Why are we so obsessed with World War II? | Keith Lowe | TEDxAthens

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. When we talk about World War II, what are we really remembering, and what are we choosing to forget? This talk looks at some of the hidden motives behind our unhealthy obsession with the war.

Keith Lowe is a British historian and an expert on the Second World War and its consequences. His books include the critically acclaimed Inferno: The Devastation of Hamburg 1943, and the international bestseller Olethros (Savage Continent), which won the 2013 Hessell Tiltman Prize for history. He is a regular speaker on TV and radio, and has lectured all over Europe and America on twentieth century history. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

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[wilsonyu]

This is what I am worrying about. As years goes by and more people who lived through World War 2 died in their old age, people will forget how serious and real World War 2 was; people will still remember it but only in history books and dramatized movies and video games.

[rocksparadox]

This is a RARE TEDx talk in the sense that it's truly educational, bringing awareness about the way media/politicians attempt to influence people.

[jesseplaysgames]

I’ve always been a massive nerd for WWII history. However, as someone who has seen the effects of war first hand, I do often think about the insane loss of life that took place in WWII. The amount of broken families and misplaced people from all over the world because of that war. I hope that our world will never again fall into something like that.

[eruetifoster]

I must admit I love watching those old WWII films.

[nathanyan]

I love this guy's speech and really hope there are more minds like him in the world.

[naordie]

Our obsession is simple.  Almost everyone in the whole world was touched by it.  It transformed the world is ways we don't even realize.  It is also one of the last times the world came to together for a common purpose.

[johnwells]

i can think of a number of reasons as to our obsession with WWII. A war so great that it touched virtually every country on the planet. A staggering global death toll. The emergence of new technology.
We senior citizens are children of the generation that fought in that war. Hence our obsession.

[frivolitymachine]

Because the media, politicians and educational system have been beating it into us our whole lives.

[grayarcana]

Perhaps the fascination arises from our not having fully comprehended the undercurrents that shaped the world of the Nineteen Thirties.

For all the lore and learning, no few apprehend that these dark undercurrents are shaping our world again.

[imcintyre]

Compared to WW1? Probably because like most stories, the second half is is usually when things start paying off.

[billn.]

British and American view of WWII is romanticed. From other nations, they all want to forget what happened and don't even want to romanticize the thought of it. Big key players like Japan, German, Italy, China and Russia all want to forget about what happened. I used to be obsessed with the side of the American and British and their roles in WW2. What got my attention was meeting veterans, the soldiers outfits, their love stories, the songs sang in the era, the battles, the weapons used and events of that history is something I can list forever. But I still cannot fully explain why we love that time period. In general, it was an awful time for many nations affected. But it also gave direction on where those nations would end up to be in modern age.

[ДмитрийРостовцев-ыв]

I was watching this video about 20 minutes and nothing was told about russians people who fought in this war in during four years and who lost in this war about 27 millions people russians which country was destroyed completely and russians who won this war!!! and this is true truth!!!

[philipbuckley]

I could not help but feel that you needed to jump in to your subject, and not have wasted so much in a wandering introduction...

[wilsonyu]

From what I heard, even when the Allies are fighting with good intentions, they have ulterior motives when WW2 was over:
The US plans to spread capitalistic marketing and make profit in repairing war-torn countries.
The Soviet Union tends to spread communism, acquiring new territories, and did became a world-power since Nazi imperialism is out of the picture.
From Great Britain, I don't know much, I guess they still maintain their imperialism with their colonies.

There is a slight hypocrisy for the Allies in World War 2:
Soviet Union was run by a totalitarian dictatorship and Great Britain was also an imperial power.

[danbarnhart]

The conclusion of this talk is to create more space for the 'gray areas' of history that don't just make us feel good about ourselves, but take the entirety of situations into context. However, the speaker offers it as if it a novel idea or approach that will bring about a "much more peaceful world". He fails to address that the contextualization of historically significant events is the entire process of being a historian and digesting historical information - nothing should be divorced from context, and de-contextualized approaches will always err on the side of bias no matter what (whatever your nationality is-we all think we are the best). It's intriguing to me that he feels like he's making a novel point when in reality he's describing what the process of recording and observing history is by definition.

[rebekahtewelde]

im happy that we learn about these things in my primary school

[jonesyhr]

I have been obsessed with WWII since I was very I am to this day I feel so drawn to wish I knew truly.

[libertarianwhohatesdemsand]

World war 1 was a more far reaching world changing war. It made world war 2 have to happen as well as the cold war

[jordanthomas]

it was by far the most significant event of the 20th century.

[soniwatts]

I am absolutely obsessed with World War II. When my television is on, its always on those channels he mentioned in the beginning of the video.