Interpreting Major Historical Events

When analyzing our past, one can often views historical events in terms of repetitive cycles and patterns. When reflecting major historical events, one can notice how those patterns and specific events can mirror ones which have occurred earlier. The theory of History repeating is as old as history itself, and is based on the need for humans to analyze their world in terms of these repetitive cycles and patterns. George Santayana, the renowned philosopher, once said, “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” To view the world otherwise would be to ignore these patterns which are present throughout time. There is solace in the idea that history repeats itself, and for good or for worse, can act as a bearing on where

Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of history’s top military envoys, and was a French military and political leader who rose to power during the French Revolution. However, in the year 1812, he committed a grave mistake by leading his army, likely the largest European armed force ever assembled up to that point in history, across the Niemen River to attempt to invade and conquer Russia’s army. Napoleon's army was almost completely wiped out within six months by a multitude of things, including freezing temperatures, disease, food shortages, and Russian assaults. This resulted in a decisive Russian victory, and also proved to be the end for Napoleon, who was eventually forced into exile in April of the year 1814. One could imagine that such a massive mistake that took the lives of so many would best be avoided in future scenarios, but due to the ignorance of this past event, a similar defeat occurred approximately 129 years in succession. The year was 1941, in Nazi Germany. Hitler, who, like Napoleon, planned to defeat Russia’s army, expected that defeating the Russian forces would be an easy victory. Despite a multitude of losses in the first six weeks of war, Russian forces (or the Soviet Union) ceased to subside

The Holocaust, as it is widely known as, was the estimated genocide of at least 6 million jews by the Nazi regime and many collaborators, under leadership of the Nazi “Führer” or leader, Hitler. Led by the belief that Germans were racially superior to Jews, who were deemed inferior, Nazis killed nearly two out of every three European Jews, which was part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe. This horrible period in history should have never been repeated, but sadly, a similar event referred to as the Darfur Genocide occurred only 14 years ago, in Darfur, a region in Western Sudan. The Darfur Genocide is the persistent rape and mass slaughter of Darfuri women, men, and children in Western Sudan. These killings commenced in 2003, and was the first genocide in the 21st century. Obviously, unrest and violence persist still to this day. The genocide is carried out by a group of government-armed and funded Arab militia group known as the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed consistently terrorizes by burning villages, looting economic resources, polluting water sources, murdering, raping, and torturing Darfuri civilians. However different these two historical events may be, they both center around the same components such as the stripping of rights, segregation, concentration, and