History TOK

Writing History History is written by the Victors – WWII last days in Germany example – Sniper treatment – POW treatment Historians can agree on the facts but generally will disagree on the significance

Writing History History is a selection of facts The historian has the advantage of hindsight He knows how things turned out Hindsight is very important in the study of History

Problems of Hindsight 5 minutes to come up with a couple of problems with hindsight Hindsight Bias After a catastrophe it is easy to say – “ even a fool knew that was going to happen” i.e. Everyone knew Germany was going to lose the war!!! In 1940 before America entered the war it looked far different!!

Historical Periods Hindsight allows us to divide history in periods

Periods

Bias Topic choice bias – choosing your topic based on the current societal state or need (the Manhattan Project) Confirmation bias – what supports your own case – ignore evidence to the contrary. National bias – pre-existing cultural and political prejudice (think of the first slide picture)

A Pluralistic approach: Cubist Theory of history: We should study history from the experiences of everyone not just the elite – Napoleon and his History What can you tell me, Tell me 5 things What do we know about the women in the camps? What do we know about the blacksmith in his armies? What do we know about the common people? Did the history channel make programs about the non elite– it does now? Name Some

The Great Person theory of History Holds that History is determined by great people. Exercise – Write down 5 great people who influenced history – Give it to you neighbor

Theory of Economic Determinism History Holds that History is determined by great economic events. Exercise – Write down 5 great economic evsnts that influenced history – Give it to you neighbour

Theory of Economic Determinism History is determined by economic factors Iddi Amin!!!! – Why did he invade Tanzania? – Maggie Thatcher and the Falklands Famous inventions change History – The computer – The gun We can predict the future using this theory Karl Marx put this forward but most people do not agree with it

Conclusion Despite the fact that the past no longer exists, yet history seeks to reconstruct it. Do we learn from History? We can understand both the past and ourselves better if we study History than if we chose to ignore it.