chapter 23
Nelson Mandela of South Africa spent 27 years in prison for treason, sabotage, and conspiracy.
In 1994, he became South Africa’s first black president
Decolonization was vastly important in the second half of the twentieth century.
The newly independent states experimented politically, economically, and culturally
These states were labeled as the third world during the cold war
Now are often called developing countries or the Global South
They include a large majority of the world’s population
Suffer from enormous challenges
Toward Freedom: Struggles for Independence
The End of Empire in World History
India, Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel won independence in the late 1940s
African independence came between mid-1950s and mid-1970s
More than 50 colonies won freedom
Imperial breakup wasn’t new; the novelty was mobilization of the masses around a nationalist ideology and creation of a large number of new nation-states
Some comparison to the first decolonization of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
But in the Americas, most colonized people were of European origin, holding a common culture with their colonial rulers
Fall of many empires in the twentieth century
Austrian and Ottoman empires collapsed in the wake of World War I
Russian Empire collapsed but was soon recreated as the USSR
German and Japanese empires ended with World War II
African and Asian independence movements shared with other “end of empire” stories the ideal of national self-determination
Nonterritorial empires (e.g., where United States wielded powerful influence) came under attack
U.S. intrusion helped stimulate the Mexican Revolution(1910)
As in Mexico, Cuban revolution (1959–1960) included nationalization of assets dominated by foreign investors
Disintegration of the USSR (1991) was propelled by national self-determination (creation of 15 new states)
Explaining African and Asian Independence
Few people would have predicted imperial collapse in 1900
Several explanations for decolonization have emerged:
Emphasis on the fundamental contradictions in the colonial enterprise
Rhetoric of Christianity and material progress didn’t fit the reality of racism, exploitation, and poverty
Europeans’ increasingly democratic values were in conflict with colonial dictatorship
Ideal of national self-determination was at odds with repression of the same in colonies
Historians use the idea of “conjuncture” to explain timing of decolonization
The world wars had weakened Europe and undermined a sense of European superiority
The United States and USSR opposed older European colonial empires
The UN provided a platform for anticolonial moves
These factors helped create a moral climate in which imperialism was viewed as wrong
By the early to mid-twentieth century, the colonies had multiple generations of Western-educated elites
Some scholars emphasize the role of specific groups and individuals—the issue of “agency”
In many areas, colonial powers themselves planned for independence of colonies
Pressure of nationalist movements
The leaders of some nationalist movements became the “fathers” of new states: Gandhi and Nehru (India), Sukarno (Indonesia), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Nkrumah (Ghana), Mandela (South Africa)
Millions of ordinary people joined in
Independence was contested everywhere
Independence efforts usually were not cohesive movements of uniformly oppressed people
Fragile coalitions of conflicting groups and parties
Comparing Freedom Struggles
The Case of India: Ending British Rule
Before 1900, few people of the Indian subcontinent thought of themselves as “Indians”
Cultural identity was primarily local
Diversity was enormous
British rule promoted a growing sense of Indian identity
Unlike earlier foreign rulers, the British didn’t assimilate; Indians shared more similarities to each other than to the rulers
British communications and administrative networks, schools, and use of English bound India together
1885: establishment of the Indian National Congress (INC)
Almost exclusively an association of English-educated, high-caste Hindus
Made moderate demands; at first asked for a greater role in the life of British India
British mocked them and rejected their claim to speak for all Indians
The INC only began to gain a wide following after World War I
In 1917, Britain promised future development of self-government
British attacks on the Ottoman Empire antagonized Muslim Indians
Repressive actions by the British caused outrage
The role of Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948)
Had studied law in England but wasn’t a very successful lawyer
In 1893, took a job in South Africa
Joined a movement to fight racial segregation there
Developed a notion of India that included both Hindus and Muslims
Developed the political philosophy of satyagraha (“truth force”)
Active but nonviolent confrontation
Back in India, Gandhi became a leader of the INC
