World History

Recently, I have been watching a show with footage from WWII that had been remastered in color. Unfortunate timing, given my growing belief that the world has lost its damn mind and we are heading toward Orwellian levels of fear mongering, hate, and government control. Based on my Facebook feed, at least. But that is a topic for some other time.

No, what struck me, as I was watching, was how little I actually knew about these important events. Did I sleep through world history?

Living in Japan, interacting with people from all over the world, I came to realize just how one-sided my education had been.

I don’t mean that in a negative way. My British friends had an equally nationally-centered world view. As did the Australian, Danish, German, Chinese, Korean, and Italians I met. Not to mention the Japanese. Everyone is taught history with themselves (or their country) at the center. The American Revolution isn’t the American Revolution to the British.

Before I moved to Japan, my knowledge of WWII history was very, very basic. Hitler. The Holocaust. Then the Americans saved the day.

I knew about Pearl Harbor, my grandfather was there, but I didn’t understand the skirmishes, sanctions, and politics that led up to it. I also didn’t understand the mindset of the Japanese people. Or any people other than my own.

I didn’t realize that Asia was fighting its own world war at the time. Or that they had fought the same war, over and over, for thousands of years. That the hatred between Japan, China, and Korea was as thick and deep as any European feud I ever studied. Maybe deeper.

Living abroad opened my eyes to just how small my world was. And how much I have left to learn.

It also makes me worry for those who don’t have the opportunity or desire try it themselves. They say that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. But I would argue that those who don’t study ALL of history are equally doomed. We can no longer afford to look at things from a single perspective. We must open our eyes wide.

Yes, Hitler was a demon. But how did a demon come to power? Yes, Pearl Harbor was a tragedy. But how could two cultures see the world so differently that such an event was logical for one and incomprehensible for the other?

We must look past our self-centered version of the world. We must realize that there is always another side to the story. We must understand that others don’t think the same way we do, believe the same things we do, or hold the same values as we do.

Hindsight is always 20-20. I say that a lot. But as I watched the young men and women – almost all dead by now, but still so alive on the screen – I felt very aware of my monumental ignorance.

Not knowing. Not understanding. Being blind to the feelings and values of our fellow man. That is how WWII started. Will it be the catalyst for WWIII?