time. As today we interpret WW II as largely a war on terror, perhaps the future will interpret it as a just action to allow oppressed populations facing genocidal extinction their guarantee of survival. If the United States emerges from these times as a faltering First World nation on the brink of entering Second World status, perhaps historians will interpret World War II as the last great period of American history. After that came our steady decline to secondary importance on the world's stage.
History is subjective. It is written by the winners, to be sure. But it continues to be rewritten and reinterpreted by those who succeed -- or defeat -- the winners who came before.