In Robert Heinlein's Future History, Volume III, Revolt In 2100, begins during the Prophetic dictatorship and describes the successful revolution against that dictatorship whereas, in Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History, the seventh instalment, "Cold Victory," begins when the Humanist dictatorship has come and gone and describes a space battle during the successful anti-Humanist counterrevolution.
The forces determining historical events are debated by:
a Planetary Engineer;
a Martian professor;
a Venusian clanswoman;
a captain in the Solar Guard -
- thus by individuals representing Luna, Mars, Venus and Earth, respectively.
The Venusian says:
"'If there are folk around at a crisis time with enough force, they'll shape the way things turn out... Otherwise things will drift.'" (p. 54)
That is how things happen, is it not? Except that sometimes the force is a population, not just an army.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
No, most times, in eras of chaos, things will most likely simply drift. But anarchical times also gives strong willed individuals to seize control of events and shape things as they wish or think best. Sometimes with beneficent or catastrophic results. A classic example being Octavian Augustus, who seized power as the Roman Republic was collapsing. Without him the Mediterranean world would most likely have split into warring Roman states. The Principate Augustus founded unified the Classical world and gave some order and peace lasting for centuries.
Ad astra! Sean
Tho' one way he did it was simply by living to be 77 -- despite being in frail health all his adult life.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And that too, the accident of Augustus living long enough for the new system he set up to take root strongly enough to survive his death.
Ad astra! Sean
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