Questions to Malte

[Malte279]

When are you planning to post the next chapter of "The Cold Time"? 

Done, thank you for the reminder
I keep forgetting about that one.

How difficult was college when you first came in as a freshman? How difficult was it at the end?

Actually it wasn't too hard to me at any time. In any case university never gave me as hard a time as school did which is undoubtedly due to the fact that I studied subjects I was really into with heart and soul
I have also been almost unfairly lucky sometimes
For example I blundered into the university because I had nothing else to do that day (though of course I had long planned to study and made up my mind for several weeks to study in Bochum) finding that had I happened to be there one day later the last day on which I could possibly sign up for that semester would have passed :blink:
The "welcoming" at the university was rather unwelcoming. For some safety reason the number of students admitted to the auditorium to listen to the dean's welcoming speech was very restricted. Even though there would have been plenty of room (though no more seats) in the auditorium I was among those who were left standing outside in the rain (literally) never hearing the welcoming speech. But I guess I did not miss to much
Another blunder I conducted in the first days without getting "punished" for it was that I considered a part of the studies which is named "optional studies" (and which consists of courses which are not directly related to your main fields of study) "optional" So by the time I realized the "optional studies" were very obligatory there was only one course left to which few people had applied. This particular course ("Methods of practical communication") was probably the most sensible and rewarding (giving 10 rather than the usual 5 CP in one semester) course I ever had in the six semesters worth of "optional studies" I had in the end and I got there only by chance and blundering
Now I don't want to pretend that I never had any troubles at the university. For example in my first semester I failed to pass one test in linguistics (the part of anglistics which I found least appealing and which I dropped after the second semester). Again I had blundered not only for what I wrote in the test, but I had even been in the wrong room by the time the test started (everybody's nightmare, isn't it?)
In the second attempt I managed a sufficient in that test which was... well, sufficient
There were more blunders I conducted and some are rather funny and none was fatal though some gave me slight heart attacks. In spite of all these blunders and errors though I must say that I really embraced university life from pretty much the first day. My love affair with that ugly but efficient concrete building of our university felt rewarding from the very start and I brought a good deal of idealism with me which has not evaporated to this day. Of course the university means a lot of work, of course there were the dark days when I felt it was getting just too much (and often I notice that I am comming up with my best work results when I feel that time is running out) and when there was a lot of stress. But never did university impose that kind of ugly stress on me which is caused by the lack of sense of purpose which has been one of the hardest things for me to swallow in my school days.
Now that I am done with my studies (I will get the results of my final work in a few weeks) I must say I am feeling kind of sad about it. Already the afterlife... after university I mean  is stretching out its claws for me. There are several options for me, several different places where I can, and will try to get a job or a stipend, but chances to succeed seem lesser there than at the university. Outside university good performance may be less merited and of lesser importance when it comes to getting a job. In spite of all the blunders mentioned before I am (false modesty aside) a darn good historian, but that does not ensure a job in a time when too little money is there to pay for it. I am also under pressure to find a job really quickly, for the moment I am no longer officially a student (October 1st), my insurance fees will double until I have a job. I hardly dare talking to my father these days for the fear of telling him that I don't have any job secured yet :unsure:
Before I get too far off topic the essence is that I really love university live and loved it from the beginning (my emails from the time when I started studying are a good historical source to document the fact that I felt that way even then rather than glorifying it in the aftermath). I hope that all of you who are starting college now will enjoy the same romance with the institution as I was granted

If anyone feels that I am , feel free to feel so

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Regarding your lack of a job, have you thought about online jobs? They might be easier to get than physical jobs, don't require additional costs like gas for transportation, and you can apply for hundreds in a single day, while never leaving your seat. It might not be the job you're looking for or your dream job, but it might be a good start off point, if all else fails.

Then again, if your work results do improve the less time you have left, your chances of success are increasing!

[Malte279]

I am a historian all through and I am confident that ultimately I will find a job or at least a stipend for the time during which I will write my dissertation. Gas prizes will be no problem as students and doctorates have cheap tickets which allow for the use of public transportation which I, in most circumstances, prefer over driving.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

What historical figure do you think deserves a much better reputation than the one they ended up with? What historical figure do you think deserves a much worse reputation than the one they ended up with?

[Malte279]

