History's the Key to the Present

How can one explain the present, lacking knowledge of the past.

With so many lands affected by their history’s icy blast?

Most modern countries were created often in quite recent times;

Drawing borders on some paper, with reality rarely chimes.

People who throughout their history have been enemies or worse,

Can discover they’re a nation now with those they used to curse.

People can be lumped together, forming a much larger state,

Forced to co-exist with cultures formerly they used to hate.

Everything might seem quite stable, viewed by those who’ve never known

All the bitterness and hatred that throughout their past have flown;

Strong government may keep things peaceful, with dissension not allowed,

And potential rebel leaders by the thoughts of prison cowed.

But if ever there’s a vacuum, with weak government at the helm,

There’s a chance there’ll be uprisings, seeking then to overwhelm

The current state and form another, which most often will be based

On some clear and common feature, such as history, faith or race.

Think of former Yugoslavia, which for many years stood firm;

But Tito’s death lead every region very quickly to affirm

Their right to be a separate nation, since they had the chance at last

To reclaim their former status, with a name drawn from the past.

They are just but one example of the need to go behind

The present set-up, searching backwards, for there often one can find

The seeds of what is now occurring, growing from events of old,

Which with just a little knowledge, easily could have been foretold.