What is History?

(Source)

history

    1. the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.

    2. the whole series of past events connected with someone or something.

    3. a continuous, typically chronological, record of important or public events or of a particular trend or institution. (Source)

(Source)

I love history. Especially military history. As anyone who has been following The Chant for any length of time, you might notice that we post a lot of historical stuff here. I do it. Juvat does it. Even Tuna does it. For some reason, history resonates with folks who spent their lives in the military. When you think about it, it might have something to do with the fact that most of the history of mankind is a bloodstained spectacle of people making mistakes which get people killed. For most of history those being killed were folks in the military.

Like me. Like Juvat. Like Tuna.

So we have an interest in knowing about history, for (as everyone likes to say) "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Which was (probably) said by George Santayana, who was an interesting guy. Now besides the whole "doomed to repeat" thing he also said a number of other profound things, here are a few -

• The earth has music for those who listen.
• Only the dead have seen the end of the war.
• The family is one of nature's masterpieces.
• To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
• A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.
• There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.
• The wisest mind has something yet to learn.
• Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.
• Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.

A rather smart guy, neh? But I digress. I want to talk about history today. (Yes, I use the word "talk" rather loosely here. If you wish to imagine me reading this to you, knock yourselves out. If it helps, I sound exactly like James Earl Jones. Trust me. Though in truth it sounds funnier if you read it in Christopher Walken's voice.)

As you can see by those definitions up there after the picture, the word "history" itself means different things to different people. Academics go with the first definition, which they use to create the third definition, usually in a very boring fashion. Don't get me started about academic historians, which I mentioned here once upon a time.

I prefer the second definition. Which also captures what academics like to call "prehistory," which to them is all the things which have occurred since the beginning of time up until people started writing stuff down. So if it isn't written, it isn't history?

What about the fossil record? What about other sources of information on what happened before somebody (probably an academic or a cleric) started writing stuff down? There are still areas of the world where there is no written language, so does their oral tradition not count as history?

We in the West typically view such things as folk tales, perhaps an element of truth is in there, but there is also self-deception and outright fabrications. When passing down tales of old to the young, do you really want to make the tribe look foolish or stupid?

In modern history we see the same thing, the old saying "History is written by the victors." (commonly attributed to Sir Winston Churchill) may or may not be true. (An interesting discussion about that can be read here.) But one thing is certain, people write things down for a variety of reasons. If it's just for themselves (a diary) or if it's for friends and family (letters), then the account will be accurate from the writer's perspective. Sometimes.

Things written down with the expectation of some form of reward won't necessarily be the most accurate accounts. After all, if you please your target audience, you might be rewarded. Think people writing for the news, or writing books for sale to the general public. If the target audience doesn't like it, odds are you won't be writing for them anymore.

Why do I study history? It fascinates me, the actions of people in the past, perhaps making the same mistakes we make nowadays and we expect different results. (Ask Einstein - maybe - about that!) Still and all, there is much we can learn from the past.

History is a complex thread woven of many different threads. People, places, events are the drivers of history. People can exhibit predictable behavior, crowds not so much. History is often driven by the mob.

I find it, fascinating.

What say you?

About that mosaic in the opening picture -

History, mosaic by Frederick Dielman. House Members Room, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.

The figure of History, in the mosaic's center, holds a pen and book. On both sides of her, there are tablets mounted in a marble wall with benches on either side of the tablets. The tablets contain the names of great historians. One tablet contains the names of the ancient historians Herodotus and Thucydides in brighter gold, followed by Polybius, Livy, Tacitus, Bæda, Comines. The other tablet contains the name of the modern historians Hume and Gibbon in brighter gold, along with Niebuhr, Guizot, Ranke, and the Americans Bancroft and Motley. At the foot of one of the tablets is a laurel wreath symbolizing peace, and at the foot of the second tablet is an oak wreath symbolizing war. A palm branch designating success rests against the wreaths and tablets.

The female figure on one side of History is Mythology. As the symbol of the theories of the universe, she holds a globe of the earth in her left hand. The Greeks' female sphinx to her right represents the eternally insoluble Riddle of the World. Tradition, the aged woman seated on the other side of History, represents medieval legend and folk tales. She is shown in the midst of relating her old wives' tales to the young boy seated before her. The distaff in her lap, the youth with a harp in his hand (a reference to the wandering minstrel of the Middle Ages), and the shield are reminders of a past age. The mosaic includes ancient buildings from the three nations of antiquity with highly developed histories: an Egyptian pyramid, a Greek temple, and a Roman amphitheater.

Along with the mosaic panel representing Law above the north fireplace, this mosaic was prepared in Venice, Italy and sent to the Jefferson Building to be put into place. Both mosaics were made of pieces, or tesserae, which were fitted together to provide subtle gradations in color.

I need to make an effort to see that someday. Pretty neat.