The Geographical Pivot of History 2.0

The Geographical Pivot of History 2.0

25 Apr 25
Posted by: Lt Gen Robert Fry
8 minutes, 23 seconds read
Message from the Editor

The author, seeking explanatory narrative frameworks in the tradition of Hobsbawm’s ‘Short Twentieth Century’, applies the geopolitical lens of Halford Mackinder to draw parallels between the world at the turn of the 20th century and our world today. Originally published in The Article. A 10 minute read.

How many years are there in a century? One hundred is the obvious answer – except if you are a commentator trying to make a point, and the late Eric Hobsbawm made plenty. The Cambridge academic and doyen of radical Left historical analysis identified in his 1995 book The Age of Extremes a ‘short Twentieth Century’. That the period 1914-89 witnessed the collapse of successive empires, a second Thirty Years’ War, the Holocaust, nuclear use and the twin abominations of Soviet Communism and Nazi Fascism concentrates attention on individual events, such is their hideous novelty. Yet Hobsbawm…

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