Do the times make a man great, or does the man make

his times great?

Did Alexander the Great create history or was he just carried on by the tide of events which were

already occurring?

Alexander…• Assumed the throne at age twenty• Marched for eleven years over 22,000 miles and

never lost a battle against the strongest foes of his time

• United an area of over 22 million square miles• Setup a common system of currency• Established many new colonies and cities• Used conquered people in his government• Saw no differentiation between Greeks and

barbarians

• Brought scientists on expeditions

• Made Greek the language for government, learning, and commerce Expanded Greek culture from the polis to the whole known world

• Set the stage for the eventual rise of Rome and of Christianity

• Greece ruled the near east politically for three hundred years and culturally for one thousand

• It is said, “Had he not died young, he might have politically united the world.”

But…• Greece was already undergoing population

pressures and a rising standard of living• Greek culture had already been expanding• The Persian empire had already been steadily

weakening• His father, Phillip, had already created the

phalanx and started building an empire• Little had been done to organize his empire; no

permanent institutions were created to govern it• Absolute monarchs ruled after he died, and the

unity Alexander had created politically fell apart

Alexander the Great356 - 323 BC

QuickTime™ and aSorenson Video 3 decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Does the Man Make His Times or Do the Times Make

the Man?

World 1870

• Machines made of steel

• Electricity replaced steam

• New forms of transportation & communication

-trains, telephones

The globe shrank; European affairs became world affairs

World War I 1914 - 1918• Began after assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of

Austria• Serbia blamed -war spread quickly because of

alliances• Nationalism -to prove self, especially in Germany• Nine million soldiers died: machine guns, poison gas,

tanks, subs, airplanes• Germany defeated in 1918 -Treaty was harsh: It took

German land away; limited number of soldiers and weapons; pay huge amount of money as war debt

• All lost: Young men died who could have provided leadership in the time between the two wars

• Led to rise of Adolf Hitler

Germany 1920 - 1930

• Germany had problems: money inflated; no money to repair war damages; jobs hard to find

• Many blamed World War I treaty• Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, fought in WWI,

began Nazi Party in 1920, led a rebellion but was put in jail, wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

• Hitler was a powerful speaker• Claimed Germany was the super race• Promised to rebuild country

• Hitler became chancellor in 1933

• Secret Police (SS)

• Hitler believed Germany’s problems were caused by Jewish people

• Army took Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland in 1938 and 1939

• War declared in 1939

• Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan

• Allies Powers: Great Britain, France, and most other countries

• Jews forced into concentration camps where six million die

1941

• Soviet Union enters war against Germany. United States enters war when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

• Germany wins battles in beginning, but the large amount of soldiers sent by U.S. and allied bombing begins to turn toward Allies

1945

• April -Hitler kills himself, Germany surrenders, Japan surrenders August, 1945 after atomic bombs dropped

The Question is…

Did the times he lived in allow Hitler to rise to power, or did the charisma and personality of Hitler make the times?

So…

Did Alexander the Great make history, or did the time period in which he lived allow him to become great?