“I am prepared to meet my maker. Whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”
This was quoted from Mr Winston Churchill who said it on the eve of his 75th birthday.
This. Is the essence of a truly great man.
There will be skeptics and haters. But undeniably, he was one of the big players in the age of Giants.
Where does my inspiration come from?
I can safely say that it’s largely owed to today’s visit to the Churchill museum and The Imperial War museum.
Truly. the previous few days have passed in the blink of an eye but i have learnt lessons both in and out of class.
In the past few days, we covered a myriad of topics.
First up, The Arab-Israeli conflict which deals with the persecution of the palestinians by the Zionist Jews.
In this case, the original victims the Jews, Turned the tide and became the aggressors. The issue of the unfair resolution passed in 1947 by the UNGA was brought to attention and one valuable lesson that was learnt was that in certain cases, History is written by the Victor. In other words, History isnt recorded but written.
We researched the Korean War. Basically its causes and its underplayed significance. Surely it was more than what American histiography made it out to be. The many different trends which emerged from the Korean war e.g NSC 68 and the rise of Macarthyism, The issue of a possible Sino-Soviet pact, US change of foreign policy to include more than just Latin America , Europe , Japan and the phillipines. One very interesting method of dealing with History was introduced. It’s called “counterfactualism”. Its not a very orthodox method of measuring History thanks to (all the philosophers out there who falsify all sorts of claims and theories)the unpredictability of events but nevertheless interesting and quite useful to the human race. What if the Korean War had never taken place? What if the nuclear bomb wasnt used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Interesting stuff eh?
Dr Jessica Gibbs, our History tutor was quite eager to teach us Cuban history. She did her Doctorate regarding the study of Cuban History. Furthermore, she has a Cuban husband and is writing a book on Cuban history. I was glad to learn from the expert. The monroe doctrine was implemented in 1832. It seperated and immunized the Americas from Europe. A crucial factor in U.S security. We touched on Cuba being the playground of the USA during Fulgencio Batista’s rule to the Cuban revolution of 1959 and Castro’s Regime. The Anti-Americanism of Fidel Castro. The equipping of Cuba with Soviet missiles and the war of nerves between the US and USSR. In the afternoon (late afternoon) we watched some Cuban films. Was quite interesting = )
And finally today! Yes The Churchill museum. It really opened my eyes to History for the first time. I must admit. The Churchill museum does have a very effective propaganda system (just kidding). I must say. I,ve gotten quite interested about the life of Winston Churchill perhaps i would research on him more in my spare time. Its pretty nice to look at the Cabinet War Rooms. That kind of feeling you know. “Wow. This was where they had war discussions during the battle of britain”.
Headed to the imperial war museum too! We went to the holocaust exhibition which was very enlightening. The cruelty and harshness of the Germans during that period. Imagine being born into an inferior class. Your destiny is not controlled by yourself. It is controlled by your color and religion. You are born inferior. That was the kind of mindset that the jews were forced to adopt through during the period of 1930s all the way till the end of world war 2. Urggh. Quite disturbing. The mass gassing at Austhwitchz. Terrible.
I,ve got research to do. On Asean.
I,ll update soon = )
Ok wait. I shall end of with another Churchill quote.
” It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”
