Animating the past

Winston Churchill once said: “History is written by the victors.”

Today, history is going through a period of democratization and a move to greater accessibility, with teachers, researchers and history-holics of all kinds using the internet to explore new engaging ways to share their passion.

For a long time, History was taught in a didactic fashion, with a penchant for dates and timelines, which gave it the reputation for being stuff and old fashioned. Discover 6 European Creators who are changing the way we engage with History and are making the discipline more alive than ever.

Whether it's football clubs, international relations or spectacular buildings, Spanish YouTube Creator Academia Play is making it all understandable and exciting through his talent for drawing:

Same goal, different style: Polimaty, from Poland, explores the fascinating theme of Fear in the Middle Ages while taking us on a guided tour in the streets of Dubrovnik.

By grounding specific periods or movements in lessons relevant to our contemporary world, Creators are able to effectively communicate historical concepts with their audiences.

Manon Bril’s passion for antiquity, for example, is very hard to resist as you will see on this video from her channel “C’est une autre histoire”:

As demonstrated by Manon, History is not only about kings and battles, and there is only one step between the “Great History” and the history of arts and culture.

Another French Creator, l’Antiseche, takes us into the birth and evolution of the French novel:

Justine Leconte, for her part, looks into fashion and questions the origins of 6 supposedly ‘Modern’ trends. You might be surprised!

The most recent, mainstream topics even make their way to History videos. For example, Jose Altozano from Dayoscript looks into the evolution of video games in comparison to the history of arts, while Benjamin Brillaud from Nota Bene tells us all about the very serious origins of Pokemon.

Too niche for you? How about stepping back and looking at the broader picture?
In this last video, Kurzgesagt distills the history and future of, well, pretty much everything, into an 8-minute reel.

In brief, history is on a journey, with new ways of sharing making their ways to teachers, students and history-lovers, whether young or old. From unheard tales to niche topics to the Great History of leaders and nations, it is history but not as you expect it.