A History Lesson

[Speaker]

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“Class, please open your textbooks to page 167.”

Mr. Partridge stood in front of his high school World History class, as his students begrudgingly opened their books. By all accounts, he was the best teacher in the school, young, personable. The kids really enjoyed his class as much as he enjoyed teaching them. The year was 1900 AD, and the city was Washington.

“Before the dark times, when America was still thriving, before the Egyptian takeover, many different cultures were prominent in the world. Egypt boasted one of the strongest, with their ancient temples and cathedrals, their libraries filled with millions of rare books, and the wonders of construction that only they had been able to build. But surely, other countries had cultures and their own wonders to boast about."

Johnny, a teenager of half American, half Egyptian descent, raised his hand.

“But Mr. P, my father told me that even back then, everyone looked to Egypt for culture and other stuff,” Johnny said.

“Jonathan, you’re going to have to be more specific,” Mr. P. replied. He did not allow his students to speak in such generalities. Egypt had a literacy rate of 100 percent, after all and damned was he if he would not uphold it.

“Well, he said that America, Germany, France, Rome, and many other countries relied on Egypt for resources, luxuries, maps, and even technology,” Johnny replied, unsurely.

“Yes, Jonathan, you’re father is correct. Egypt held half of the sub-continent of the eastern continent with America, while the Iroquois and Aztec Nations, Rome, Spain, China, Babylon, Greece, Japan, India, and Persia. Germany, England, France, and Russia were on the other side of the world, on the western continent. But yes, all eyes were turned toward Egypt,” Mr. Partridge said.

Melissus, a girl of half Egyptian, half Roman descent, raised her hand.

“What happened next Mr. P? Why did Egypt suddenly attack? How could such a peaceful people become warlike so quickly,” Melissa asked.

“Well Melissus, that is a difficult question, and to find the true answer, you would have to ask the former queen Cleopatra herself.”

“But she’s so old,” Melissus exclaimed.

“Melissus, shame on you,” Mr. Partridge scolded. “Cleopatra is the most revered woman in the world. She has lived for almost 6000 years!"

“Funny, she doesn’t look a day over 3000,” Johnny yelled, causing the class, including Mr. Partridge, to laugh heartily. After a few moments, they quieted down.

[Speaker]

“Cleopatra, who spends most of her time in her cave with the lavish front garden and walkways, has been mum on the subject, but based on reports, Egyptian historians have been able to make a pretty good guess on what happened. If you’ll remember from last week’s lecture, World War III broke out in 1752, involving everyone but Egypt, who had taken an isolationist position for most of the second millennium AD.”

“What is an isolationist position,” asked Onatah, a girl of half Egyptian, half Iroquois descent.

“Well, Onatah, I explained it to you last week, but since today is our country’s 5900th birthday, I’m in a good mood, so I’ll explain it again,” Mr. Partridge said. “As you may recall, in the span of 10 years, Egypt built over 150 tanks and forts, surrounding their entire country with them, as well as building twenty battleships to patrol the seas. They also built dozens of jet bombers and trained a hundred infantry units. They were a peaceful country and decided that the World War would not be brought on their soil. No one could get into Egypt alive.”

“But why did they attack, Mr. P,” Melissus whined.

“Have some patience, Melissus, I’m getting there,” Mr. Partridge said. “As I was saying, no one could get into Egypt, and for many years, Egypt lived in what was basically a perfectly defended fortress, until 1776, when the Era of Great Bloodshed began. Please turn the page and there are a few pictures.”

Five seconds later, the entire class was groaning with what they saw.

“Yes class, imagine the horror,” Mr. Partridge said, amongst the din. American cities, guarded by men with rifles, sneak attacked by Egyptian tanks. Is it no wonder that within two short years, America would no longer be a country, and Egypt would not lose a single man? Japan, Rome, Russia, and the Iroquois and Aztec nations would follow within twenty years, all falling to the Egyptian forces, which now included modern tanks, mechanized infantry, stealth bombers, and ICBMs.”

“Wasn’t it an ICBM that leveled Berlin,” asked Johnny timidly.

“Yes, Jonathan, that’s right,” Mr. Partridge said with sorrow. From half a world away, an Egyptian ICBM appeared out of nowhere to destroy Berlin. All Germany had done was ask Egypt to respect its boundaries during its war with Russia.

“But what happened next, Mr. P,” Onatah asked.

“Well, the entire world joined an alliance against Egypt, which was as strong as the rest of the world combined. Egyptian armies were close to destroying Greece, India, China, Spain, Germany, and Babylon, when the rest of the world decided to give up fighting and all surrendered to the Egyptian flag. The world has been peaceful under the rule of Egyptian society ever since.”

[Speaker]

“But Mr. P, you still didn’t answer why Egypt attacked. Why did they give up their isolationist posture,” Onatah said, still struggling to say ‘isolationist.’

“Well Onatah, class is just about over, so I’ll explain it really quickly,” Mr. Partridge said. “From what historians have been able to peace together, Cleopatra attacked due merely to boredom. As a peaceful country, pursuing only science and culture, many years were spent being asked to ‘please wait,’ while Cleopatra had nothing to do but watch the rest of the world shuffle their borders and armies. She got bored, and on a whim decided to do something exciting. Unfortunately for America, Japan, Rome, Russia, and the Iroquois and Aztec nations, they were nearby when Cleopatra got restless.”

Just then, the bell rang, ending class. The students quickly were out of their chairs, packing their backpacks, as Mr. Partridge struggled to get their attention for one last thought.

“Remember class, your final exam will be on Friday,” Mr. Partridge said.

The class groaned in response, causing Mr. Partridge to chuckle.

“It will have three essays to choose from, one on Egyptian culture, one on Egyptian warfare, and one on Egyptian history in general,” Mr. Partridge said. “You’ll all be fine. See you tomorrow class.”

The class answered with a chorus of goodbyes and filed out the door, leaving Mr. Partridge alone in the classroom, where he sat down at his desk and turned his attention to his computer. He had ten minutes until his next class—plenty of time to start a new game of Civ 3.

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[Grundel]

Not bad at all
You know, one of my stories...World at War...I was orginally going to write as a history class However, I opted for a different perspective.

In any rate, please keep it up! I look forward to reading more

[Speaker]

I would appreciate any feedback that you guys might have. Thanks a lot.

Seideberg

[quinalla]

Very enjoyable, I especially liked the realistic student/teacher conversations. I look forward to more.

-quinalla

[ike0481]

Great story!

Great histroy lesson. You gotta love those ICBM's. In my last game I was the Greeks and was neighboring Russia who had about 15 cities. They had the nerve to demand Incense from me which I refused so they declared war. What they obviously didn't know is that I had stockpiled roughly 25 ICBM's for such an occasion. Needless to say every Russina city was decimated in a single turn. Stupid stupid stipid Czarina Catherine!

Keep up the good work emseideman!