Why did the Annales school of history have no lasting effect?

It is far from certain that the Annales school of history has not had a lasting effect. In fact, one can more easily, and persuasively argue that this early-20th century product of French scholarship remains very influential. A noted rejection of the so-called "great man" theory of history that posits that history is shaped primarily by the influences of major figures such as presidents, prime ministers, kings, etc. The Annalesschool, founded by French scholars...

It is far from certain that the Annales school of history has not had a lasting effect. In fact, one can more easily, and persuasively argue that this early-20th century product of French scholarship remains very influential. A noted rejection of the so-called "great man" theory of history that posits that history is shaped primarily by the influences of major figures such as presidents, prime ministers, kings, etc. The Annales school, founded by French scholars Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, emphasized the study of history through a much broader prism that included demographic trends, the evolution of means of communication and transportation -- in effect, the influence on history of the vast expansions in interactions among diverse peoples allowed courtesy of new means of communicating and interacting, including through trade, invasion, migrations, and so on. Technological innovations, from the steam engine to the internal combustion engine to air travel to social networking via cell phones and computers have all had a massive and enduring impact on the course of human history. By incorporating such topics into the study of history, the presumed influence of "great men" is diminished and the influence of natural and evolutionary trends emphasized.

If the Annales school is presumed to have disappeared or underperformed relative to other more or less traditional schools of history, it is a product of the Annales school's identification with individuals, mainly Bloch, who perished at the hands of the ultimate personification of the "great man" theory: Adolf Hitler. It's survival as a legitimate school, however, is perhaps best exemplified in the studies of Jared Diamond, whose Guns, Germs, and Steel, and, more importantly, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, emphasize the roles of natural phenomena and demographic transformations in determining outcomes. It is misleading, however, to suggest that the Annales school has not continued to influence the study of history. It survives in various forms today, but it has evolved.