Unpopular Opinions: History

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 History is written by winners

I heard this quote originated from Game of Thrones, [...] And so, I repeat, history is written by whomever had the ability to write and the luck to have his work survive and actually read by people.

This quote has countless attributions, from Machiavelli to Churchill to Bonaparte to probably Snoop Dog too. It's probably very old.

I think it's more accurate when it comes to recent history though. Each country will shine a different light on historical events through education and sometimes to the point of deforming quite greatly the facts. I mean, I only have experience of France's education in history but I certainly completely changed my point of view on a lot of events (and pretty important ones, like that little thing that happened circa 1789) when I started looking up stuff by myself.

[Jun Inoue]

I'll contribute on the topic by saying that, appart from creating the peace movement, Ghandi was kind of a horrible human being; a bad father, husband, and a racist, among others.

[Shimakaze]

Napoleon may have been a rather good strategist, he was a horrible emperor who ruined France.

[babiker]

I'll contribute on the topic by saying that, appart from creating the peace movement, Ghandi was kind of a horrible human being; a bad father, husband, and a racist, among others.

I'm interested in why exactly you think he's a racist in particular. His death was mainly due to his belief that all Indians were a part of India, including Muslims, which makes me think of him as a rather... Not racist man

Napoleon may have been a rather good strategist, he was a horrible emperor who ruined France.

I'd probably second this, he was a pretty hardcore military colonialist, but in the long run I can see why people would still like him

[Jun Inoue]

I'll contribute on the topic by saying that, appart from creating the peace movement, Ghandi was kind of a horrible human being; a bad father, husband, and a racist, among others.

I'm interested in why exactly you think he's a racist in particular. His death was mainly due to his belief that all Indians were a part of India, including Muslims, which makes me think of him as a rather... Not racist man

Gandhi is known to have said (and pretty sure there are still the original quotes and letters and such) that it was natural for the white man to dominate the black people of Africa, a "race of lazy and unproductive people". He said quite a lot of pretty extreme things, although later in his life he tried to tidy it up a bit since it could "mud" his name quite a lot. He did believe in equality... as long as it was about the Indian people. HIS people. Here are a few quotes.

 

I'll say that later, much later, in his life, he did rectify some of the things he said. But if you dig a bit about the not-so-perfect side of Gandhi, you'll find some pretty horrifying things, like how he let his wife die cuz "he personally did not belief in western medicine" or how he banished his Muslim son from his house and forbid anyone related to him from ever helping him or even acknowledging his existence.

[babiker]

I'll contribute on the topic by saying that, appart from creating the peace movement, Ghandi was kind of a horrible human being; a bad father, husband, and a racist, among others.

I'm interested in why exactly you think he's a racist in particular. His death was mainly due to his belief that all Indians were a part of India, including Muslims, which makes me think of him as a rather... Not racist man

Gandhi is known to have said (and pretty sure there are still the original quotes and letters and such) that it was natural for the white man to dominate the black people of Africa, a "race of lazy and unproductive people". He said quite a lot of pretty extreme things, although later in his life he tried to tidy it up a bit since it could "mud" his name quite a lot. He did believe in equality... as long as it was about the Indian people. HIS people. Here are a few quotes.

 

I'll say that later, much later, in his life, he did rectify some of the things he said. But if you dig a bit about the not-so-perfect side of Gandhi, you'll find some pretty horrifying things, like how he let his wife die cuz "he personally did not belief in western medicine" or how he banished his Muslim son from his house and forbid anyone related to him from ever helping him or even acknowledging his existence.

Huh, interesting stuff. I'll add Ghandi to my list of people I need to look up more about then