1. Do the times make a man great, or does the man make his times great?
Did Alexander the Great create history or was he just carried on by the tide of events which were already occurring?

2. Alexander… Assumed the throne at age twenty
Marched for eleven years over 22,000 miles and never lost a battle against the strongest foes of his time
United an area of over 22 million square miles
Setup a common system of currency
Established many new colonies and cities
Used conquered people in his government
Saw no differentiation between Greeks and barbarians

3. Brought scientists on expeditions
Made Greek the language for government, learning, and commerce Expanded Greek culture from the polis to the whole known world
Set the stage for the eventual rise of Rome and of Christianity
Greece ruled the near east politically for three hundred years and culturally for one thousand
It is said, “Had he not died young, he might have politically united the world.”

4. But…
Greece was already undergoing population pressures and a rising standard of living
Greek culture had already been expanding
The Persian empire had already been steadily weakening
His father, Phillip, had already created the phalanx and started building an empire
Little had been done to organize his empire; no permanent institutions were created to govern it
Absolute monarchs ruled after he died, and the unity Alexander had created politically fell apart

5. Alexander the Great 356 - 323 BC

6. Does the Man Make His Times or Do the Times Make the Man?

7. World 1870 Machines made of steel Electricity replaced steam
New forms of transportation & communication
-trains, telephones
The globe shrank; European affairs became world affairs

8. World War I
Began after assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
Serbia blamed -war spread quickly because of alliances
Nationalism -to prove self, especially in Germany
Nine million soldiers died: machine guns, poison gas, tanks, subs, airplanes
Germany defeated in Treaty was harsh: It took German land away; limited number of soldiers and weapons; pay huge amount of money as war debt
All lost: Young men died who could have provided leadership in the time between the two wars
Led to rise of Adolf Hitler

9. Germany
Germany had problems: money inflated; no money to repair war damages; jobs hard to find
Many blamed World War I treaty
Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, fought in WWI, began Nazi Party in 1920, led a rebellion but was put in jail, wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
Hitler was a powerful speaker
Claimed Germany was the super race
Promised to rebuild country

10. Hitler became chancellor in 1933
Secret Police (SS)
Hitler believed Germany’s problems were caused by Jewish people
Army took Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland in 1938 and 1939
War declared in 1939

11. Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan
Allies Powers: Great Britain, France, and most other countries
Jews forced into concentration camps where six million die

12. 1941
Soviet Union enters war against Germany. United States enters war when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Germany wins battles in beginning, but the large amount of soldiers sent by U.S. and allied bombing begins to turn toward Allies

13. 1945
April -Hitler kills himself, Germany surrenders, Japan surrenders August, 1945 after atomic bombs dropped

14. The Question is…
Did the times he lived in allow Hitler to rise to power, or did the charisma and personality of Hitler make the times?
So…
Did Alexander the Great make history, or did the time period in which he lived allow him to become great?