We know that history tends to repeat itself. Sometimes we repeat history intentionally, but often without realizing it. Here are four examples of, not only history repeating itself, but of the intersection of two or more currents of history, even if the currents may be contradictory. I consider the French Revolution, of 1789, to have been the beginning of the modern political era and it is the common factor in all four examples.
The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, was the beginning of the modern political era. Before that, countries being led by kings was the rule. The French Revolution was a popular uprising in which the king and queen were overthrown and guillotined. The revolution was very destructive against anything that represented royal power, and also against the Catholic Church. The signature event of the revolution is the Storming of the Bastille. But the French Revolution didn't immediately turn out as planned. It ultimately ended in the rule of Napoleon, who would turn out to be the prototype of the modern dictator, although he was not the initiator of the revolution.
ADOLF HITLER
Adolf Hitler was most certainly in the mode of Napoleon. He knew this and made a special point of visiting Napoleon's Tomb. Hitler's field of conquest closely correlated with that of Napoleon. Like Napoleon, Hitler was what eventually emerged out of the overthrow of a monarch, although neither initiated the overthrow themselves. Kaiser Wilhelm II was overthrown in a revolution following the First World War, and Hitler is what eventually emerged from it.
But yet Hitler was also part of a strand of history that contradicts this. The Holy Roman Empire had been set up by the papacy to rein in the eastern Christians, who ultimately broke away to form the Eastern Orthodox Church. Charlemagne had been crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor and it had lasted for a thousand years, although it never succeeded in it's original mission to rein in the eastern Christians.
The Holy Roman Empire was finally brought to an end by Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Austerlitz. His monument to the victory was the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. This could be considered as the tombstone of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Nazis, led by Hitler, referred to themselves as the "Third Reich". This had the Holy Roman Empire as the First Reich, and the time of the Kaisers as the Second Reich. This meant that Hitler was aiming to fulfill the mission of the Holy Roman Empire, with himself as the new Charlemagne. Indeed, after gathering Europe together, he invaded the Soviet Union, although the conflict was now secularized into National Socialism against Communism.
Despite the name, the Holy Roman Empire had been centered on what is now Germany and particularly the city of Nuremberg. This explains why the pre-war rallies, and also the postwar trials of surviving Nazi leaders, was held in Nuremberg. The Holy Roman Empire had lasted for a thousand years and the Nazis referred to themselves as the "Thousand Year Reich".
There was an early medieval kingdom, called Francia, of which both France and Germany are descended. The kingdom split into East and West Francia, with West Francia becoming France and East Francia becoming Germany. The historical connection between the two can be seen in how Charlemagne had moved his court from Paris to Aachen. I regard both Napoleon and Hitler as having tried to put the Franks back together, Napoleon from the French side and Hitler from the German side.
A very symbolic military parade was that of the Nazis along Napoleon's Avenue de la Grande Armed, where the Arch de Triomphe is located. Remember that this arch was built to celebrate Napoleon's victory that brought the Holy Roman Empire to an end. Image from the Wikipedia article "German Military Administration In Occupied France During World War II".
This parade not only symbolized that Hitler was picking up where Napoleon had left off, it was at this time that he had visited Napoleon's Tomb, but also of the putting of the Franks back together. Yet, considering that the arch is effectively the "tombstone" of the Holy Roman Empire, it also shows that the Empire has been reborn, as the Third Reich.
So Hitler was putting two contradictory strands of history together, Napoleon and the Holy Roman Empire that Napoleon had brought to an end.
There is a third strand of history at Hitler's intersection. German archeologists led in excavating ancient Babylon. Before the time of Hitler, the Ishtar Gate was reassembled in Berlin. Image from the Wikipedia article by that name.
Notice how it resonates with the Arc de Triomphe. What did Babylon do? It rose up and conquered those who had previously conquered them (the Assyrians), just as the Nazis were going to do with the Allies of the First World War, and then it took the Jews captive.
JOSEF STALIN
I consider there as having been two major reenactments of the French Revolution, as well as numerous minor ones. What I mean by major reenactments is revolutions that were clearly reenactments of the French Revolution but changed the basic direction of it.
