History’s “Great Man Theory”
History is Dependent on Institutions
From the first pages of History, the stories that were brought to life by the quill and parchment of Herodotus to the woeful epic style of Anna Komnene had made clear the protagonists of their tales, the “Great Man”, but this assessment of History is surface-level at best. These “Great Man” Histories are glorifications of reality, as the true nature of the past is dependent on the ever-changing tides of institutions and systems. From the most obvious of evidence such as the Fall of Rome to the seemingly straightforward glorified tale of Napoleon, all major events of the past were symptoms of either the strengthening, or decay of systems, and environmental changes. Although this statement is controversial in the vast field of history, my vision is clear, and this essay will serve as the catalyst for my views on the vanity of “Great Man” history.
Napoleon and the French
Napoleon is a figure that screams personality and encases an unrivalled omnipresence, and his actions favour this conclusion, but how did he manage to achieve all this? Not by the sheer force of his stature, but by the situation of 18th Century France. In fact, the institutional failure of France started at the tail end of the 17th Century under the rule of Louis XIV. Although the Sun King may seem like…
