by Jackson J. Spielvogel
This is a textbook, and is just full of information and trying to provide a summary would be pointless. Rather than attempt to do so, i wonder waht the single most important event or theme of the last 221 years is? obviously there are soooo many important ones, but do any stick out like a sore thumb? democracy? imperialism, industrial revolution, socialism or social reforms, WWI or WWII,computers, revolutions? maybe pick a top 3?
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My top 3, in ascending order, are:
ReplyDelete3) The atomic bomb. While not thought of as much today as during our parents' and grandparents' generations, the atomic bomb was finally a weapon powerful enough to make the major powers of the would stop and take stock of just what was worth fighting a war over. Without the bombing of Hiroshima, there would already have been a World War III, and possibly IV and V by now.
2) Photography. Photos and the later motion pictures made possible for the first time a real window into history. We could now see the people and places we had only read about, or seen paintings that were impossible to tell the accuracy of. With photography, it was an important step in a better understanding of our world.
1) The Internet (with special thanks to radio and moving pictures). Without a doubt the internet is the biggest change to our society since at least the printing press. A person can now be instantly connected to friends, strangers, and information instantaneously. Newspapers, first newspapers, then telephones, radio, movies, and television broke down communications barriers and allowed us to have an idea of the current state of the world. Now the internet combines them all with access to almost any information you want or need. Yes, not nearly all of it is useful, but the interconnectedness of it is why I think scholars of the future will divide history into pre- and post-information ages at almost the same level as the divide between prehistory and written history.
Those are some pretty good ones!
ReplyDeletewhile i agree on one of them i think are a few other extremely crucial developments since 1789.
its hard for me to put them in order so i will just list them off:
x.)Nationalism- the concept of nationalism has played an enormous role in the lsat centuries. With the church no longer as the most powerful unifying force, groups of people starting identifying themselves with a secular nation. with a secular state in power, the church was no longer able to ban controversial ideas and writers and this led to a huge increase of knowledge based on scientific reasoning, rather than fideism. Nationalism has been cause for racism, and led to both of the world wars and the cold war and beyond. it seems we are heading toward and international society now, but nationalism has drastically changed every aspect of hman life.
x.)Electricity- while people knkew it existed before this, it was not harnessed before this time period. electricity provide the basis for the industrial revolution and the creation of massive machines. goods were able to be produced on a MASSSIVE scale and this changed the way society was structured and families no longer worked at home but went off to work at large factories. people were able to work into the night without candle light and electricity is a true victory over nature by mankind. not to mention that it made possible all modern technology, the computer and my last term on the list:
x.)the internet. kevin already listed the significance of the internet but it is truly amazing to think that endless amountws of information are available almost instantly at all times through the air, in cell phones etc. the marketing industry has been totally revamped, worldculture is available instantly and because of the simplicity of publishing online, we not only have entered an era of massive information but of massive disinformation.