Lanterna Rally

Author: UNKNOWN. AUTHOR

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-25

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 9781330388211

Excerpt from Opportunities for History Teachers: The Lessons of the Great War in the Classroom The American teacher of history in this autumn of 1917 is planning his work under conditions at once preplexing and inspiring. The Nation of which he is a part has finally been drawn into a great war - a war which demands for its successful prosecution not only efficient and courageous service in the Army and Navy but the loyal cooperation of millions of men and women who are not enrolled in the fighting forces nor directly responsible for the civil administration on which those forces depend. Many teachers have already answered the call to the colors; others will doubtless find opportunities for service in the Red Cross or other forms of relief work. For all of these the war will mean giving up special professional as well as personal interests to that fundamental obligation which rests upon the citizen, as a citizen, to share in the national defense. The best that can be done for these friends and colleagues is to bid them a hearty Godspeed and a pledge of unflinching support in the cause for which they have offered their lives. But what of those who remain at work in their customary places in the kind of service for which they have been prepared by previous training and experience? Does the war bring to them any special opportunity or obligation? The question will be answered by different persons in different ways, but there are a few propositions on which all can probably agree, more easily perhaps in theory than in practice. First of all, perhaps, comes the duty of keeping, for teacher and for pupil, the habit of at least trying to see things as they really were and are. This is not easy at any time; it is peculiarly difficult at such a time as this, when to many people a slight distortion of facts may even seem a patriotic duty. Aggressive sovereigns like Louis XIV and Frederick the Great were usually able to find loyal subjects who could produce legal and historical arguments in support of policies already put into effect by their armies in the field. Similar things have happened in the present war and since history teachers are not less human than their fellow-citizens, they must all be on their guard against this mistaken view of patriotic duty. In the long run loyalty to the country, as well as loyalty to history, is best served by looking the facts squarely in the face. Admitting that misguided patriots may abuse history, it does not follow that there is no proper relation between history and patriotism. There are many formal definitions of history, but most of them assume that it has to do primarily with the corporate or social life of men. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.