What is the benefit of historical studies for the process of creating tactics and strategies in foreign policy?
Upvote:0
"Was die Erfahrung aber und die Geschichte lehren, ist dieses, daß Völker und Regierungen niemals etwas aus der Geschichte gelernt und nach Lehren, die aus derselben zu ziehen gewesen wären, gehandelt haben." (Hegel)
Upvote:2
Ever heard the phrase 'generals are always fighting the last war'? It's poignant applied to France and Britain's strategy during the Second World War, when they assumed, based on WW1, that the advantage would always be to the side using a defensive strategy. That's why they constructed the 'Maginot Line' and refused to attack Germany.
Have you heard the proverb 'the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there'? This has the opposite lesson to Hegel's dictum which was posted above: that you can't just assume that the present is 'like' the past and use it to teach you lessons about what to do.
I can't give a definitive answer to a broad question like this: In other words, what is the benefit of retrospective analysis for dealing with the future on a political level?
It varies. A lot. Someone who draws the wrong lessons from history may suffer as much as he who learns nothing from it. How do you know for certain what lessons are wrong? I wish I knew.
More post
- 📝 In a feudal system the king would give land to the knights in exchange for military services. Where did he get his money from then?
- 📝 How did the supplies shipped in winter over the "Road of Life" to Leningrad compare to those at other times of the year?
- 📝 Were exchanged prisoners from Elmira taken to a single or multiple exchange points?
- 📝 Was there really a Communist presidential nominee or political party in the 1876 election?
- 📝 Why was Germany held accountable for WW1?
- 📝 What are some major military successes the Soviet Union achieved against the Western World?
- 📝 Did American colonists object to the protections of Catholicism in the Quebec Act?
- 📝 What was the most recent Catholic coronation ceremony of a king?
- 📝 How obvious was lend-lease equipment to the average Soviet soldier?
- 📝 How alcoholic were ancient Greek and Roman wines, before and after dilution?
- 📝 Was there a coup in the Netherlands in 1672?
- 📝 Has any financial market voided hours of trading worth over $1 billion USD?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union name their strongest bomb Tsar Bomba?
- 📝 Was there ever a male-equivalent to a harem in the Ottoman Empire?
- 📝 How accurate is the respresentation of York/Jórvík in the manga Vinland Saga?
- 📝 How many died during St. Lawrence Island 1878-1880 famine?
- 📝 17th century Japanese colonies in Southeast Asia?
- 📝 What were the effective dates of this 1968 Delaware law and this 1967 Nevada law?
- 📝 What are some good references for the history of legal business entities?
- 📝 What were George Washington's beliefs behind the Church of England and Catholic practice?
- 📝 How did ancient Roman family names survive to current day use?
- 📝 Did Vikings use of water bowls in this unhygenic way?
- 📝 Cost of education in Germany in 1900
- 📝 Did German win any victories between Normandy and Bulge?
- 📝 How have military orders evolved in the information era?
- 📝 What happened to Iraq's debts after the US toppled the government in 2003?
- 📝 WW1 Uniform - Which country does this uniform belong to?
- 📝 Why were Red Army Officers and soldiers not prosecuted for War Crimes in WWII?
- 📝 In what European countries did non-hereditary nobility exist? (XVII-XIX centuries)
- 📝 How did an English person get entry to East Germany during the Cold War?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the benefit of historical studies for the process of creating tactics and strategies in foreign policy?
- 📝 What are the historical reasons for religious and political negative attitudes towards h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- 📝 What is the historical name(s) for area between Syria and Mesopotamia?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the Exodus?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the claim that "Taiwan has always been part of China"?
- 📝 What was the shortest time between a historical event occuring and a museum opening dedicated to said event?
- 📝 What is the primary source for this quote by Julius Caesar's on Celts and Germans?
- 📝 What historical reasons did the Nazis give for hating the Jews? How did they identify non-practicing Jews?
- 📝 What historical evidence is there for the existence of Jesus Christ? What do we know about him?
- 📝 What was the original process for becoming a US citizen?
- 📝 What is the historical reason for 18 years being the most commonly accepted age of adulthood?
- 📝 What are the most comprehensive historical references for ancient India?
- 📝 What were the original casualty projections for Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
- 📝 What are the historical reasons for the conventional map orientation?
- 📝 What historical evidence do we have for the existence of Mohammed?
- 📝 What was the primary motivation for a historical figure like Xenophon to create an extensive collection of written material?
- 📝 Historical examples and numbers for the value of ‘Jizya’ levied by Muslim states
- 📝 What was the motivation for the Church of England to begin recording births, marriages and deaths in 1538?
- 📝 How difficult was Muraviev's amassing of troops for the forcing of the Treaty of Aigun, and what effects on development did it have?
- 📝 What Land Runs were there in the U.S., and were the Indians paid for their land?
- 📝 What is "discovery" in the historical sense? How do historians today view and describe "discoveries"?
- 📝 What were conditions like for Chinese men subject to recruitment by the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War?
- 📝 What is the term for a person who surveys the land and relays messages from a noble to his governed village?
- 📝 What was the process for the Japanese to sign up for the Kamikaze suicide program?
- 📝 What were Helfrich's orders for Doorman in 1942 prior to the Battle of the Java Sea, and did he comment on these in later life?
- 📝 What is the nature of questions that can be answered by historical sources and methods?
- 📝 What is the source for the Arabic name of the penguin and when it is first used?
- 📝 What is the historical relationship between Yule and Christmas?
- 📝 What were the requirements for Iron Cross first and second class?