This has been added to the compound posting "How History Repeats Itself", November 2019.
With all that has been written about the Titanic disaster, as well as the movies and documentaries, there is one thing that I have never seen.
What about the repetition of history? We know that history is a powerful force and that we tend to repeat it, often without realizing it. There is a historic force behind the Titanic disaster.
First, let's review some examples of how history repeats itself in Britain.
Mercia was one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that preceded a united England. A Mercian king named Offa constructed the barrier called Offa's Dyke along the western border with the Welsh kingdoms. This barrier likely had more of an effect on Wales, giving it a strong sense of definition. Wales much later built it's own barrier, the Cardiff Bay Barrage which gives Cardiff Bay a permanent high tide so that it is no longer tidal.
The Normans built numerous castles. Part of the reason was to make an impression on the local people. Edward I repeated that history, when he acquired Wales, by building the series of castles in north Wales that are still there.
Henry Tudor, later to become Henry VII, returned from exile. Landing in Wales, he gathered support while moving toward a confrontation with the Yorkist branch of the ruling House of Plantagenet. Bonnie Prince Charlie would later repeat this, landing in Scotland to lead the Jacobite Uprising. He was the grandson of James II who had been forced out for insisting on remaining Catholic and the Jacobites thought that Bonnie Prince Charlie was the rightful king.
Henry VII, leader of the Lancaster branch of the House of Plantagenet, married the princess of the losing York branch in the War of the Roses. This united the two factions in the new ruling House of Tudor. This was a reenactment of Henry I much earlier marrying Matilda to unify the Norman and Anglo-Saxon lines.
The British monarchy doesn't have cadet, or junior, branches anymore. Maybe to avoid a reenactment of the War of the Roses. Although Harry might take note that the junior, Lancaster, branch won the crown in the War of the Roses. But the government does have a "shadow government". It is the would-be government of the opposition.
Oliver Cromwell abolished the monarchy and ruled for eleven years, from 1649 to 1660, in what is known as the Interregnum. Margaret Thatcher was a modern political version of the Interregnum. Her term was from 1979 to 1990. Like Oliver Cromwell she ruled for eleven years, from a year ending with 9 to a year ending with 0.
The Dutch King William, who was related to England's royal family, was invited to "invade" England and rule with the Protestant daughter of James II, Mary, after deposing the Catholic king. The "invasion" was met with a welcoming committee. But this landing on the south coast was a purposeful reenactment of another William, William the Conqueror.
Robin Hood supposedly "robbed from the rich to give to the poor". Not far away, the Great Train Robbery of 1963 was like something right out of Robin Hood. It should have been expected that it would be reenacted in real life some day. Although I don't think they had any plans to "give to the poor".
What about the symbolism of the British flag? Why is Britain so fascinated with diamonds? Could it be that the stripes on the flag resemble the vertices of diamonds?
With that look at how powerful symbolism is and how history reenacts itself, let's get back to the Titanic.
The company that operated the Titanic was the White Star Line. The structure of the ship, except for the hull, was painted a brilliant white.
In the year 1120, the White Ship Disaster was a major tragedy. The heir to the Throne of England, and much of the nobility were killed. The succession crisis that it caused led England into civil war.
The White Ship and Titanic disasters were strikingly similar. Both tragedies happened when the vessels were carelessly proceeding at top speed at night. Both vessels were new. Intoxication was a factor in the White Ship, overconfidence in the Titanic. The White Ship carried the heir to the Throne and the nobility. The Titanic carried wealthy people. The White Ship struck a known submerged rock that could have been avoided. The Titanic struck an iceberg that it had been warned about. The port from which the Titanic sailed, Southampton, was directly across the English Channel from where the White Ship Disaster happened. Neither tragedy should have happened.
But historical forces were at work and brought into being this reenactment of the White Ship Disaster.
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