Title: “History Is Written by the Winners” – Piece of Mindful
Headings: “History Is Written by the Winners”
“History Is Written by the Winners”
Content: “History Is Written by the Winners” – Piece of Mindful
“History Is Written by the Winners”
I was thinking about that old aphorism the other day, “History is written by the winners.” It is one of those self-evident truisms taught in high school history classes. But I think it’s misdirection. How can that be? The reason it’s misdirection is because of the way it’s used. We usually use it to refer to a situation where there is a clear conflict or war and one side wins. They get to write the history books, to define which side in the conflict was justified, who attacked who, why, and otherwise re-interpret or invent the historical facts to make themselves look good. I poked around a bit trying to find out who said it ‘originally,’ and it seems to have been attributed to Churchill, Hitler, Napoleon, Machiavelli, and Orwell. But they all used it in the same way. Orwell is a good example.