The first major reenactment of the French Revolution was the October Revolution, of 1917. Napoleon had spread the values of the French Revolution across Europe. His campaign in Russia was ultimately unsuccessful but could he have imagined that, more than a century later, the tsars would be overthrown and guillotined in what was very much a reenactment of the French Revolution? The signature event of the October Revolution was the Storming of the Winter Palace. But the October Revolution changed the basic direction of the revolution from politics, the overthrow of the monarchy in favor of a republic, to the economics of Communism.
The Napoleonic figure that ultimately arose out of the October Revolution is Josef Stalin. This legacy of Napoleon intersected with national symbolism. Stalin was a native of Georgia and St. George is the dragon slayer. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin was in his element as the dragon slayer with Hitler in the role of the dragon.
The following image is from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Georgia". This is not the country's flag but it shows St. George slaying the dragon.
AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI
The second major reenactment of the French Revolution was the Iranian Revolution, of 1979. This time the king, the Shah, survived by going into exile. The signature "storming" of the Iranian Revolution was the Storming of the U.S. Embassy Compound. The leader of the Iranian Revolution was Ayatollah Khomeini although, like Napoleon, he didn't necessarily initiate the grassroots revolution. The French Revolution had been hostile to religion, the October Revolution even more so. What the Iranian Revolution did was to turn the direction back toward religion.
The following image is from the Wikipedia article "Ruhollah Khomeini's Return To Iran". The Shah had left the country by this point and Khomeini is returning from exile in France. The date is February 1, 1979. The elderly Ayatollah is being helped down the steps of the plane by the Air France pilot.
This might be a coincidence but I have long noticed the symbolism in this photo. Khomeini's revolution was certainly a reenactment of the French Revolution, whether intentional or not. Khomeini and many other revolutionary figures had been in exile not far from Versailles, where the court had been living when they were overthrown in the French Revolution.
The first section showed the Nazis picking up where Napoleon had left off. The pilot is dressed in a military-like uniform that is reminiscent of Napoleon. Doesn't this photo seem to represent Khomeini picking up where Napoleon had left off?
Khomeini's son is immediately behind the pilot. Why didn't he help instead?
Aside from the French Revolution, the Iranian Revolution has a strong Gandhi element to it. Khomeini, like Gandhi in India, returning from exile to lead his country to it's traditional values and away from western imperialism. It is also a reenactment of the early Islamic conquest of Iran, with the monarchy of the Shah representing the country's long pre-Islamic past, and the much-later Safavid Dynasty conversion of the country to Shia Islam.
DONALD TRUMP
Donald Trump is weaving two contradictory strands of history together. We have seen how he is modeling himself after the French king, Louis XIV. He has been remodeling the Oval Office to reflect this king and a room in his Florida mansion to reflect the Palace of Versailles. Now the East Wing of the White House has been demolished to make way for a ballroom that resembles the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.
The Republican side of America is really the continuation of the French Bourbon Dynasty. This was America's first ally and who helped it to gain independence. We saw this in the posting "Donald I", September 2025.
The following image is of the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon. Image from the Wikipedia article by that name.
Now notice how Donald Trump so often wears a blue suit with a red tie and a red baseball cap that reflects the above design. Two images from the Wikipedia article "Make America Great Again".
But yet Donald Trump is also weaving in the revolutionary and Napoleonic strands of history. This may seem contradictory because the French Revolution overthrew and guillotined the king and queen and Napoleon was what eventually emerged out of the revolution.
America had it's version of the Storming of the Bastille but it was in reverse. The Storming of the Capitol, on January 6, was very much like the Storming of the Bastille. But instead of being against the king it was in support of the king, which is Donald Trump. Image from the Wikipedia article "January 6 United States Capitol Attack".
Donald Trump is also planning an arch in Washington that resembles Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe, and is informally known as the Arc de Trump. Images from Google Earth and Street View.
For another theory of history, see "The Sheet Theory Of History", February 2025.
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