Why do we study history? Historians have faced this question for centuries, struggling to find justification for their field. As a history major, I’ll admit that I struggle with the question and usually resort to philosopher George Santayana’s assertion that “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” However, in light of the anniversary of the end of World War I this week, I was confronted with the nagging feeling that this pithy justification just doesn’t seem to hold true.

Veterans’ Day commemorates the armistice that ended World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. The armistice was supposed to bring to a close the war that Woodrow Wilson dubbed “a war to end all wars.” Unfortunately, the past 91 years of history have been fraught with wars in spite of Wilson’s assertion. We haven’t done a very good job of learning the lessons of history. While it would be foolish to believe that direct analogies can be drawn between World War I and today’s fraught conflicts, sadly similar characteristics exist between the two.
World War I began as the waning Austro-Hungarian Empire pushed back against Serbia as a means of exerting its power, believing the war could be won quickly.

Then due to a combination of alliance systems and nationalistic sympathies, World War I quickly escalated. This arrogance and inability to predict the scope of war persists today in the examples of Afghanistan and Iraq. While Afghanistan showed promise in the early stages and Iraq was quickly proclaimed to be a “mission accomplished,” the pervasiveness of war has now set in, leaving the global community to recognize the depth and breadth of each war. In a recent statement, the head of the British army stated his belief that a British presence may need to be in Afghanistan for another 50 years before stability could be ensured.

The transition from war to peace during the Great War also yielded many lessons that leaders ever since have yet to internalize. The Treaties of Paris left Germany humiliated, China sold out to the Japanese and policies messily implemented in order to secure the creation of the League of Nations, an organization that ultimately failed itself. Transitions into times of peace in both Afghanistan and Iraq exhibit similar sloppiness.

Hamid Karzai’s recent questionable re-election offers a clear indication of this. With the original intention of bringing democracy to the two oppressive states, America and its allies now face the harsh reality that many local citizens are not sure about whether things have improved at all. Just as Wilson failed to deliver his “just peace” at the Treaties of Paris, so too have the people of Afghanistan and Iraq not been given the vision of peace which they were offered.

Meanwhile, our commemoration of these events seems to have become a political opportunity to have populations rally around the flag rather than reflect on the events being commemorated and the lessons they should teach us. While appreciation for war veterans is clearly valuable, we must not make this the sole purpose of our remembrance.

As Goethe once noted, “Patriotism ruins history.” Unfortunately, the trend toward patriotism in lieu of historical remembrance seems to be gaining momentum. In his statement this Veterans’ Day, President Obama asserted that “we gather here mindful that the generation serving today already deserves a place alongside previous generations for the courage they have shown and the sacrifices that they have made.”

Meanwhile, each year the number of living veterans of the war being commemorated slips closer and closer to zero. Both politicians and the progression of time seem to be pushing history further and further into the background.

Our leaders need to begin engaging history actively if the study is going to be worthwhile, as merely appealing to historical sentimentalities relegates the field to just another political tool to mobilize support. As with learning anything of value, learning lessons from history doesn’t just happen by itself.
Even more important, however, is the need to realize that learning history by itself has little effect. Instead, we must realize that, as historian Gerda Lerner points out: “What we do about history matters.” We need to engage remembrance more actively if we are to feel justified in falling back on Santayana’s justification.

Aaron Collett is a College junior from Jakarta, Indonesia. He is president of Emory’s Model United Nations.