Author’s Note: As I considered the concept of this article, and even as I was writing it, I questioned whether it was something that I should share. I knew going in that people could misunderstand the purpose or misinterpret what I was trying to say. But then I realized that such dangers have always existed, so there is no reason to let such things stop me now. However, before you read this article, I ask you to promise me three things: First, promise me that you will not read into my writing something that I did not say. Second, promise me that you will read all the way to the end. If you stop reading part of the way through, you will almost definitely miss the entire purpose of the article. Finally, promise me that you will think about what I say and consider how it applies to you personally. If you are willing to make (and keep) these three promises, you may continue reading. Otherwise, you should stop now and walk away. By reading beyond this point, you are agreeing to these promises. Thank you.
While he is not the only one to say it, Winston Churchill is known for the statement “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Another common saying that goes hand in hand with Churchill’s statement is Henry Ford’s quote “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” To express these ideas in my own words: “History repeats itself unless we do something different in the present to change the future.” The idea of history repeating itself has been on my mind quite a bit over the past five weeks or so. It all started when I was reading some news headlines and they seemed oddly familiar, almost as if I had read them before. When I realized why the headlines felt so familiar, a chill went down my spine. I had, in fact, read them before. Well, not the exact headlines, but some that were almost identical.
You see, although I am no historian, I do have a fascination with historical events. In particular, I like to read about military history. Specifically, I have watched countless videos and read extensively about various battles and events from World War II. Over the years, I have accumulated a sizable collection of documentaries, videos, and books related to this dark time in the history of humanity. The horrors of this war are almost unbearable to read or hear, and yet I have a kind of strange fascination with these events. I realize that this is somewhat morbid, but I am drawn to the study of that horrific war. I distinctly remember seeing newspaper headlines from 1939 that read simply “Hitler Invades Poland”. Those headlines, coupled with my knowledge of what came in the years following those headlines, sent shivers up and down my spine and pierced my heart like an arrow. Now, here I am nearly eighty-three years later seeing headlines that read “Putin Invades Ukraine”. The shivers have come back.
Just to be clear, I am not declaring that Putin is another Hitler, nor am I stating that the invasion of Ukraine is identical to what happened to Poland less than a century ago. What I am saying is that there is a very good reason why the recent news headlines seem familiar to me, and why the quotes related to history repeating itself are on my mind. And, in my honest opinion, these thoughts should be on the minds of everyone right now. Why? Because we could be on the brink of the next World War if we have failed to learn from the past. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we have learned enough from history to avoid a repetition of the death, mayhem and destruction that threatened to destroy all of humanity in previous times of conflict. I pray to God that we have!
We now know that many events preceding the rise of Hitler put the world on the pathway to war. History also teaches us that world leaders (not to mention the general public) either missed or ignored many warning signs about what was about to happen. Even as Hitler rose to power in Germany, and then as he launched his invasion of Poland, the rest of the world seemed willing to turn a blind eye to what was happening. Many nations tried to ignore the signs or refused to get involved. Overall, the world was very slow to respond to Hitler’s aggression, and by the time the response came, it was nearly too late. As a result, millions of lives were lost and the world was forever changed. Ever since then, we have been left wondering “what if”.
In our modern era, we have quite a bit going for us that our predecessors did not have. One of our advantages over people who lived last century is the speed with which we can send and receive information. We also have much more visibility into what is going on in the world due to satellite imagery, sophisticated intelligence agencies, and near-instantaneous reporting of events as they happen. Overall, we have much greater insight into what is happening in the world than those who lived ninety or a hundred years ago. We also have the recorded history of two devastating world wars to learn from. But do you know what is the greatest advantage the world has today that it didn’t have back then? Today, the world has you and me. We weren’t around a century ago, but we are here now and we have the opportunity to prevent another all-out, full-fledged world war. Whether we realize it or not, we were put here for such a time as this. Like it or not, the responsibility is on our shoulders. So I ask the question again: Have we learned enough?
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