1920s and 1930s: periodic mass campaigns that won massive public support
British responded with repression and concessions
Gandhi transformed the INC into a mass organization
Won the name “Mahatma” (Great Soul)
Attacked not just colonial rule but also mistreatment of India’s untouchables and the evils of modernization
Not everyone agreed with Gandhi
Especially important was a growing Muslim/Hindu divide
1906: creation of an All-India Muslim League
Some Hindu politicians defined the nationalist struggle in religious terms
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, head of the Muslim League, argued that regions of India with a Muslim majority should be a separate state (Pakistan, the land of the pure)
Independence in 1947 created two countries
Pakistan (Muslim, divided into two wings 1,000 miles apart)
India (secular but mostly Hindu)
Process was accompanied by massive violence; some 1 million died, 12 million refugees relocated
1948: a Hindu extremist assassinated Gandhi
The Case of South Africa: Ending Apartheid
South Africa won freedom from Great Britain in 1910
But its government was controlled by a white settler minority
So the black South African freedom struggle was against an internal opponent
White population was split between British descendants (had economic superiority) and Afrikaners (Boers) of Dutch descent (had political dominance)
Afrikaners had failed to win independence from the British in the Boer War (1899–1902)
Both white groups felt threatened by any move toward black majority rule
By the early 1900s, South Africa had a mature industrial economy
By the 1960s, had major foreign investments and loans
Black South Africans were extremely dependent on the white-controlled economy
The issue of race was overwhelmingly prominent
Policy of apartheid tried to keep blacks and white completely separate, while retaining black labor power
Enormous repressive powers enforced social segregation
African National Congress (ANC) founded in 1912
Like India’s INC, it consisted of elite Africans who wanted a voice in society
For 40 years, the ANC was peaceful and moderate
1950s: moved to nonviolent civil disobedience
The government’s response was overwhelming repression
69 unarmed demonstrators were shot at Sharpville in 1960
ANC was banned and its leadership imprisoned
Underground nationalist leaders turned to sabotage and assassination
Opposition came to focus on student groups
Soweto uprising (1976) was the start of spreading violence
Organization of strikes
Growing international pressure
Exclusion from international sporting events
Economic boycotts
Withdrawal of private investment funds
Negotiations began in the late 1980s
Key apartheid policies were abandoned
Mandela was freed and the ANC legalized
1994: national elections brought the ANC to power
Apartheid was ended without major bloodshed
Most important threat was a number of separatist and “Africans only” groups
Experiments with Freedom
New nations emerging from colonial rule confronted the problem of how to parlay independence into economic development and industrial growth,unification, and political participation.
Already independent but non industrialized countries faced the same quest for a better life
All together = the third world (developing countries, the Global South)
1950–2000: developing nations contained 75 percent of world population
Accounted for almost all of the quadrupling of world population in the twentieth century
Independence created euphoria, but optimism soon faded in light of difficulties
Experiments in Political Order: Comparing African Nations and India
Common conditions confronted all efforts to establish political order:
Explosive population growth
Overly high expectations for independence
Cultural diversity, with little loyalty to a central state
In the 1950s, British, French, and Belgians set up democratic institutions in their African colonies
Few still survived by the early 1970s
Many were swept away by military coups
Some evolved into one-party systems
In India, Western-style democracy succeeded
The independence movement was more extended, and power was handed over gradually
Many more Indians than Africans had administrative and technical skills at the time of independence
The Indian Congress Party embodied the whole nationalist movement, without too much internal discord
Various arguments as to why Africans initially rejected democracy
Some argue that the Africans were not ready for democracy or lacked some necessary element
Some argue that African traditional culture (communal,based on consensus) was not compatible with party politics
Some argue that Western-style democracy was inadequate to the task of development
Widespread economic disappointment discredited early African democracies
African economic performance since independence has been poor
Widespread economic hardship
Modern governments staked their popularity on economic success
The well-educated elite benefited most, obtaining high-paying bureaucratic jobs that caused resentment
