Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

It's just like the old Russia:

Critics are accusing President Vladimir Putin's government of a Soviet-style rewriting of Russian history with a series of new "patriotic" textbooks to be unveiled in the new school year.

New laws passed this summer have given the government sweeping powers over which textbooks will be used in schools. Teachers and other critics have voiced concerns that this will allow the government to force the use of a single, approved book in each subject - essentially a return to Soviet practice.

Mr Putin has complained that the negative view of the Soviet past in current history textbooks is down to the fact that the authors received foreign grants to write them.

Now, the Kremlin claims it wants to change that situation and a recommissioning of Russia's history textbooks is under way. A handbook for teachers, on the basis of which a future textbook for students could be written, is called The Modern History of Russia, 1945-2006. Only one of the authors is a professional historian. The book calls Joseph Stalin a "contradictory" figure, and states that while some people consider him evil, others recognise him as a "hero" for his role in the Great Patriotic War (the Second World War) and his territorial expansion.

"Learning history should make people feel part of the nation, but it depends on how it's done," said one history teacher from Moscow. "If the idea is to hide everything that was bad and only speak of strength and military victories, I'm not sure that this is the best way to create that kind of feeling."

The law seems to have come from a meeting Mr Putin held with teachers when he lamented the state of history teaching in the country, saying that both society and teachers were "confused". He called for a more patriotic approach to the subject.

You know, it would be nice to think that this kind of thing is occurring only because Vladimir Putin does not know the first thing about Joseph Stalin and the horrors he perpetrated. Alas, we all know that Putin is only too aware of Stalin's legacy and reputation.

The difference between Putin and reasonable individuals, of course, is that Putin seems to think that there is something to admire in Stalin's depredations--if only because Stalin serves as a useful role model for Putin's continued acquisition of power. One cannot help but be appalled by this warped historical view, of course. And one shudders to think what such a sense of history will subject Russia to.