That time I got reincarnated as the president of a superpower

A short lesson in World History

She clapped once more, and it went dark. For a few seconds I feared what would happen, but then I started to feel as if I were simply in a dream. And suddenly, I started seeing small scenes that I instantly knew the meaning of.

A group of hunter-gatherers in what would soon be Mesopotamia. But the scene was gone as soon as I saw it... Next I was watching thousands of labourers build the pyramids under the burning desert sun... But the proud civilization of ancient Egypt was soon annexed by the growing Roman Empire, which ruled for hundreds of years before falling itself. Hundreds of years of history flashed by my eyes in mere seconds...

I saw the Dark Ages that followed after the collapse of the Roman Empire... But it all went by too fast to really make sense of anything. As if the godess was simply showing me this to prepare me for the things that really mattered.

And it seemed I was right... The scenarios started to drag out longer, giving me more time to soak in what I saw. The rise of new Empires, the Spanish Empire, the Portugese Empire, the Dutch Empire, the British Empire, the French Empire and many more... But it still flashed by too fast to really make sense of anything, centuries of history flashing by in a mere minute... But then it suddenly slowed down dramatically...

The American revolution.

For the first time in this weird history class, I felt as if I was standing in history instead of merely observing. I was able to smell the gunpowder and see the bodies... As if the Goddess was telling me 'Watch this... It's important.' But as soon as the Declaration of Independence was signed, I was ripped away from that world, forced to watch from the skies once more...

And then the French revolution occured... Liberty was being brought to the continent of Europe... Things went by so slowly that I could make out each decade, instead of just mere centuries... The nations of Europe attacked France, fearful liberty would spread to them... But the French were betrayed, and Napoleon killed the hopes of a French Republic, and formed an Empire instead... Conquering all of Europe, before losing his entire army in Moscow...

The burning of Moscow... I felt as if I was there, no, I WAS there! I am certain that those soldiers could see me! I felt the cold, and the heat, both at the same time! Why Moscow of all places?

And thus, the French Empire was defeated... Napoleon came back however, but this time he was defeated before he reached Moscow... Britain is now incharge of the world...

But in America, the young nation was facing enormous problems... The American civil war. But the Union prevailed, and the Southerners were put back into their place... The dream once again slowed down... I was there, once more. I was there at Gettysburg, a Sergeant holding the line! I was there at the burning of Atlanta! And I felt the flames! I am no longer observing the history of this strange world... I am partaking in it!

But just as I was celebrating the victory over the south, the cruel goddess ripped me off the ground and threw me back into the clouds... But I knew I would return... And return I did! As a Prussian soldier fighting under Bismarck, forming the proud nation of Germany!

But neither the French or British were too pleased... And tensions started to grow until they exploded. The First World War started... It was nothing like the wars on my planet... Millions of soldiers across the world killing each other with weapons I had never even dared to dream about... And millions died... But the first time wasn't enough... And another war occured...

By now, the dream was going so slow I could make out not just the years, but the months... In September I was a Polish soldier holding back the Germans... In 1940 I was driving a panzer into Paris... In 1941 I was an US sailor at Pearl Harbour, and in 1942 a Russian at Stalingrad... The godess said that I had to save this world, but it seems that this world is already beyond saving... It makes the violence and despair in my world look pleasant...

And then the dream climaxed... I watched from the clouds as two entire cities were wiped from the face of the earth. This is it... This is where this world's history ends, how could a world continue to exist with such a terrible weapon in the hands of an Empire?

But the world did not end... Now the real part of the history lesson begins. The cold war from 1945 to 1960... The Soviet Union and the United States both fight for world domination, trampling the world under their boots as they do so... Greece, Indonesia, Indochina, Korea, Israel and a dozen other nations... In every corner of the globe, a man holding a red banner can be seen trying to shoot a man with a blue banner... And one gun has a pricetag in dollars, the other in roubles... And both superpowers have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the entire world.

And I must save this world...

The last thing I saw before waking up was a simple newspaper headline: "Who will win the 1960 Presidential Elections?"

It will be him... He will save this world from destruction.