Economic resentment found expression in ethnic conflict
Repeatedly, the military took power in a crisis
Starting in the 1980s, Western-style democracy has resurfaced
Series of grassroots movements arose after authoritarian governments failed to improve economic situation
Experiments in Economic Development: Changing Priorities, Varying Outcomes
The belief that poverty isn’t inevitable won out
However, in many states, colonial rule had not provided much infrastructure for modern development
Most developing countries didn’t have leverage in negotiation with wealthy nations and corporations
African leaders got contradictory advice on how to develop successfully
General expectation in the developing world that the state would spur economic development
Most private economies were weakly developed
Chinese and Soviet industrialization provided models
But for several decades, there has been growing dependence on market forces for economic development
Many states privatized state-run industries
Influenced by collapse of the USSR’s state-dominated economy
Western pressures pushed developing countries toward capitalism
Urban vs. rural development has been an important issue
In some areas, the “urban bias” has been partly corrected
Women’s access to employment, education, and birth control provided incentives to limit family size
Debate over whether foreign aid, investment, and trade are good or bad
The degree of economic development has varied widely by region
East Asia has been the most successful
1990s: India opened itself more fully to the world market
Several Latin American states developed industrially
Most of Africa, much of the Arab world, and parts of Asia didn’t catch up, and standards of living often declined
There is no general agreement about why such great variations developed
Experiments with Culture: The Role of Islam in Turkey and Iran
The relationship between Western-style modernity and tradition has been an issue across the developing world
The case of Islam: Turkey and Iran approached the issue of how Islam and modernity should relate to each other very differently
Turkey: emerged in the wake of World War I, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938)
Major cultural revolution in the 1920s and 1930s
Effort to create a thoroughly modern, Western society
Much of the Islamic underpinning of society was abolished or put under firm government control
Effort to keep Islam personal, rather than an official part of public life
Men were ordered not to wear the fez; many elite women gave up the veil
Women gained legal rights, polygamy was abolished, and women got the vote (1930s)
State-organized enterprises were set up
Government remained authoritarian, although a parliamentary system emerged after 1938
Iran: became the center of Islamic revival (1970s)
Growing opposition to Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi’s modernizing, secularizing, U.S.-supported government
Many of the shah’s reforms offended traditional Islamic practices
The mosque became the main center of opposition to the government
The Shia ulama had stayed independent from the state
Shia leaders became the voice of opposition, especially the Ayatollah Khomeini
The shah was forced to abdicate in 1979, and Khomeini assumed control of the state
Established the sharia as the law of the land
Secular officials were purged
Rejection of many Western practices as anti-Islamic
The Islamic revolution in Iran wasn’t revolutionary in social terms
Iran also continued to work on economic modernity
Reflections: History in the Middle of the Stream
It is difficult for historians to discuss more recent events and themes like those described in this chapter, because that history is still in the making.
Detachment is difficult
We don’t know what the final outcomes will be
Historians know how unexpected and surprising historical processes can be.
But still, history is our only guide to the possible shape of the future
The history of modern events provides a useful reminder that people in earlier times didn’t know the way things would turn out either
Chapter 24
The discussion of Barbie and Ken dolls shows the power of global commerce today.
But it also shows reaction to the values portrayed by Barbie/Ken elsewhere in the world, e.g., Iran
Iran created new dolls (Sara and Dara) that displayed Iranian Muslim values and practices
But the Sara/Dara dolls and the Barbie/Ken dolls were all made in China
Throughout the twentieth century, a dense web of political relationships, economic transactions, and cultural influences increasingly boundthe world together.
By the 1990s, this process of accelerating engagement was known as globalization
Globalization has a long history upon which twentieth-century globalization was built
Pace of globalization increased rapidly after World War II
Global Interaction and the Transformation of the World Economy
Most commonly, “globalization” refers to international economic transactions.
