Rewriting the history books
On the eve of war in a rambling televised address, Putin weaponised history and myth to justify invading Ukraine. Has the subject become a battlefront in post-Soviet education?
I’m don’t want to add to the growing “This current event is actually about the thing I’m obsessed by” hot takes, but…
There have been a few textbook stories over recent weeks that individually weren’t large enough to tell a story. They were loosely related, but no compelling narrative bound them together. Until, that is, Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. In this light they cast longer, darker shadows.
You say учебник, I say підручник
On 14 February 2022 a scandal erupted in Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine - children at a pre-school provider were using Russian textbooks. The story broke through Facebook, where a coordinator working for the provider claimed the books were written by a Soviet teacher, were in Russian, and - to top it off - printed in the Russian Federation.
In 2017, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted a language-of-instruction policy that “aims to ensure opportunities for all children attaining an appropriate level of state language proficiency.”
This story foreshadowed a hardening of policy, due on 16 July 2022, when a fine of between 3000 and 5000 hryvnias. (An international currency comparison is fairly meaningless while there’s such fluctuation in exchange markets. A local comparison is also relatively meaningless: Ukraine has seen such rapid inflation that in the period between the adopting of the policy and the latest employment data, the fine went from the equivalent of a month’s wages to a week’s.)
Also in 2017, Ukraine banned the import of Russian books altogether for 9 months. The policy was loosened afterwards, but nine Russian publishing houses are still banned for their anti-Ukrainian output.
Ukraine is similar to many other post-Soviet countries, which have used language and cultural policy post-1991 independence as cornerstones for national identity and nation building.
History? Wait till they hear mystory
Also on 14 February, a Russian state broadcaster published an article complaining of “Russophobia” in post-Soviet countries’ history books. Examples were listed from Kyrgistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Ukraine.
The writer ends with this proposed resolution:
Can Russia, in its current state, oppose something to the upbringing of more and more "surrounding" Russophobes? Undoubtedly. At a minimum - to introduce exams for those who come to us from these countries not only in the Russian language, but also in common history, through our textbooks specially published for this, and not theirs. Well, to the maximum - to promote these same textbooks through Rossotrudnichestvo and other structures as alternative textbooks in all post-Soviet republics. Accompanying their presentation with joint folk songs and dances. And let the local Russophobes call it "cultural imperialism." Ordinary people will still stretch.
Back in the heady days of July 2021, when a global pandemic was all we had to worry about, Putin was writing his own history. Or, rather, he was rewriting the history of Ukraine in a 5000-word article arguing that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people”. The article’s title - On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians - serves as mood music for the current war.
Putin’s arguments are not new. He’s been exercising the same points since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. It’s a well-rehearsed thesis.
So, on the eve of war Putin took to TV to repeat his history lesson once more with feeling, because control of the narrative is vital.
A new patriotic history
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Belarus, the Ministry of Education announced on 21 February 2022 that work would begin on preparing a textbook on “The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People”. The new history curriculum will “take into account new achievements in the historiography of the Great Patriotic War, will reflect the heroic deed of the Soviet people, and show the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan.”
Andrei Ivanets, the Minister of Education, commented:
I am sure that the study by students of the updated academic discipline “The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people” will have a significant impact on the formation of a verified moral and socio-political position among students in relation to the events and results of the Great Patriotic War, the fundamental values of society, and the preservation of historical memory.
In case we’re in any doubt about the relationship between Belarus and Russia, the EU is considering sanctions for Belarus for its role in enabling the Russian invasion.
Textbooks for future frontiers?
On February 11 2022, it was reported that Russia had donated 160,000 Russian curriculum textbooks to the Republic of Abkhazia.
Russia has an open textbook market in the same way it has a free and fair election process. Prosveshenye is the leading secondary school textbook publisher. It’s had quite the journey to market dominance. Prosveshenye’s market share went from 0.23% in 2013 to 93.2% in 2015. Entirely coincidentally, it is co-owned by Arkady Rotenberg, Vladimir Putin’s former judo sparring partner. Funny that.
While the donated textbooks may come from a commercial publisher, they’re extremely likely to be from a publishing company with deep ties to the state and current incumbent.
And why is Abkhazia significant? Because it’s a separatist state in the South Caucus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia (Georgia in turn views it as an autonomous republic).
Ukraine’s separatist regions played a key role in Russia’s justification for invasion. Again, the importance of narrative.
While world leaders talk coyly of sending “lethal aid”, perhaps we should consider textbooks Putin’s precautionary “hearts and minds” strategy. After all, if the Russian President has spent years practising his reworking Ukraine’s backstory, which other parts of Soviet history have been fuelling his expansionist dreams?
Meanwhile, back in Russia, the Duma State Committee on Education and Ministry of Education estimate that around 80,000 textbooks are needed for the children evacuated from Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.