I get the strong impression that folks in Europe spend a whole lot more time studing WWI than we do. I'm not sure how much time we spent on it in various history classes over the years, but my basic recollection is that it was "So, someone shot Franz Ferdinand. War broke out. There were trenches, gasses, and general misery and Woodrow Wilson dreamed up the League of Nations as a result. Next!" I'm sure we did a bit more with it than that, but certainly it wasn't anywhere as big a deal in my classes as WWII. Doubtless this is the result of the fact that we did not so much ride in with the cavalry, having been pulled into the war kicking and screaming, and save everyone's arse like we like to think we did with WWII.
Is the horizon of understanding always fixed at ninety or so years in the past?
I doubt it, both because you say you feel the late 1800s are less distant these two decades (not surprising--Civil War and its aftermath means you spend more time there in history class), and because I'd say that period feels just as remote to me now as it did when I was in school 20+ years ago.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-11-11 06:23 pm (UTC)Is the horizon of understanding always fixed at ninety or so years in the past?
I doubt it, both because you say you feel the late 1800s are less distant these two decades (not surprising--Civil War and its aftermath means you spend more time there in history class), and because I'd say that period feels just as remote to me now as it did when I was in school 20+ years ago.