Has come to seem inevitable to many since 1950
Global economic linkages contracted significantly in the first half of the twentieth century, especially between the two world wars
The capitalist winners of WWII were determined not to repeat the Great Depression
Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) agreements (1944):
Established the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
Laid the foundation for postwar globalization
The “Bretton Woods system” promoted relatively free trade, stable currencies linked to the U.S. dollar,high levels of capital investment
Technology also helped accelerate economic globalization
1970s: major capitalist countries dropped many controls on economic activity; increasingly viewed the world as a single market
This approach was known as neo-liberalism
Favored reduction of tariffs, free global movement of capital, a mobile and temporary workforce, privatization of state enterprises, less government regulation of the economy, tax and spending cuts
Neo-liberalism was imposed on many poor countries as a condition for giving them loans
The breakdown of communist state-controlled economies furthered the process
Reglobalization
Global economic transactions quickened dramatically after WWII
World trade skyrocketed ($57 billion in 1947; over $7 trillion in 2001)
Money became highly mobile globally
Foreign direct investment (FDI), especially after 1960
Short-term investment in foreign currencies or stocks
International credit cards, allowing easy transfer of money to other countries (e.g., in 2003, MasterCard was accepted in 210 countries or territories)
Disparities and Resistance
Economic globalization accompanied, and maybe helped generate, the greatest economic growth spurt in world history; immense creation of wealth
Life expectancies rose nearly everywhere, infant mortality declined
Literacy rates increased
Great decline in poverty
Massive chasm has developed between rich industrialized countries and everyone else
Ratio between the income of the top and bottom 20 percent of world’s population was 3:1 in 1820; 86:1 in 1991
The great disparity has shaped almost everyone’s life chances
Provided the foundation for a new kind of global conflict
New fights over rules for world trade, foreign aid, representation in international economic organizations, indebtedness, and environmental and labor standards
Growing disparities between the developing countries made common action difficult
Growing economic inequality within individual states, both rich and poor
The United States lost millions of manufacturing jobs, forcing factory workers into lower-paying jobs, while others prospered in high-tech industries
Northern Mexico (with links to the U.S.) became much more prosperous than southern Mexico
Reflected in the Chiapas rebellion, which began in 1994
In China, urban income by 2000 was three times that of rural income
Globalization and an American Empire
For many, opposition to corporate free-trade globalization = opposition to growing U.S. power and influence in the world
Often seen as an “American Empire”
Most Americans deny that America is an empire
Perhaps best described as an “informal empire” like those exercised by Europeans in China and the Middle East in the nineteenth century
Marked by economic penetration, political pressure, and periodic military action, not direct governance
Use of immense wealth to entice or intimidate
“Soft Power” of cultural attractiveness
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war left the United States without any equivalent power in opposition
The United States was able to act unilaterally against Afghanistan and Iraq after being attacked by Islamic militants on September 11, 2001
Establishment of a lasting peace is more elusive
The United States is in a new global struggle, to contain or eliminate Islamic “terrorism”
The United States has faced growing international economic competition since about 1975
U.S. share of overall world production: about 50 percent in 1945; 20 percent in the 1980s
Sharp reversal of U.S. trade balance: U.S. imports now far exceed its exports
Armed struggle against U.S. intervention in Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, etc.
During the cold war, some states turned toward the USSR to limit U.S. influence; France even withdrew from NATO in 1967
Intense dislike of American “cultural imperialism”
By 2000, widespread opposition to U.S. international policies
United States refused to accept International Criminal Court jurisdiction
United States refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol on global warming
U.S. doctrine of preemptive war used in Iraq
U.S. use of torture
The global exercise of American power has also caused controversy within the United States
The Vietnam War split the country worse than anything since the Civil War
The U.S. invasion of Iraq provoked similar protests and controversies
The Globalization of Liberation: Comparing Feminist Movements
The idea of liberation traveled around the world in the twentieth century.
