A new type of History has emerged throughout the past twenty years or so: the type of history that psychologically analyses why crucial historical individuals did certain actions they did.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/17/science/insane-or-just-evil-a-psychiatrist-takes-a-new-look-at-hitler.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
This article is one of the most common examples of this history: Why did Hitler do what he did?
My questions about this
Can one actually justify someone's actions by something that happened in his/her childhood or his/her past? If so to what extent?
Doesn't it depend as different things affect different people in different ways?
Surely one cannot make an analysis on the precise reasons of someone's actions based on some knowledge of their childhood?
Nevertheless, I feel that to some extent some things happened in the past because an individual made a decision that was heavily influenced by their childhood.
Some interesting examples
Louis XIV's distrust in his court, owing to the revolts throughout the nobility when he was only 9 that tried to overthrow him, maybe hindered France from becoming as powerful as it may have been, as he did not take anybody's advice.
Alexander III's extremely conservative reign after his father's assassination in 1881.
The Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 because of Nicholas II's hatred for the Japanese because of the Otsu incident. This was an attempt of assassination on the Tsarevich in 1891 by a Japanese when he was touring the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment