DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
After posting in the Holocaust conference thread, the thought came to me - what if the circumstances in which historical events have occurred were different? Example: What if Adolf Hitler had come to power at a different time and place of human development, ie Roman times or in China during the middle ages or even in the pre-Columbian Americas?
Would he have had the ability or mental defect needed to carry out his plans for his empire? Would he have persecuted another group just as badly as he did the Jews (namely, were they the victims of historical circumstance, or did Hitler actually have something against the Jews in particular) if he were in a different place in history?
And finally, if Hitler had come about in another time or place, would we as a society consider him to be just as evil if he were an African king, or an Indian raja? Did the fact that World War II took place in Europe affect Hitler's legacy?
I'll be honest, I'm absolutely fascinated with Hitler from a historical perspective. I reject outright his ideologies and policies and condemn them in the harshest terms possible, but the fact that it is possible not only for such distorted mindsets to actually exist, but to have such a profound impact on history is very interesting, I think. I also think it's interesting to find out how these minds that so differ from the norm actually work. I wonder if the way we perceive Hitler today (the most evil person to ever have lived) is a result of historical circumstance or if he genuinely was simply the most evil person ever, and would have done whatever he could to advance the same or similar ideas no matter where he was in history (ie. if being leader of a technologically advanced nation in Central Europe and having the technological capability to commit the atrocities he did affected what happened or if he did what he would have tried no matter if it was Germany 1933-45 or Paraguay 933-45).
I often wonder the same question about other historical leaders, too. What would Julius Caesar have done if he had tanks and an Air Force in this day and age and was the ruler of Mexico?
The dice of history are loaded, and you don't get a second roll. But what if historical circumstances were different? What are some other events/people that if things had been slightly different, the entire world would be unrecognizably different today?
Maybe I'll start off with the next question that comes to mind: What if Pickett's Charge on Union lines up Cemetery Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg had actually succeeded? The Confederacy would surely have won the battle then and had free rein in the cities of the North - in all probability, the war would have been won by the South if Pickett's cavalry had simply managed to hold their positions along a rock wall on a hill in the middle of a Pennsylvania farm.
Makes me wonder...
Would he have had the ability or mental defect needed to carry out his plans for his empire? Would he have persecuted another group just as badly as he did the Jews (namely, were they the victims of historical circumstance, or did Hitler actually have something against the Jews in particular) if he were in a different place in history?
And finally, if Hitler had come about in another time or place, would we as a society consider him to be just as evil if he were an African king, or an Indian raja? Did the fact that World War II took place in Europe affect Hitler's legacy?
I'll be honest, I'm absolutely fascinated with Hitler from a historical perspective. I reject outright his ideologies and policies and condemn them in the harshest terms possible, but the fact that it is possible not only for such distorted mindsets to actually exist, but to have such a profound impact on history is very interesting, I think. I also think it's interesting to find out how these minds that so differ from the norm actually work. I wonder if the way we perceive Hitler today (the most evil person to ever have lived) is a result of historical circumstance or if he genuinely was simply the most evil person ever, and would have done whatever he could to advance the same or similar ideas no matter where he was in history (ie. if being leader of a technologically advanced nation in Central Europe and having the technological capability to commit the atrocities he did affected what happened or if he did what he would have tried no matter if it was Germany 1933-45 or Paraguay 933-45).
I often wonder the same question about other historical leaders, too. What would Julius Caesar have done if he had tanks and an Air Force in this day and age and was the ruler of Mexico?
The dice of history are loaded, and you don't get a second roll. But what if historical circumstances were different? What are some other events/people that if things had been slightly different, the entire world would be unrecognizably different today?
Maybe I'll start off with the next question that comes to mind: What if Pickett's Charge on Union lines up Cemetery Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg had actually succeeded? The Confederacy would surely have won the battle then and had free rein in the cities of the North - in all probability, the war would have been won by the South if Pickett's cavalry had simply managed to hold their positions along a rock wall on a hill in the middle of a Pennsylvania farm.
Makes me wonder...