The 1960s in particular saw a convergence of protest movements around the world, suggesting a new global culture of liberation
United States: civil rights, youthful counterculture, antiwar protests
Europe: protests against unresponsive bureaucracy, consumerism, middle-class values (especially in France in 1968)
Communist world: attempt to give socialism a human face in Czechoslovakia (“Prague spring,” 1968)
Movement was crushed by the Soviet Union
China: Cultural Revolution
Development of the idea of a third world
Dream of offering an alternative to both capitalism and communism; cultural renewal
Third world ideology exemplified by Che Guevara (d. 1967): effort to replicate the liberation of the Cuban revolution through guerrilla warfare in Africa and Latin America
Among all the liberation movements, feminism had the most profound potential for change
Rethinking of basic relationships between men and women
Began in the West in the nineteenth century (suffrage)
Feminism in the West
Organized feminism revived in the West (1960s) with a new agenda
Against historic understanding of women as “other” or deviant
Demanded right of women to control their own bodies
Agenda of equal rights in employment and education
“Women’s Liberation”: broad attack on patriarchy as a system of domination
Consciousness raising: becoming aware of oppression
Open discussion of issues involving sexuality
Black women emphasized solidarity with black men, not separation from them
Feminism in the Global South
Women had been welcomed in communist and revolutionary movements but were sidelined after movements’ success
Many African feminists (1970s) thought Western feminists were too individualistic and too focused on sex
Resented Western feminists’ interest in cultural matters like female circumcision and polygamy
Many African governments and many African men identified feminism with colonialism
Not all women’s movements dealt explicitly with gender
Kenya: women’s group movement supported individual women and communities
Morocco: feminist movement targeted law defining women as minors; women finally obtained legal equality in 2004
Chile: women’s movement during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973–1990) crossed class and party lines, helped groups survive economically, exposed human rights abuses
South Korea: women joined a mass popular movement that brought democracy by the late 1980s
Drew heavily on the experience and exploitation of syoung female workers in the country’s export industries
International Feminism
The “woman question” became a global issue in the twentieth century
Patriarchy lost some of its legitimacy
UN declared 1975 as International Women’s Year
And declared 1975–1985 as the Decade for Women
UN sponsored a series of World Conferences on Women
By 2006, 183 nations had ratified the UN Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women
Sharp divisions within global feminism
Who has the right to speak on behalf of women?
Conflict between developed and developing nations’ interests
Third world groups often disagreed
Global backlash
View that feminism had undermined family life
Religion and Global Modernity
Modernity presented a challenge to the world’s religions.
“Advanced” thinkers of the eighteenth–twentieth centuries believed that supernatural religion was headed for extinction
Sharp decline in religious belief and practice in some places
Spread of scientific culture convinced small minorities that the only realities worth considering were those that could be measured scientifically
But the most prominent trends of the last century have been the further spread of major world religions, their resurgence in new forms, and their attacks on elements of a secular and global modernity
Buddhist ideas and practices were well received in the West
Christianity spread even further; majority of Christians are no longer in Europe and the United States
Islam also spread widely
Religious pluralism on a level never before seen
Fundamentalism on a Global Scale
“Fundamentalism” is a major reaction against modernization and globalization
A militant piety, defensive and exclusive
Has developed in every major religious tradition
Many features of the modern world appear threatening to established religion
Have upset customary class, family, and gender relationships
Nation-states (often associated with a particular religion) were undermined by the global economy and foreign culture
Disruption was often caused by foreigners from the West
Fundamentalists have responded with selective rejection of modernity
Actively use modern communication technology
The term “fundamentalism” comes from U.S. religious conservatives in the early twentieth century; called for a return to the fundamentals of Christianity
Many saw the United States on the edge of a moral abyss
In the 1970s, began to enter the political arena as the religious right
Another fundamentalism, called Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, developed in India in the 1980s
Formed a political party (Bharatiya Janata Party)
Opposed state efforts to cater to Muslims, Sikhs, and the lower castes
BJP promoted a distinct Hindu identity in education, culture, and religion
Creating Islamic Societies: Resistance and Renewal in the World of Islam
Islamic fundamentalism is the most prominent fundamentalism of the late twentieth century
Osama bin Laden and the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
WTC destruction is only one sign of a much bigger phenomenon
Great disappointments in the Muslim world by the 1970s
New states (e.g., Egypt, Iran, Algeria) pursued basically Western and secular policies
New policies were largely unsuccessful
Foreign intrusion continued
Israel, founded in 1948, was regarded as an outpost of the West
Israel defeated Arab forces in the Six-Day War (1967)
Western cultural penetration
Growing attraction of an Islamic alternative to Western models
Foundations laid early in the century (e.g., Mawlana Mawdudi,Sayyid Qutb)
Insistence that the Quran and the sharia provide a guide for all life