Now that's an interesting question and one for which there are probably countless examples. Very often the reputation historical characters ended up with did come for a reason. While there may be cases of characters being totally misrepresented in public opinion I think there are more cases where there is a basis for the negative / positive public opinion but that opinion pretty much ousted everything else about characters who were not good / bad only. Sometimes actions conducted in their time were seen very different in their own days than in our days. Here are some examples.
Vice President Aaron Burr is very much seen as a villain these days for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Duels were a rather common procedure in those days (and there are US presidents to fought in duels), even though they did not often have a mortal outcome. In any case Burr's killing of Hamilton is stuck while the whole background (even why the duel was fought is barely known). Burr is certainly not a person whom I could warm up for but public opinion often skips some facets of his personality which I find rather positive. He was for example one of the very few people in those days who actively promoted the idea of equal rights for women and womens' participation in politics. In days when celebrated founding fathers like John Adams (who was very annoyed by the requests of his admirable wife Abigail to "remember the ladies"), and Thomas Jefferson (his fathering childs with a slave also brings in the matter of slavery in a celebrated president who also had a Mr. Hyde to his rightfully praised Dr. Jekyll personality) just couldn't imagine equal rights to be granted to women.
Or how about one man whose very name has become an insult in the US. Benedict Arnold. Of course he is held in contempt for good reason after the treason he committed, but few people bother to ask why he turned traitor in the first place. He was pretty much denied credit for HIS victory in the battle of Saratoga without which the entire outcome of the war might have changed (general Gates got all the credit without having done much for those laurels). The fact that Arnold was married to a fiercely loyalist woman didn't make things much easier. I am not defending his actions, but try to look at the reasons which are often lost in condemnation.
One very interesting character who is widely praised is Winston Churchill. The world was really lucky to have him in the decisive year of 1940. But short of such states of crisis where a character like him would be needed I admit that he is not likely to be the kind of politician one would want to have in times of peace. During a great strike in the 1920s the man suggested to machine gun the striking workers and his statements on what to do to Mohandas Gandhi and his followers in India sound uncannily similar to some statements of the very kind of Fascists he later defeated (don't get me wrong here, I am not putting him on that level, but machine gunning striking workers... that does not fit to the more glorious image of him which many will have in mind).
In many cases history's heroes are just forgotten and even these heroes come in gray shades rather than in black or white. One example for this is John Rabe. You know that I am very interested in history, but until a movie was made about him recently I had never ever heard of John Rabe. He was a German businessman and member of the NSDAP, but while working in China he probably saved the lives of about 200 000 Chinese during the massacre at Nanjing and hardly anyone over here ever heard of it.
You know LB&T, your question is really interesting. It might actually be plenty enough stuff for several books. Looking at the facets of historical characters who are neglected in public perception.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold were awesome choices for that question. I didn't know as much about Burr but I did know Benedict Arnold was one of our best generals in the American Revolution and I am sad that his reputation has become as such.

I was asked this question in class. I found it much easier to find heroes who (in my opinion) did not deserve their legacies that the other way around. My choices for those who were not worthy of their prestige is Andrew Jackson and Christopher Columbus. Jackson's crimes against the Native Americans are many and in some cases illegal (the Cherokee's forced removal from Georgia was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and Jackson completely ignored his obligation to uphold the law.) And yet he's on our twenty dollar bill and considered the first "president of the common man". Common white American man, more like.
I've got to go, so I can't discuss Columbus right now, but what are your opinions on these two men?

My examples for people who aren't nearly as well known as they should be are James Madison and Daniel Ellsberg. Neither name is as common as the others involved in their respective crises, yet they both played crucial roles in the creation of rights and checks on presidential power. Again, what is your opinion, if you have one?

[Malte279]

I've got to go, so I can't discuss Columbus right now, but what are your opinions on these two men?

Jackson is actually one of those I had in mind when I mentioned dueling US presidents. I agree on what you say about his "removal policy" against the native Americans, but unlike in case of many other historical figures I think that at least the so called "trail of tears" at least found its way into public consciousness. The linking of the character to the crime is still not very intact. Again we have a character who is not good or bad only, but I do agree that his being honored on the $20 bill must be hard to swallow for many native Americans and I can't blame them.

As for Christobal Colon, matters are even more complex and it is a bit too late on this end to start writing an essay now (I am not kidding, I have five books specifically about Colon on the shelves right beside me and several more books on explorers in general with large sections about Colon). His board book gives some insight about his way of thinking which nowadays is condemnable but which on the other hand was pretty much the thinking of almost everyone at the time. One of his earliest comments about the natives in the new world included statements about how great servants they would make. And there are many statements which reveal that Colon projected intentions (and agreements) on natives who couldn't possibly know what was going on when he declared them subjects to the Spanish crown etc.

[Malte279]

There are other examples including some which are particularly sensitive here in Germany. This quote from 1939 for example doesn't read like it came from a praiseworthy hero, does it?

Poland contains many Jews, many people of mixed blood who are only  happy when they are dominated.

