25 History Memes To Test Your Knowledge
Historiography (different from "history") is the study of how we talk about and do history as a field of study. It's the history of history, telling the story of how over time people frame and reframe the past. Sometimes people do it because they want to gain political power in the present. Other times they do it because they feel like a truth has been buried. Often, it's just because historical understanding evolves with new archaeological or archival discoveries.
A major piece of 21st-century historiography, when the historians of the future write about it, may be the transition to a meme-based historical record. Through internet memes posted on sites like Reddit's /r/historymemes, people passionate about history are learning new things and sharing new things.
Here are a few examples of fairly niche memes from Reddit's /r/historymemes, that share some fun facts about things that often aren't covered in history classes. The question of why they aren't covered in history classes? Well, there's a hidden history about that, too.
Second Empire Was The Villain
(Source: Reddit)
Napoleon III's Second Empire is often thought of as the first truly authoritarian (in a modern way) regime in Europe, and a template for many future dictators.
Were The Holy Roman Empire And Medieval France Really So Different?
(Source: Reddit)
This is an interesting debate — the HRE has a reputation for being a really decentralized collection of states, but so too was France. In fact, the majority of France didn't really speak French until the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were forced to as a result of increasing centralization by Paris.
Revisionism
(Source: Reddit)
The accomplishments and extent of the Islamic empire in Europe are often downplayed by Eurocentric history books.
Ottoman Janissaries
(Source: Reddit)
The Ottoman Empire would take young boys out of their families and train them to be Janissaries, elite slave-soldiers who carried out much of the empire's most important work.
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