5 historical truths that were not explained to us at school

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The story is more complicated and more interesting than it seems.

1. History is not the same science as physics or chemistry

History studies the past of humanity. From a scientific point of view, the main problem is that events have already happened and will not happen again. The historian cannot YS Yaskevich, VN Sidortsov, AN Nechukhrin and others. Comprehension of history: ontological and epistemological approaches to conduct an experiment and, for example, to reproduce the Battle of Borodino in a test tube.

In addition, the past can be interpreted in different ways. Even the study of written or material evidence will not give clear conclusions. Because of this, assessments of historical events are diametrically opposed.

Doubts may arise, but can history be considered a science at all?

Historians themselves answer this question in the affirmative. Indeed, despite the many interpretations, experts can establish logical relationships in the events of the past. Although historians do not experiment, researchers use other scientific methods, such as comparative analysis.

So history is science. Inaccurate, specific, but still science.

2. History is not only tales of rulers and wars

Ever since school, we have become accustomed to the fact that history only tells about global events. For example, about wars, revolutions and important decisions of kings or kings. Descriptions of culture and everyday life are rarely given more than 2-3 paragraphs in a school textbook. And even these short passages are often overlooked by the teacher as supposedly not so important. True, the real reason is usually behind the program.

In fact, historians have long been studying not only wars or politics, but also the daily life of people of the past. For example, they describe K. Ginzburg. Cheese and worms. Painting of a miller who lived in the 16th century. the occupations and beliefs of a medieval miller. So, he believed that the universe is a huge cheese head. Such heretical beliefs, of course, could not lead to good - the peasant was caught by the inquisitors. And the doctor of historical sciences A. Salnikova tells A. Salnikova. The history of the Christmas tree decorations, what were the Christmas tree decorations at different times and what influence the change of eras had on them.

Such research makes history more lively and understandable. After all, any monetary reform can be considered in different ways. Write about "devaluation", "stabilization of the exchange rate" and "rapid industrial development" or tell how the government's decision has affected the lives of ordinary people. For example, how much did bread rise in price?

3. Knowing the dates and names of historical figures does not mean knowing history

Many students and their parents find history lessons to be one of the most boring. Endless dates, the names of princes, kings, kings, emperors, a series of events, cramming and retelling at the blackboard - only the listing of these things makes you yawn.

The funny thing is that memorization does not help to understand history, and the teacher's emphasis on cramming, most likely, speaks of his unprofessionalism.

Of course, it's cool to remember the dates of the Crusades or the names of all the wives of Ivan the Terrible, especially if there is where to apply this knowledge. For example, in an intellectual game show, when doing crossword puzzles, or at a party for medieval historians. Only a bunch of useless dates, names and events does not help to understand what happened and see completely incredible relationships.

For example, the crusaders appeared largely due to the warming climate. It sounds unexpected, but it’s like this: because of the good weather, yields have improved, and people began to starve less. Life became more fun, and representatives of the nobility gave birth to children. But the land, that is, the main source of income, was inherited only by the eldest son. As a result, hundreds of landless "younger sons" began to roam the continent, terrorizing G. Königsberger. Medieval Europe. 400-1500 years old land of older brothers, monasteries, and in general everything. And then the Pope came up with the idea to redirect the energy of youth to a godly cause - the return of Jerusalem.

Dates and names only show the sequence of events, but do not help to find out the reasons for what happened. Therefore, to understand history is, first of all, to be able to find cause-and-effect relationships between phenomena. By the way, they write about this in manuals for teachers.

4. Testimonies of the past are the main tool of the historian, but even they can lie

Contrary to popular misconception, historians who conduct research honestly and value their reputation do not rewrite the books of their colleagues. Experts try to draw all information from the evidence of the era under study - historical sources. Moreover, these will be not only books, but also, for example, language features and mythological plots.

Mainly material (archaeological finds) and written sources are used in research. The latter are valued by historians more than anyone else, but they have one drawback. The authors were biased A. Pro. Twelve lessons in history. The court chroniclers whitewashed their princes and denigrated their opponents. Generals and politicians exaggerated their own achievements and efforts.

In addition to frank embellishments, there is another problem: the chroniclers often relied on unverified information, and they themselves made mistakes. This, for example, was the sin of the ancient historians Herodotus and Titus Livy. So, Herodotus not only referred to myths like stories about huge fluffy ants, but also got confused in the chronology of the kingdoms of Ancient Egypt. And Titus Livy chose the most "plausible" interpretation of events in his opinion, if he came across different versions in the sources.

Therefore, historians have to meticulously study written sources. For this, external and internal criticism of the document is applied. The first establishes authenticity, period and authorship, if possible. Experts study the material of paper, ink, writing manners and other indirect signs. The second assesses the reliability of what is stated in the document: scientists compare what is written with other sources, chronology and already known facts.

5. Knowledge about the past helps to better understand the present, and not to know the future

It is often said that history helps to anticipate future events - and this is its main benefit. Say, knowledge of the experience of our ancestors will save us from mistakes.

In fact, history is unlikely to be very useful to futurists: the future is too uncertain, and the past is often assessed in different ways. Thus, Marxist historians considered the victory of socialism and the death of capitalism to be a natural and inevitable process, which is predetermined by the very course of history. Tellingly, they looked for and found evidence of this. And then the Soviet Union collapsed.

In fact, history says much more about the present. She explains how decisions made by rulers and ordinary people are reflected in modern life. This is the great value and great danger of history. After all, if you want to hide the problems of the present, you can try to rewrite the past, blaming all the mistakes on your predecessors.