Hello

[Drakon Altor]

Oh definitely but it makes it difficult sometimes for 14 or 15 year olds to read through it, especially when they are just starting out with some in depth primary source analysis. Most of them have done some basic work on the topic but not at a higher level where you have to read a page or two and analyse it.

 

[Lucy Lou]

Yeah that's true. We do a lot of work across all subject to teach reading for comprehension and such across all of our classes at my school.

 

[Drakon Altor]

yeah so does our school. It helps a bit but there are a lot of different skills they need to learn to use a primary source properly.

 

[Lucy Lou]

*nods* and helps later on down the road

 

[Drakon Altor]

Yeah exactly.

 

[TheKelbourneSupremacy]

Yeah, I teach high school in England. Ancient History and Classical Civilisation with a bit of more modern History as well.

What's your favorite historical period?

 

[Drakon Altor]

What's your favorite historical period?

Tough question. I teach a lot about the Classical Greek and Roman periods so I quite like those but I've also always been really interested the Napoleonic era and WW2. You?

 

[TheKelbourneSupremacy]

You've covered my main favs as well, although lately I've been engrossed in the build up to the First World War. Just finished reading an interesting book: "The Anatomy of Glory" about Napoleon and the evolution of his Imperial Guard...was quite interesting, very unique writing style.

 

[Drakon Altor]

Cool! The build up to the 1st World War is interesting but it is something I teach about as well in History and I studied it in university as well.

 

[TheKelbourneSupremacy]

Cool! The build up to the 1st World War is interesting but it is something I teach about as well in History and I studied it in university as well.

I think the majority of its charm is either the fall or beginning of the decline of the great empires of the world--greatest among them the British Empire. Despite still being powerful in the Second World War I truly believe the British Empire was dealt a mortal wound in the First. I wrote a comparison piece of the Athenian Dominion and the British Empire during my undergraduate courses. What do you think? Is the histories of Athens and Britain another example of "history repeating?" ;)

 

[Drakon Altor]

In some ways you could argue that they are somewhat similar although I would argue that Athens never really had the same dominance that the British Empire did. Athens had Sparta as a rival for its power during its time of major power while the British Empire had France for a time as its rival but after their defeat of Napoleon you would be hard pressed to find a true threat to the Empire like Athens vs Sparta.

I think the British Empire was more a gradual decline after the World Wars. While I would say that those two wars were the catalyst for its decline, the British Empire couldn't have been maintained indefinitely due to the vastness of the territories and distances involved. I think the world wars kicked off a desire for independence in many dominions (Canada and India for example) and the economic toll meant they could not continue to administer colonies which is why we saw Britain giving its colonies independence in the 40 years or so after WW2.

Athens had a quick rise and fall due largely to their naval power and the defeat of the Persians. They used that victory to secure dominion over the Aegean city-states as well as those on the Ionian coast. However, Sparta was also powerful in this time period and Athens never stood a chance against Sparta's land power. With Sparta being based so far inland on the Peloponnese, Athens never really had much of a hope of defeating Sparta unless they had somehow managed to turn the rest of the Peloponnese (who were allied to Sparta; with the exception of Argos) against them. Since they didn't manage to do this, the second Sparta allied itself with Persia to develop its own fleet Athens lost the war and its empire.

So in some ways similar but in many other ways different. I think the differences outweigh the similarities in a history repeating itself situation for those two.

 

[TheKelbourneSupremacy]

In some ways you could argue that they are somewhat similar although I would argue that Athens never really had the same dominance that the British Empire did. Athens had Sparta as a rival for its power during its time of major power while the British Empire had France for a time as its rival but after their defeat of Napoleon you would be hard pressed to find a true threat to the Empire like Athens vs Sparta.

I think the British Empire was more a gradual decline after the World Wars. While I would say that those two wars were the catalyst for its decline, the British Empire couldn't have been maintained indefinitely due to the vastness of the territories and distances involved. I think the world wars kicked off a desire for independence in many dominions (Canada and India for example) and the economic toll meant they could not continue to administer colonies which is why we saw Britain giving its colonies independence in the 40 years or so after WW2.

Athens had a quick rise and fall due largely to their naval power and the defeat of the Persians. They used that victory to secure dominion over the Aegean city-states as well as those on the Ionian coast. However, Sparta was also powerful in this time period and Athens never stood a chance against Sparta's land power. With Sparta being based so far inland on the Peloponnese, Athens never really had much of a hope of defeating Sparta unless they had somehow managed to turn the rest of the Peloponnese (who were allied to Sparta; with the exception of Argos) against them. Since they didn't manage to do this, the second Sparta allied itself with Persia to develop its own fleet Athens lost the war and its empire.

So in some ways similar but in many other ways different. I think the differences outweigh the similarities in a history repeating itself situation for those two.

Yeah, history never repeats in exact patters of course, but they still make for interesting conversation even millennia later! ;)
My particular favorite is the penchant for unconventional military expeditions in the midst of a great conflict: the Athenian excursion to Sicily/British Imperial assaults on Gallipoli; both fairly doomed from the start and in the midst of greater crises elsewhere. Athens also suffered internal political turmoil towards the end of the war and lost their conflict and their dominion; Britain also suffered a massive political shift despite winning their conflict--a shift that may have accelerated their decline and transition of Empire to Commonwealth.

 

[Drakon Altor]

Yeah, history never repeats in exact patters of course, but they still make for interesting conversation even millennia later! ;)
My particular favorite is the penchant for unconventional military expeditions in the midst of a great conflict: the Athenian excursion to Sicily/British Imperial assaults on Gallipoli; both fairly doomed from the start and in the midst of greater crises elsewhere. Athens also suffered internal political turmoil towards the end of the war and lost their conflict and their dominion; Britain also suffered a massive political shift despite winning their conflict--a shift that may have accelerated their decline and transition of Empire to Commonwealth.

Yeah the political turmoil is definitely an interesting one to compare. Although I think that the military expeditions don't quite compare. The British campaign at Galipoli was more about strategic implications and supply routes to Russia whereas Athens was more about imperialism.

 

[TheKelbourneSupremacy]

I'm sure the Middle Eastern oil fields were not in the mind of the First Lord of the Admiralty at all...:p They got it anyway at the end! But yes, Athens was the worse of the two campaigns.

Ah, it's great to find more people who love Star Wars AND history. :) I also wish to applaud you for being a teacher! Keep up the hard work!

 

[Drakon Altor]

I'm sure the Middle Eastern oil fields were not in the mind of the First Lord of the Admiralty at all...:p They got it anyway at the end! But yes, Athens was the worse of the two campaigns.

Ah, it's great to find more people who love Star Wars AND history. :) I also wish to applaud you for being a teacher! Keep up the hard work!

Thank you very much, always fun to talk History and Star Wars.

 

[Nova Elgrin]

Hi and welcome : ) *waves hello to the island from germany*

I always wanted to be a teacher (infant school) but maths screwed my degree up xD

Looking forward to see you around!

 

[Drakon Altor]

Hi and welcome : ) *waves hello to the island from germany*

I always wanted to be a teacher (infant school) but maths screwed my degree up xD

Looking forward to see you around!

Thank you!