Do great men (and women) make history or does history make great men?

In other words, do certain people influence history enough to alter its course or does the course of history great create people by its alteration.

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them."
Shakespeare

Interesting topic! Personally I have always been fascinated with the "little guy" coming out of nowhere and just taking over, so that seemingly the whole world reacts to what that one person is doing.

Guys like Oliver Cromwell, or Napoleon. Bonaparte doesn't seem to be a popular figure on this board, but I love this guy anyway.

Originally posted by Frogger
Do great men (and women) make history or does history make great men?

In other words, do certain people influence history enough to alter its course or does the course of history great create people by its alteration.

Well, to answer yr question, I think of Lenin.
I can't help but think he'd be a nonentity languishing in forgottenness if the Tsar hadn't been so unpopular and weak-willed (Tsar Nicholas II Romanov).

He would have been just another social agitator if the Germans hadn't snuck him across the border in an attempt to destabilize Russia. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

In other words, do certain people influence history enough to alter its course or does the course of history great create people by its alteration.

It often goes both ways, with a dependence on the case, place, and event. The course of history is what alters and creates the people who change it later on.

An example might be...
In South Africa years ago, a young Mohandas Gandhi boarded a train in the first class seats. A white passenger complained when Gandhi refused to leave his seat, and Gandhi was actually thrown off the train and left in the station for the remainder of the night. That event was, as he called, the most important of his life, it gave way to his thinking of fighting injustice, passive resistance, and so on that forever changed Great Britain, India and other countries in South Asia, and even America (as seen in his impact on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his actions served as much inspiration for King).

Or perhaps Hitler and his triggering of thought based on the German loss of WW1, his interest in some anti-semitic themed plays in his younger years, and so on that all contributed to him as a figurehead that is forever infamous and a catalyst in world history.

No single figure spontaneously appears and decides to change the course of the world, the current state of the world around them gives the reasons, ideas, and resources to do so. The state of the world brings out great people through their actions in that time, and some historical figures become great off of their actions to change the world. Both work in tandem, and it is not one or the other at any particular time.
My quick opinion.