The Expansive Realm of History

**What History Includes**

History encompasses a wide range of definitions and applications. In the broadest sense, it considers every action and thought that humans have had since their first appearance, recording every significant advance or setback. It attempts to evaluate all the developments in various fields such as science, art, literature, philosophy, architecture, sociology, politics, war, religion, and law. By doing so, history aims to create as complete a picture as possible of everything that has influenced humanity directly or indirectly.


**Points of View**

History has not always been interpreted so broadly. For a long time, historians were primarily concerned with politics. Freeman, a prominent 19th-century English historian, defined history as “past politics.” Herodotus, the first great historian, neglected social and economic forces, focusing instead on the personal element. Today, students of history disagree on which aspects are most important. Economic determinists claim that “the fundamental condition of all life is economic,” emphasizing the role of economic forces in shaping history. Conversely, hero-worshipers and others believe that individual people are paramount, highlighting the significant impact of great men and women. These views represent extreme positions: the economic determinist view is fatalistic, ignoring ethical forces and minimizing the importance of significant individuals, while the hero-worshiper view fails to recognize that great people are products of their times rather than creators of them. The correct interpretation of history involves a combination of these views in a balanced form.


**Function of History**

History has often been used and distorted for selfish purposes. Clergy members have used it to glorify and promote the interests of the church. Statesmen have utilized it to sway masses, and writers have distorted facts to support their conclusions. The spirit of war has been kindled through the undue emphasis on certain facts or even through falsification. In the United States, Northerners and Southerners insist on different interpretations of the Civil War. Historians may exaggerate their own country’s history—sometimes unintentionally because of their environment, and sometimes intentionally to facilitate the sale of their books. In all countries, there are passionate individuals in influential positions who cannot bear to have their homeland criticized. Patriotism often leads to the sacrifice of truth. Henry C. Lea, an outstanding American historian, declared that history should be “a serious attempt to ascertain the severest truth as to the past and set it forth without fear or favor.” Michelet, a famous French historian, believed that “sacrilege and the mocking of false gods are the historian’s first duty, his indispensable instrument for reestablishing the truth.”


**The "New History"**

Progress in the direction indicated by Lea and Michelet has been slow, but there is a trend toward a broader and more inclusive point of view in the writing and teaching of history. World history, correctly interpreted, places individual states in the proper perspective and reduces the dangers of excessive nationalism. History has become more than war and politics. To make the story complete, modern historians use the work of ethnologists, anthropologists, geographers, archaeologists, geologists, psychologists, astronomers, zoologists, biologists, chemists, sociologists, and economists. They are concerned with cultural advances and societal changes, as well as with charters, constitutions, and wars.

There are dangers, as well as virtues, in the vast scope of the “new history.” Over-popularization and under-specialization can cheapen history and undermine its depth as a serious study. Understanding the broad scope of history is beneficial, but students should also appreciate its depth. Years of research and numerous volumes have been dedicated to single topics. Without these specialized works, broad surveys would lack value. For example, Professor Bernadotte Schmitt wrote a two-volume work on the few days preceding the outbreak of World War I, while H.G. Wells wrote a comprehensive history of mankind from creation to the present time in a similar number of pages. Both authors made significant contributions to historical knowledge, but from different perspectives. Some new historians have sacrificed important facts to create a narrative filled with heroic figures and romantic events. Historians should include both grim realities and romantic incidents to make their descriptions of the past lifelike.


**Is History a Science?**

There is significant debate over whether history is a science. Historians focus on the character, reliability, and flaws of their sources. Facts can be organized systematically, but the information is less precise than that available in the natural sciences. Historians do not have the direct experience of the phenomena they try to explain. For example, Napoleon’s expedition to Moscow cannot be reproduced in a laboratory. Each individual is unique, and no two people are alike in every aspect. Every person has something unique in spirit, if not in body. As Goethe said, “the best in man has no form.” Professor James H. Robinson concluded that “the historian, from a narrow scientific point of view, is a little higher than a man of letters and a good deal lower than an astronomer or a biologist.”