Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Napoleon, a typical great man, said to have created the "Napoleonic" era through his military and political genius. The great man theory is an approach to the study of history popularised in the 19th century according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of great men, or heroes: highly influential and unique individuals who, due to their natural attributes, such as superior ...
The emergence of the concept of trait leadership can be traced back to Thomas Carlyle's "great man" theory, which stated that "The History of the World [...] was the Biography of Great Men". [6] Subsequent commentators interpreted this view to conclude that the forces of extraordinary leadership [a] shape history. [8]
Carlyle postulated the Great Man theory, a philosophy of history which contends that history is shaped by exceptional individuals. This approach to history was first promulgated in his lectures On Heroes and given specific focus in longer studies like Cromwell and Frederick the Great.
[12] These lectures are regarded as an early and powerful formulation of the Great Man theory of historical development. Friedrich Nietzsche agreed with much of Carlyle's hero worship, transferring many qualities of the hero to his concept of the Übermensch. [5] Elizabeth Barrett Browning referenced the work in the 5th book of Aurora Leigh (1856).
Marx's lifetime collaborator, Friedrich Engels, coined the term "historical materialism" and described it as "that view of the course of history which seeks the ultimate cause and the great moving power of all important historic events in the economic development of society, in the changes in the modes of production and exchange, in the ...
Herman wrote the book for an American audience which may not have been very familiar with Scottish history. [7] He provides a historical overview and short biographies of the most prominent Scots. The historical approach uses the Great Man Theory, that a historical narrative can be told through the lives of a few prominent figures. [1]
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
[14] and criticized Stürmer's excessive focus on political history and overlooking of social conditions, as a regression to the outmoded great man theory of history. [15] For his part Evans praised Sir Ian Kershaw, who wrote that "The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference". [16] (It was Evans who first suggested to ...