History is generally taught through the eyes and experiences of “Great Men” and “Leaders” as opposed to considering the average citizen’s experiences. What are the possible impacts and implications of this process of teaching and study history?
What we learn from these “Great Men” and “Leaders” is mostly a bunch of battle plans, statistics, and ideals thought up by angry men in their magnificent looking offices. Yet it is the thousands of soldiers who fight and die for the ideals of these grumpy men. And these grumpy men in turn receive reports, where these soldiers are no longer individuals, but instead they become another statistic to the casualties of war. All the while, these “Leaders” and “Great Men” not once standing to fight beside those men who are giving up their lives to maintain the ideals of these “Leaders”.
By learning from the “Great Men”, we are only listening to the opinions of a handful of people who sit behind desks, while the vast majority of civilians might not agree with what their “Leaders” are saying. In a war, there are multiple points of view, and by limiting the information we learn to the words of a few “Leaders”, the idea we get of the time is vastly different than what it probably was.
During wartime, a leader might make things not seem as bad by giving out different statistics about the causalities, print false stories about how cheerful everyone is at the fronts, or by simply exaggerating their victories and making their losses seem much less than reality. By doing this, the civilians might not be as depressed about the war, and some might even be encouraged to enlist.
Yet the war’s source is a conflict between a few men; the civilians have nothing to do with it. As Albert says, “We didn’t want the war, the others say the same thing – and yet half the world is in it all the same.” (Remarque, p.206). Then why do we learn from those who started the war yet didn’t actually fight for it? It makes more sense to learn from those who actually experienced the horrors of war, does it not? From their office desks, they can’t truly express the sentiment, death, and chaos that a war brings to a country; they can only imagine that all of those who fight are fighting for the same beliefs that they so strongly support.
It is like Paul’s school professor, Kantorek. He encouraged his young classmates to fight for a cause that he so strongly believed in, and giving in to the beliefs of their teacher, the students agree. Yet what did Kantorek know of the war? Had he ever fought in one himself? Because of he had, he would most likely want to spare the lives of such young men, rather than waste it on the bickering of some “Leaders”. Would you read the book of a man who believes in the war yet has not fought for the cause? Yet that is what we do when we learn from these “Leaders” and “Great Men”, for most of the time they have not once hold a gun and fought for their cause; they let others do it for them. And it is these others, the soldiers, who die for their cause.
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. US, New York. Ballantine Books, 1957-58.
I disagree with “these “Leaders” and “Great Men not once standing to fight beside those men who are giving up their lives to maintain the ideals of these “Leaders”.” Since not all leaders are ones who only plan and have no experiences in military. For example Charles De Gaulle was a soldier and served in the military during the 1st world war and then became a general during the 2nd world war and after that the 18th president of France. He once said that “War is like hunting with the exception that in war the rabbits shoot back”. A man with experiences of fighting would be able to relate war to such human activities. He has been through it and understands how fighting others is. To him it’s just like a hunting game, one must chase their prey and then kill it but in this case one must be careful not be killed first. Another example of a leader who was once in the military was Abdel Nasser who was the 2nd president of Egypt. Although, there may be generals who may have not experienced fighting in a battlefield before and all they can do is plan how to attack enemies on big maps with little ships and soldiers spread.
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