Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/798

 598 General History oj Europe 1086. Importance of Recent History. While our knowledge of the past now extends back far beyond what was known a hundred years ago, we have at the same time come to realize that the more recent the history the more important it is in enabling us to form a judgment on the problems of our own day. Twenty years ago such manuals as this were apt to deal pretty fully with ancient history Greece and Rome and give very little indeed about the modern world in which we live. This has now been reversed. The World War called everyone's attention to the vital importance of understanding European conditions if we were to understand the war and its consequences and the great problems that now face mankind. It will be noticed that less than half of the present volume is devoted to the whole period from earliest man down to the opening of the sixteenth century. On the other hand, a hundred and fifty pages are assigned to the develop- ments of the past half century, which concerns us most nearly. 1087. History alone enables us to understand the World of Today. The reason for this is that the authors believe that we can only understand the present by understanding the past. We each of us have to explain our own lives and circumstances by our own particular past, by our memories and experiences and the conditions in which we happen to have been placed. So it is with mankind in general. One has to realize man's slow struggle up from ignorance and savagery to understand the constant need for reform and the difficulty of carrying it out. There is no reason to think that we do not still have innumer- able reforms to make, for our knowledge is ever increasing and our situation is constantly being changed as a result of new knowledge and new inventions, which have revolutionized the life of mankind in the past and will continue to change it in the future and so raise ever new tasks for the reformer. 1088. Why History often fails to arouse Interest. The reason why so many people are not interested in history is because the older historical manuals contained so many things that could not be brought into any relation with our own lives and interests. Obviously it has been necessary in writing this volume (which