Could history be repeating itself over and over again?

Question

2400 years ago the Persian empire attacked Greece which strongly defended itself even with a few defeats they still resisted and were able to not be part of the great Persian empire. So back than Greeks did may last stands and terrorist attacks on Persia which we view as heroic today but back than in the eyes of Persia they were just evil barbarian terrorists. 300 years later when Rome was attacking barbarians it couldn't conquer Germanic tribes, Scottish tribes, and Parthia(later Sassanian empire) and today we view these barbarians as heroes who were small but still resisted the huge Roman empire but in the eyes of the Romans they were just evil barbarian terrorists. Later, when the Ottoman empire took over Greece and Greeks started rebelling so they got independence so today we view them as heroes who resisted the strong empire and got independence but in the eyes of the Ottoman empire they were stupid barbarian terrorists who were evil and didn't want to be a part of their great empire. In 1776, the British empire was the strongest empire in the world faced rebels in one of their colonies in North America, today we call those rebels heroes who created one of the most powerful nations but in the eyes of the British they were evil barbarian savages who didn't know much and would risk their life for some stupid freedom they wanted. This brings us to the main point of this question. In 2001 America attacked Afghanistan and is still in war with it. Today America is the biggest empire on Earth(I'm sorry if you don't like US or anything like many other people but the fact is that US is the strongest in the world after the Soviet Union fell) and that big empire looks at Al Qaeda like a bunch of evil barbarian terrorists who don't know anything while America was at one point like them just like those terrorist and so were Greeks, Barbarians in Northern Europe and Parthians. They say "Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it" and from what I see humans are repeating and we don't even see it. The strongest empire in the world thinks that others are Barbarian savages and attacks them but fails to conquer them. I'm afraid that in 2000 years people will view America like we view the Persians who were trying to take over Greece, Romans who wanted to take over the world, Ottomans who killed many people from places they conquered, and finally the British who dominated the world with their superior navy. From what I see history is just repeating itself over and over again and it felt like because the UN wants peace and all history won't repeat but than I remembered that the war in Afghanistan is still going and many Americans think of Muslims as evil barbarian terrorists. I thought of this by looking into the wars I mentioned in from both of the sides in the war, I know that there are more examples but I don't want to waste your time. If you're having a hard time understanding my theory just try to feel like a Persian who just heard about the news of the defeat in Marathon or an English guy who just learned that America is independent.If you still don't get it than just ignore it and forget about this question. Also, I'm just 14 so this could sound true to me but could sound really stupid in the eyes of an adult and I just can't see it because I'm too young to understand as much as Adults do. So, tell me your opinions about this and if you think that history is actually repeating itself.

Answer 1

humans have advanced on the back of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge but by nature are still basically the same their own nature makes them repeat mistakes 8000 years ago we had the same structures that we have today wealthy poor good bad the intelligence is there but no one person possesses it all so we still have conflicts differences of opinions and the nature of self preservation means everyone thinks they are right their way of life is right human nature overrules our knowledge and we still do stupid things we still enjoy power/ wealth more than anything which is exactly the same as 8000 years ago we still do exactly the same things to each other to attain them

only 70 years ago we showed how basic we still are

Answer 2

"In 1776, the British empire was the strongest empire in the world faced rebels in one of their colonies in North America, today we call those rebels heroes who created one of the most powerful nations but in the eyes of the British they were evil barbarian savages who didn't know much and would risk their life for some stupid freedom they wanted."



The American colonists were for the most part from the United Kingdom, some historians refer to the revolutionary war as the British Civil War. It was colonist vs colonist, British American vs British American and British. It was practically brother vs brother. At what point did the British government refer to its own people (even if they were rebels) as "evil barbarian savages"? The British government, of the time, was a constitutional democracy albeit with a limited franchise, so the British and the British Americans already had - to a degree - "some stupid freedom".



History, in your example, only repeats itself when you twist the facts to suit the scenario.



Edit: Lack of a British accent does not prove your point, nor does it invalidate the point that the American colonists were not some 'moronic' cousins we shipped overseas because we thought they were evil or that no link existed between colony and motherland. Likewise, the lack of a professional American army matters very little (although are you aware that quite a number of the top brass of the Revolutionary Army had been British officers? The best example is Washington.). There had been parliaments in England for centuries prior to the revolution, and the first British parliament was established in 1707 with the foundation of Great Britain. Democracy was even present in the colonies prior to the revolution, look up the Continental Congress. The idea of modern democracy predates the American revolution.



Edit2: "the English will view them as evil barbarian terrorists that doesn't mean that they are like that it's just the way English thought of the people trying to get independence from England"



There is a difference between the English and the British. At the time England did not dictate anything, the British government did. I have studied the revolution (albeit not in depth) and have never seen the British government refer to the rebels as evil barbarian terrorists. You have no evidence to support your position, and are twisting historical facts to suit your theory.

Answer 3

As Voltaire said



"History never repeats itself.Man always does"