SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The line is Karl Marx's, from The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852), comparing Napoleon's seizure of power with his nephew's coup. It suggests that when societies repeat past mistakes, the first time is tragic and the repetition, being avoidable, is absurd. The examiner expects reflection on learning from history.
ThesisHistory does not literally repeat, but societies that ignore its lessons recreate its errors in diminished, often absurd forms, so the duty is to remember critically.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Politics: leaders sometimes copy the strategies of past strongmen, and the imitation looks hollow without the original context
- 2Economy: financial crises recur when lessons on speculation and regulation are forgotten after a boom
- 3Public health: pandemics expose the same failures of preparedness and misinformation generations apart
- 4International relations: harsh peace settlements and appeasement have produced repeated conflicts
- 5Society: communal violence and hate campaigns repeat older patterns, each time with less excuse of ignorance
- 6Caution: forcing every event into a pattern can mislead, since each period has its own causes
Counter-view
- A counter is that history never repeats, since each situation is unique, and the claim is merely rhetorical. The essay should agree that exact repetition is impossible but show that patterns of behaviour recur, which is why history remains a guide
Open and close
- Open: Open with Louis Napoleon in Paris in December 1851, staging a coup on the anniversary of his uncle's coronation, borrowing glory he had not earned
- Close: Conclude that history's farces are avoidable, and that a society which studies its tragedies honestly need not live through their repetitions
Where marks usually go
- Writing a general essay on the importance of history without engaging 'tragedy' and 'farce'
- Misattributing the line or explaining it without the context of the two Napoleons
- Forcing every modern event into a historical parallel without showing why the second occurrence is farcical
Examples that fit
- HistoryMarx contrasted Napoleon Bonaparte's rise with the 1851 coup of his nephew Louis Napoleon, calling the second a farcical imitation of the first.The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Karl Marx (1852)
- ThinkerGeorge Santayana warned that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.The Life of Reason, George Santayana (1905)
- HistoryThe harsh terms imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 fed resentment that helped Hitler rise, a lesson later applied in the reconstruction of Europe after 1945.The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes (1919)
- CaseThe 1918 influenza and COVID-19 showed similar failures, such as delayed responses and resistance to masks, despite a century of medical advances.The Great Influenza, John M. Barry (2004); WHO reports on COVID-19