The one who wrote this was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the very same who became kind of a national hero by planting a bomb to kill Hitler on July 20th 1944.
Now I do not mean to spit on anyone's grave hear and least of all on those of the heroes who died for their attempts to overthrow the nazi regime. But as a historian one must remain objective. A good number of those who joined the plot against Hitler had been very convinced of the nazi ideology at an earlier time. There had even been cases (Stauffenberg being one example) of people who opposed many policies of Hitler before the war, but then supported the regime after the military victories in 1940, then to turn against the regime again when it became ever more evident that the war was going to be lost in 1942 and 1943. There are also examples of officers who remained constant in their opposition against Hitler which in those cases is more likely to be really based on conscience when their opposition did not dwindle even in the time of military victories. In case of some however (Stauffenberg being not the most direct example as there is good reason to suggest that in spite of his support during the time of the military victories he did have qualms) the question must be asked to which degree they really opposed Hitler and the nazi terror or if their opposition was more against the impending defeat. A good number of the members of the plot intended to ally with the western allies to continue the war against the Soviet Union which (given the horrible crimes committed there already) doesn't really fit well with the image of a resistance based on conscience and humanist ideology only.
Again I must stress that I am not questioning the courage or trying to strip any of them of their well deserved praise, but it is one of those countless cases where history isn't just black or white.
Another example is Wilhelm Canaris. Wilhelm Canaris was a German admiral and head of the German military intelligence. In this function he saved hundreds of Jews whom he permitted to leave Germany (often over the Swiss border) and he also offered protection to many who opposed Hitler, and provided the explosives for a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. Because of this efforts are being made for him to be recognized as one of the "righteous among the nations", perhaps the highest honor that can be bestowed on anyone by Israel on the basis of their actions during the time of the Holocaust. However he also had been very active in bringing down the Weimar Republic and helping the rise of Hitler in the first place, he undoubtedly supported parts of the nazi ideology and did a "good job" as the chief of Hitler's military intelligence. What to think of such people?
I guess sometimes the rare ability to learn and become better than one used to be after conducting horrible mistakes can honor a person, but there are few cases in which such "mistakes" hadn't been made in a time when others had already recognized the viciousness of the actions or the systems supported by these actions.

[Caustizer]

Where did you get your Avatar?

[Malte279]

A friend of mine and former GOF member once created a little parody of the lord of the rings. The end of the movie was styled after the end of The return of the king with the same music and drawings of the characters. Even though I did not have any acting role in the project (him living hundreds of kilometers from where I live) but only provided a few soundfiles I was included in the credits. The friend of my friend who drew the drawings for the closing credits had never even seen me and only had a photo in which I was wearing a graduation cap which she replaced with the viking helmet.
Not only do I find the picture quite pretty but it also fits to my name Malte (one of the possible translations would be "He who rules with the helmet" (the other being "Adviser of the peoples council").  

[Amaranthine]

What other countries have you visited?

[Malte279]

Apart from my home country I have been for a longer time (staying at least for a couple of days) to: Holland, Belgium, France, England, Scotland, USA (Minnesota with short visits to Iowa, North, and South Dakota), Italy, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Portugal (I was too young to remember though), Tunesia (same as with Portugal I was too young to remember), and Croatia.
Countries I have been passing through but with only short stops and no more than one successive night spend there would be:
Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Slovenia.

[Amaranthine]

What music do you enjoy listening to the most?

[Malte279]

It is mostly soundtrack music for me, mostly instrumentals. I seem to be kind of a philistine when it comes to music as I really don't enjoy most of the music being played on the radio. Very often I feel that I like songs better when I associate something with them (e.g. when I heard them during beautiful holidays or the like). Or if songs have a message I can relate to, that's one of the things that can endear actual songs (rather than instrumental lyrics) to me. I usually prefer the kinds of music with a discernable melody that one could hum or whistle over such kinds of music which do not have such a melody. I am not particularly fond of highly electronic or loud music. With regard to moods I like a whole range of music from rather sad and sentimental tunes to very cheerful and active sounds (depending on but not necessarily reflecting my own mood at the time I hear it). I guess one could say I have a weak spot for somewhat bombastic moments in music which can be found in many soundtracks. Finally I sometimes listen to very old music from the historical times I am writing about. It may be a bit odd for a peace-loving person like me for example to listen to music that was written in the American Civil War and referring to it, but some of the melodies do sound quite impressive.

[Littlefoot1616]

If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, and spend just one day with them, who would it be and what would you do?

[Malte279]

My goodness, now you really got me Jay :blink:
There are several living people whom I would like to talk to but since it is not impossible to achieve this (tricky as it may be) I guess such an opportunity would not be spend for something that could be achieved by other means.
So I reckon I would be talking to someone who is no longer with us, but whom?
There is just one person who was very close to me and who is no longer with us, my grandpa. I loved him very much, but he knew that. On one occasion I made a joke which he may not have fully understood which I might explain again, but other than that there would be so little to say that we both didn't understand already to compensate for the sad parting.
Language barriers would make a talk to any historical person rather futile who doesn't speak English or German. This still leaves a number of interesting people to talk to with the idea of getting some information on history which the remaining sources do not tell us about, but whom would I want to talk to more than anyone else? Jason, this beats me. I will make up my mind when I get this offer but till then it is really something I cannot say for sure. In any case it would have to be someone with whom I could talk for a whole day as it would be kind of embarrassing sitting opposite one historical character not having a clue of what to say next or else having that character there but utterly unwilling to talk (some people were known to talk little beyond the utterances they became known for).

[Amaranthine]

How is your job searching going? ^^

[Amaranthine]

^Bump

[Malte279]

Uh sorry
Well, so far there is not much progress due to the fact that I still didn't get my results. I should have received them this week, but the office in charge of the results is closed this week (they too have holidays). So I will in all likelihood get the results next week. Most applications require the mark of the final papers.

[Caustizer]

What do you think of my story, Far Away Home?