Historians attempt to give meaning to the events they investigate, analyze and describe. History is not just what happened, but why it happened. In an attempt to give meaning to the, sometimes chaotic, series of events which make up “history”, historians have developed a number of theories about history and historical events to organize their ideas.
Cyclical
The cyclical view of history stems from the Greeks. The Greeks believed that events recurred on a regular basis This history of man and events recurs in cycles. Historians like Herodotus (484-424 BC) and Thucydides (460- 404 BC also envisioned time as recurring in a cyclical fashion in a process that humans could not control.
In the 14th century, Petrarch (1304-1374 AD revived the cyclical concept of history. His theory, however, differed slightly from the Greeks as he believed that the basis of history was the actions of people, rather than the actions of the Gods. Machiavelli (1469-1527 ADJ also saw history as cyclical and suggested that history could be seen as a ‘casebook’ of political strategy.
In the modern age, Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975 AD) and Gerald Spengler (1880-1936 AD) both advanced the cyclical theory of history. These historians based their work on the premise that civilizations rise and fall and that each new civilization rises to a greater level of achievement than the last. For example, empires rise and fall over a 150-200 year period and that history has given us many empires from the Greeks, to the Romans, Germans, British and now Americans. As a result, history continues to be written in a cyclical pattern of empire building. In simple terms, history continues to repeat itself.
Linear
The word ‘linear’ means ‘in a long line’. In simple terms, history is viewed as a long line of historical facts that take place to produce the present. There is a start and an end to history. For example, the history of Canada can be seen in a linear theory as our country has gone from a colony to a nation. The United States has gone from a colony to an independent republic. One event leads to another event that finally produces the present.
Certain historians have similar views. St. Augustine (350 - 430 AD) saw history as the unfolding of God’s plan, a process that would end in the Final Judgement. Voltaire (1694-1788 AD) envisioned four great ages of man culminating in the scientific enlightenment of Newton and the scientific revolution. Marxist historians saw history as a class struggle of the proletariat (workers) against the bourgeoisie (wealthy owners) that would end in a communist revolution or classless society. H.G. Wells (1866 - 1946AD) described history as a race between education and disaster, with disaster in the form of a world cataclysm or a world state.
Everyman
In this theory, history is recorded by ordinary people who live through major historical events. As events unfold, history is recorded by individuals who experience these events. Through a variety of methods, such as letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, newspaper letters, and editorials, history is recorded. One of the best examples is: “The Diary of Anne Frank”. This Diary records a personal history of the Nazi policy towards the Jews in Holland during the Second World War. The Everyman Theory was advanced by Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832 AD) who showed, in his novels, how ordinary people lived through significant events. William E.B. DuBois (1868 - 1963 AD) in “Black Reconstruction in America” and “The Souls of Black Folk”, explains how reconstruction after the American Civil War affected the emancipated Negroes. As a result, DuBois rejected the idea of history as a record of Western European events and saw history as a record of ordinary people.
Great Man
The Great Man theory suggests that dominant personalities determine the course of history. As a result, one individual influences the course of historical events and creates man’s history. History is dominated by individuals such as Jesus Christ to Adolf Hitler. This theory is most commonly associated with Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881 AD).
Economic:
Some historians believe that to understand history, economics determines history. History is the product of the interaction and conflict among various economic forces. This type of historian is an economic determinist All history is viewed from the production and exchange of goods and services as the basis of all social structure. For example in Canada. the economics of the fur trade and the Hudson’s Bay Company have shaped Canadian history. Another example is Karl Marx (1818 — 1883 AD), who that history is an evolution of economic stages ending in the utopia of communism. A third example. the economic forces set in motion by the Space Race of the 1960s and 1970s as well as the Nuclear Arms Race by Reagan in the early 1980s led to the economic problems in the USSR which led to the eventual collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War.
Ideas
Ideas shape history from liberalism, nationalism and other ‘isms”. It can argued that the French Revolution Of 1789 was fought over idea like Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. GWF Hegel (1770 — 1831 AD) is most often associated with this theory.
Geographical
The diverse geography Of a nation determines its unique history. Climate can also a factor when added to geography. For example, The geography in Canada influencing its historical development.
War
War in the 200 century has shaped the history Of and many former colonies or mandates.
Religion
Different religions have created religious wars from the Crusades to more recent problems in the Middle East.
Race
Different ethnic divisions have racial history from slavery to the Jewish Holocaust.
Cause and Effect
For every event to take place, there is a cause and then the effect For example, the Second World War was caused by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.
This is not an exhaustive list. There are a number of other theories that also attempt to explain history.