When we usually talk about men who shaped this world, names like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and others are tossed about. I always feel that this is a slightly one sided view, as these are people who did good. You must also look at the other extreme, i.e. the accepted "bad" people. I quote from what Harry Potter, where Ollivander says about Voldemort, that "After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible! Yes. But great".
In recent history(the past century I mean), none are remembered with as much hate as Adolf Hitler. The wounds of his deeds still have to heal completely. The second World War shaped this new world, and caused much of its problems as well. If it were not for the war, we may not have the current Palestine problem. After the war Britain decreed that Israel was the new home for all Jews, as it was a British controlled territory. The ensuing events displaced a lot of the existing residents and caused a catastrophic chain of events which is a big factor in the terrorism the world faces today. I leave the details of the events for historians, as they obviously are contentious.
Interestingly, most of the other problems, Hitler or the Nazis did not cause. The problems I refer to are the wars between split up nations that propped up after the war. World War II did made some very important changes to the power equation of the world. Europe, was destroyed by the war, and other countries largely weakened. Britain, which was the dominant power of the world before the war, was heavily in debt to America, which effectively was the arms supplier and financier for much of the war. Britain and other countries had taken large loans to finance their campaigns in the war, and most of these came from the USA. This made the dollar the dominant power, and Britain never recovered it position of power. Its weakness resulted in the freedom of most of the nations which were under its control. The interesting concept pioneered by the British, and much of the west, was divide and rule. The new countries mostly got freedom as 2 independent nations. Be it India and Pakistan, North and South Koreas, and Vietnam. These are the big examples of the wars that resulting from the partition of the nation. Vietnam did eventually unite, but the wars and hostilities between the other 2 pairs still continue and form a large part of the terrorism and arms race problems.
If I'm right, close to 6 million jews were killed at concentration camps. No one has as yet attempted an estimation of the number of people killed to date by the wars in the above cases and the Palestine, Israel struggle. If you calculate, you'll probably find the number is a lot more than the 6 million. So who's more evil, is upto you to decide. Just remember Winston Churchill's famous quote, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it".
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2 comments:
Serious thinking going on there I see. Good that finally someone wrote on the other side. But I will like to highlight the fact that killing six millions in a period of three years is quite different from killling six millions in two decades. Neverthless the point you raise is quite valid --no one's clean, they are just great. Even our own country is paying a heavy price for some of the greats that are worshipped here.
i agree, the time difference is obviously a factor. but sometimes people forget what problems can be caused by actions which at seem for everyone's good.
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