Examples of history repeating itself

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“Let’s read this article,” says Tiffi. “It’s giving examples of history repeating itself.”

‘Everyone’s heard the saying that history repeats itself. Sometimes it’s in the context of being told to learn from our mistakes so that history doesn’t repeat itself. Other times it’s when a current event feels eerily familiar as if you remember this happening before. Sometimes, people will question the idea that history repeats itself, but it’s hard to deny that there are many events throughout both human and natural history that feel like things that have happened before.

Whether it’s major events that lasted for several years and affected the entire world, like World War II or the Great Depression, more localized events like the famous sinking of the Titanic, or even bigger events that happened on a geological scale, there are plenty of examples of history repeating itself. The historical events you’ll see below are some notable instances, but once you start digging, it’s surprising how many similarities you can find in historical moments around the world.

Hitler and Napoleon invading Russia

Both leaders, having had significant victories, turned their attention to Russia with their massive armies. As their invasions progressed into winter, Napoleon’s troops and Hitler’s troops a hundred years later both faced unforeseen difficulties. The brutal winter weather was responsible for a massive number of deaths in Hitler’s and Napoleon’s army, and in both cases after gaining an advantage in a major battle, Russian forces took the initiative and pushed the invaders back to their countries.

Great sinking ships: the Titanic, the Vasa, and the Tek Sing

Each of these great ships met an early demise at sea.

In 1628, the Vasa set out on her maiden voyage. Sudden gusts of wind caught the ship’s sails and caused the ship to unbalance, tilting enough that water began to rush into its lower deck, and it quickly sunk, still within view of the shore.

The Tek Sing was on a solo journey, headed to Indonesia, carrying a full load of cargo, including fine porcelain, as well as 1800 people. They were in a hurry to reach their destination and took a shortcut, which resulted in the ship hitting a barrier reef.

The Titanic set sail in 1912 to great fanfare, very much like the Vasa. It was through to be unsinkable, and when it hit that fateful iceberg, it didn’t have enough lifeboats, the crew wasn’t trained to carry out an evacuation, and at least 1,500 people died, while about 710 survived.

The Great Depression and The Great Recession

The Great Depression is the worst economic crisis that the United States has seen. It began with the infamous stock market crash of 1929. Millions of investors lost everything, banks failed, and around 15 million Americans were unemployed. Many things contributed to the conditions that led to the stock market crash and subsequent economic depression.

These conditions sound familiar: high consumer debt led to the Great Recession in 2008 as well. A housing boom in the early 2000s led to high rates of mortgage debt, and banks were making lots of risky loans. When the housing bubble burst, many people defaulted on their mortgages.

Natural history: mass extinctions

Most of the time, when we think of examples of history repeating itself, we think of human activities, but the natural world also has its own stages. Over the history of life on earth, there have been several periods of mass extinction, during which over 75 percent of living species were wiped out.

Many scientists believe that we’re currently living through another mass extinction event, but this time it is caused by the massively outsized impact that human activity is having on the environment. While previous extinction events were caused by big natural events, the climate changes caused by humans are having a similar effect, and it’s happening even faster, as industrialization has increased the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere massively.’ (Source)

Let’s continue - 10 Worst Ways History Has Repeated Itself

Start at the beginning – What is the historical truth?