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

1
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?

2
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

3

• 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.

4
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

5
Alexander the Great356 - 323 BC
6
Does the Man Make His Times or Do the Times Make
the Man?
7
World 1870

• Machines made of steel
• Electricity replaced steam
• New forms of transportation communication
• -trains, telephones
• The globe shrank European affairs became world
  affairs

8
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

9
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

10

• Hitler became chancellor in 1933
• Secret Police (SS)
• Hitler believed Germanys problems were caused by
  Jewish people
• Army took Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland in 1938
  and 1939
• War declared in 1939

11

• Axis Powers Germany, Italy, Japan
• Allies Powers Great Britain, France, and most
  other countries
• Jews forced into concentration camps where six
  million die

12
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

13
1945

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

14
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?