There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
In 1917 European history, in the old sense, came to an end. World history began. It was the year of Lenin and Woodrow Wilson, both of whom repudiated the traditional standards of political behaviour. Both preached Utopia, Heaven on Earth. It was the moment of birth for our contemporary world.
Interpretation
The quote signifies a pivotal moment in history where traditional political norms were challenged, leading to the formation of the modern world.
A. J. P. Taylor highlights the year 1917 as a turning point in European and world history, marking the shift from established political conventions to revolutionary ideas championed by leaders like Lenin and Wilson. This moment is portrayed as the genesis of contemporary political thought and society, suggesting that ideals of a perfect society began to take precedence over traditional practices.
In practice
During a lecture on the impact of World War I on modern politics.
There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.
The male clerk with his quill pen and copper-plate handwriting had gone for good. The female short-hand typist took his place. It was a decisive moment in women's emancipation.
Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.
If there had been no troublemakers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.
Bismarck fought 'necessary' wars and killed thousands, the idealists of the twentieth century fight 'just' wars and kill millions.
He was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be - a student of history; and like most of those who study history, he learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.
We must never forget that Black History is American History. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation's greatness.
Stern accuracy in inquiring, bold imagination in describing, these are the cogs on which history soars or flutters and wobbles.
Our generation was born during the turmoil following the First World War. That war marked the dividing line - at least for the Western World - between the comfortable security of the 19th century and the instability and flux of our own time.
The search for a Jewish national home came about due to centuries of anti-Semitic pogroms, expulsions, discrimination and hate. The Holocaust was simply the evil culmination of all that came before it.
Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together!
History will tell you that borders are not inevitable, they hardly existed at the end of the 19th century.
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