Last week I quoted Eugene O’Neil saying something about history repeating itself. I do believe that history has a very circular nature about it, but there’s something a bit too neat (and borderline Calvinist) about O’Neil’s statement. Here’s Mark Twain:
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
…there once was a country that was closed off from the world, isolated from even its neighbors, and a near mystery to everyone not living inside its borders. It citizens were mostly poor and its ruler was rather ruthless about maintaining the status quo. While much of the world had advanced and modernized, this country had stayed put, stuck in tradition and bound by an inertia that benefited no one, save for a few powerful figures. Its people were not educated and had very little idea what was happening beyond their shores.
Then, suddenly, everything changed. A new leader came to power with both the authority and the ambition to modernize his nation. Within only a few decades the country was, in some ways, unrecognizable: industry, education, infrastructure, open borders, and normalized relations with the world had all arrived…
What’s that? Oh, you think I’m describing Oman? Well, I guess I am. But what I actually had in mind was Japan in the late 1800s. The incredible transformation that Japan experienced–from a backward, agricultural collection of rich landowners to one of the world’s powers in a mere fifty years–is an amazing story and the current IGCSE topic for grade 9.
This period of time is known as Meiji Japan, named for the emperor, a man as personally subdued and forward-thinking as Sultan Qaboos. The parallels between the changes they brought about in their countries and the improvements they made in the lives of everyday people are profound.
[Side note: There’s this rather controversial idea in the study of history called the Great Man Theory: it purports that major events and turning points in history have been the result of the work of singular individuals. One reason that it’s become a bit passe´ is that those singular individuals (as textbooks tell it) always seem to be white, European men. Maybe that model should be revisited in light of Asian men such as Meiji and Qaboos.]
This is grade 9’s real introduction to IGCSE History, and as such we’re spending plenty of time on exam format and question types, along with helpful tips. But I hope the students maintain a big-picture view of the topic and realize that patterns matter in history. When we look at the world map today and lament the status of places like North Korea or Zimbabwe, it’s important to remember that some change isn’t gradual. All it takes is the right (wo)man, right place, right time.
[You’ll notice I do this a lot in my Broadcaster posts…just ramble about our current topic. Yes, this is in part because I’m a history nerd. It’s also because I want to let you in on the ideas and concepts we’re addressing in class so that you can have meaningful discussions with your student. -DK]