Decline and subordination of Islamic world caused by departure from Islamic principles
Effort to return to true Islam was labeled “jihad”
Penetration of fundamentalist thought in the Islamic world
Increase in religious observance
Many women voluntarily adopted modest dress and veils
Many governments used Islamic rhetoric and practice as anchor
Series of Islamic organizations were formed to provide social services
Islamic activists became leaders in unions and professional organizations
Entry into politics
The Algerian Islamic Salvation Front was set to win elections (1992), but the military government canceled elections; led to 10 years of civil war
Some groups sought overthrow of compromised regimes
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981
In 1979, a radical Islamic group in Mecca tried to overthrow the Saudi government
slamic movements took power in Iran (1979) and Afghanistan (1996); implemented radical Islamization
Attacks on hostile foreign powers
Hamas (Palestine) and Hezbollah (Lebanon) targeted Israel
Response to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
Osama bin Laden founded al-Qaeda (“the base”) to funnel support to the Afghan resistance
Bin Laden was disillusioned by the stationing of U.S. troops in Arabia
In 1998, al-Qaeda issued a fatwa (religious edict) declaring war against America
Attacks on Western interests in East Africa, Indonesia, Great Britain, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
The “great enemy” was irreligious Western-style modernity, U.S. imperialism, and economic globalization
Religious Alternatives to Fundamentalism
Militancy isn’t the only religious response to modernity
Considerable debate within the Islamic world
Other religious traditions responded to global modernity
Christian groups were concerned with the ethical issues of economic globalization
“Liberation theology” (especially in Latin America) advocated Christian action in areas of social justice, poverty, human rights
Growing movement of “socially engaged Buddhism” in Asia
World Peace Summit (2000): more than 1,000 religious and spiritual leaders explored how to confront conflicts in the world
The World’s Environment and the Globalization of Environmentalism
The Global Environment Transformed
Three factors have magnified the human impact on the earth
World population quadrupled in the twentieth century
Massive use of fossil fuels (coal in the nineteenth century, oil in the twentieth)
Enormous economic growth
Uneven spread of all three over the world
But economic growth came to appear possible and desirable almost everywhere
Human environmental disruptions are now of global proportions
Doubling of cropland and corresponding contraction of forests and grasslands
Numerous extinctions of plant and animal species
Air pollution in many major cities and rivers
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) thinned the ozone layer
By 2000, scientific consensus on the occurrence of “global warming” as the result of burning of fossil fuels and loss of trees
Green and Global
Environmentalism began in the nineteenth century as a response to the Industrial Revolution
Did not draw a mass following
Environmentalism only became a global phenomenon in the second half of the twentieth century
Began in the West with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962)
Impetus for action came from the grass roots and citizen protest
In Germany, environmentalists entered politics as the Green Party
Environmentalism took root in developing countries in 1970s–1980s
Tended to be more locally based, involving poorer people
More concerned with food security, health, and survival
More focused on saving threatened people, rather than plants and animals
Environmentalists sometimes have sought basic changes in political and social structure of their country (e.g., Philippine activism against foreign mining companies)
Some movements have included guerrilla warfare (“green armies”)
Environmentalism became a matter of global concern by end of twentieth century
Legislation to control pollution in many countries
Encouragement for businesses to become “green”
Research on alternative energy sources
Conferences on global warming
International agreements on a number of issues
Sharp conflicts between the Global North and South
Northern efforts to control pollution and global warming could imit the South’s industrial development
Developing countries perceive the developed ones as unwilling to give up their extravagance and really help matters
U.S. refusal to ratify the Kyoto protocol
Controversy over export of hazardous wastes by rich countries
Nonetheless, global environmentalism has come to symbolize focus on the plight of all humankind
It’s a challenge to modernity itself, especially commitment to endless growth
Growing importance of ideas of sustainability and restraint
Final Reflections: Pondering the Uses of History
What’s the good of studying history?
Many have used history to explore the significance of human experience
Most contemporary historians are skeptical of grand understandings of the past, especially those that claim to discern a “purpose” in human history
It is possible to detect some general “directions” in the human story.
Growing populations, linked to greater control over the environment
Growing complexity of human societies
Increasing pace of change
Greater global connections
But human changes didn’t happen smoothly, evenly, or everywhere.
Numerous ups and downs, reversals, and variations
“Direction” is an observation; “progress” is a judgment
Political authorities have used the past to inculcate national, religious, civic, patriotic, or other values.
Studying history is a way to ponder matters of the heart and spirit.
History provides vast evidence of human suffering
Perhaps historical study can foster compassion
The historical record offers encouragement, with examples of those who have fought to rectify injustice, sometimes successfully
Studying history helps prevent insularity.
Opens people up to a wider world
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