Ask A Historian

[Minimalist]

Josephus exaggerated everything else, why not this?

Although it is curious that in terms of the size of the platform, Josephus consistently understates it.  In the Antiquities he gives the perimeter of the compound as 4 stadia but in The Jewish War he calls it 6 stadia ( 1 Roman stade = 607 feet.)

The thing is modern measurements indicate the total as 8 stadia which gives Josephus an error rate of 25-50% depending on the source used.  It also leaves open the possibility that what we see now is a later Roman construction or at least an expansion of the original Herodian construction.  Hadrian did built an enormous temple to Jupiter when he rebuilt the city as Aelia Capitolina.  Perhaps the original Herodian platform was insufficient for his needs?

[Sappho]

The second world war caused a radical change in almost every matter, like philosophy, daily life, technology, art, ... so that everything now is a result of that big change. If the war wouldn't have occured, we might not be as far as we are now.

In that case, doesn't that result in the world war having a positive side as well?

[Minimalist]

I recall George Carlin - on Real Time with Bill Maher many years ago - making the observation that "Germany lost WWII.  Fascism won."  I suppose I'd have to ask you for a few more specific examples.  Every change has consequences.  Some good.  Some bad.  Depending on your point-of-view.

[Sappho]

I recall George Carlin - on Real Time with Bill Maher many years ago - making the observation that "Germany lost WWII.  Fascism won."  I suppose I'd have to ask you for a few more specific examples.  Every change has consequences.  Some good.  Some bad.  Depending on your point-of-view.

Facism, especially in Germany, made the world realise how easy it is to indoctrinate a whole nation and make them do things they would normally never do. It also cleared the path for human rights and the equality for each race and etnity.

WWII brought a rush in technology which has never been seen before and continued after the war. (Radar, rockets, atom splitting, ...)

Germany's old machines and factories were mostly destroyed/dismantled so that after the war they could start with the newest which provided a rush for them, while the other nations still struggled with their old technologies which they had to get rid of.

Radical changes in philosophy and the general thinking of mankind, which also occured after WWI. (Albert Camus edited his absurdism from nihilism to having a goal in life to help make the world less absurd, even though nobody will ever succeed in that, but doing it is an act of revolt.)

Art too, but I'm not really someone who loves art so I don't know what specific.

The world is now much more alert and countered against any slight uprise of too much nationalism, especially national-socialism.

The world fell into a duel between the US and the USSR, which made some even wonder what was worse: nat-soc or communism (Churchill even said: "We slaughered the wrong pig".)
All the energy put into that fight might have otherwise meant a even greater rush in technology.

Japan turned 180° and became quickly one of the most advanced countries in the world.

The war weakened the European nations so that they had to let go of their colonies, which would otherwise now maybe still be colonies. 

For my country in particular, Belgium: the repression of the French-speakers over the Flemish-speakers tempered and eventually dissapeared.

I hope this gives you an idea of what I meant.
These exemples are not looked up on the internet but come from my own knowledge, so I might be wrong somewhere.

[Gawdzilla]

I recall George Carlin - on Real Time with Bill Maher many years ago - making the observation that "Germany lost WWII.  Fascism won."  I suppose I'd have to ask you for a few more specific examples.  Every change has consequences.  Some good.  Some bad.  Depending on your point-of-view.

Facism, especially in Germany, made the world realise how easy it is to indoctrinate a whole nation and make them do things they would normally never do. It also cleared the path for human rights and the equality for each race and etnity.

WWII brought a rush in technology which has never been seen before and continued after the war. (Radar, rockets, atom splitting, ...)

Germany's old machines and factories were mostly destroyed/dismantled so that after the war they could start with the newest which provided a rush for them, while the other nations still struggled with their old technologies which they had to get rid of.

Radical changes in philosophy and the general thinking of mankind, which also occured after WWI. (Albert Camus edited his absurdism from nihilism to having a goal in life to help make the world less absurd, even though nobody will ever succeed in that, but doing it is an act of revolt.)

Art too, but I'm not really someone who loves art so I don't know what specific.

The world is now much more alert and countered against any slight uprise of too much nationalism, especially national-socialism.

The world fell into a duel between the US and the USSR, which made some even wonder what was worse: nat-soc or communism (Churchill even said: "We slaughered the wrong pig".)
All the energy put into that fight might have otherwise meant a even greater rush in technology.

Japan turned 180° and became quickly one of the most advanced countries in the world.

