"Blood alone moves the wheels of history."

"Blood alone moves the wheels of history."

- Martin Luther

I think that the quote "Blood moves the wheels of history" by Martin Luther, is stating that only through wars, does history, and society move back and forth. I agree with this quote, however not entirely. I, personally believe that wars do, in fact move society, and history, however it does not always move it forward.

In some cases, it does move forward such as when the Roman Empire spread across Europe, and thus, spreading their ideas, discoveries, and teachings. Rome had to battle against many different barbaric tribes, and much blood was shed; however, in the end life in Europe progressed, and by its side, so did history.

There are however, many cases in which wars do not move the wheels forward, but rather in reverse. For example, World War II was a devastating series of battles, and involved brutal man slaughter, and in the end, the war put back Europe's progress because of the need to build new buildings, the population had to balance out, and radioactive sites had to cool off. This was an enormous set-back in history.

Although I agree with this quote, I also do not believe that Blood ALONE moves the wheels of history. I also believe that there are other events that occur, and change history, pushing it forward, as well as pulling it back. For example, many scientific discoveries, and inventions, such as that of the space shuttle, where not violent, yet showed a progress in history. Also,there where some incorrect, and harmless discoveries, such as one that stated that cold was an element, and, when extracted from a substance, the substance would warm up. This sent history forward at the time, but brought it right back years later after the theory had been dis-proven. I would agree with one of my classmate's statments; "If I were to revise this quote I would say 'Blood and Innovation Move the Wheels of History'."