The war weakened the European nations so that they had to let go of their colonies, which would otherwise now maybe still be colonies. 

For my country in particular, Belgium: the repression of the French-speakers over the Flemish-speakers tempered and eventually dissapeared.

I hope this gives you an idea of what I meant.
These exemples are not looked up on the internet but come from my own knowledge, so I might be wrong somewhere.

[Minimalist]

OK. I don't know how I missed your reply but I'll get to it tomorrow. Too late here now to do it justice.

[Minimalist]

I don't think that fascism taught the world anything it did not already know about the ease of indoctrinating populations.  The church had perfected that art over the centuries leading up to the 30 Years War when they overplayed their hand.  Voltaire was not commenting on fascism when he said:  "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."  Hitler may have given the world an example of how it could be done quickly by a mere political leader but he had rich traditions of European nationalism and anti-semitism to smooth the way for him.  Hitler was nothing new and Mussolini was neither as bad nor as effective as Hitler but he was still a fascist.


Technological change always brings negatives as well as positives.  Yes, WWII developed rockets.  Now we can explore outer space but we also live under the threat of ICBM's and multiple warheads.  We have jet airliners and jet fighters which go 4 times as fast.  Splitting the atom unleashed a tremendous power source - for good or evil but even when used for good we are left with radioactive waste which will remain hot for thousands of years in many cases.

I agree that Germany built a modern economy but the US was not damaged by the war and continued on as the world's economic engine for a long time until the rich scumbags who call the shots decided that making money was easier than making an actual product. 

Generally philosophy interests me not at all.  And art?  Well, pre-modern art is mainly boring and modern art is awful.  As opposed to music where modern serious music is apparently a contest to see who can make as much discordant noise as possible but pre-twentieth century music was a triumph of the human spirit in comparison.

I tend to agree that the world is more sensitive to various aggessions , whatever the reason for them but the capacity to do anything about it seems to have weakened.  One need only look at world reaction to Darfur and Rwanda to see much blustering but little action.

The Cold War also was nothing new.  Britain and France were officially at war for roughly half of the 18th  century and unofficially at war ( through surrogates ) for most of the rest of it.  Would the world have been better off without it?  Sure.  But humanity does not seem to be wired that way.  Whenever you have two major powers in a relative area there will be tension.  The problem with the US-USSR version of it was that they had the power to obliterate the whole world....which was something of a bummer.  I remember those absurd "duck and cover" drills in school...."now children, if you hear the alarm, get under your desks and cover your heads."  I'm surprised we survived it.

I agree about Japan and you can throw in China but let's not pretend that there have not been societal costs to those nations.  Japan faces a multitude of issues including an aging population and a declining birthrate.  China is an environmental catastrophe.  Were they better off as simple farmers and fishermen?  Some undoubtedly were.  But as always, those people do not call the shots.  Technology and industrialization brings benefits and also problems.  Ultimately someone's ox always gets gored.

The legacy of colonialism has certainly been a mixed bag.  The problems caused by it continue to dog us.  I'm reminded that Iraq did not exist as a nation until 1932 when lines were drawn on a map for the benefit of European powers...must as happened with the "nations" in Africa.  Western hubris at its worst.  And now we sit back and smugly wonder why these people can't seem to govern themselves!  Sadly, in much of the world the European powers administered those colonies efficiently but stood no chance when people decided they wanted to be FREE.  Much like a psychotic who feels better when taking his medication and then stops taking it.  I have no answers for this.  But I do understand where it comes from.

As a personal note, since you mentioned you were Belgian, may I say that your English is exceptional and you have no trouble making your points in a clear and articulate manner.  I wish we could teach languages as well.... but we don't see the need.

[Sappho]

Thank you, for both the explanation and the personal note.
I must admit I'm not dumb so I picked up the language quite well, even though it was my fourth.
The thing I hate is that I can't play with words and sentences in English as I do in Dutch.
I'm always struggling to build my text in a nice way as you may have noticed.
Especially connotations and expressions.

[Gawdzilla]

Post war Japan showed that the zaibatsu could outdo the gumbatsu. The Japanese took that lesson to heart.

[Minimalist]

Interesting way to put it.

One of the best books I ever read on the subject was John Toland's "The Rising Sun."  The tortured logic of the Japanese military - up to and including the squabbling between the Army and Navy - is almost unbelievable for the western mind.  If you can find it, well worth your time.