Oligarchs and anti-Putin protests disappear from Russian school history books
Moscow (AsiaNews
) - President Vladimir Putin is set to approve today, October 31, a document
that summarizes guidelines for the only history text book for Russian middle
and high schools shall be written. This was announced by a spokesman for the
Russian Historical Society. The initiative, promoted by the Kremlin, is highly
controversial and has sparked criticism from those who see it as an attempt by
Moscow to impose a "government" version of events in Soviet -style
propaganda.
As reported by the Russian media, the chapter covering the history of Russia's
post - soviet period could be the one with most cuts. The online Polit.ru
newspaper writes that the 1990s war between oligarchs to hoard the country's
resources through privatization and their subsequent forced removal from the
Russian political scene by Putin will be completely omitted. Years of fighting
violent crime and agreements between the business world and the corridors of
power - continues the newspaper - are summarized in the Guidelines for the text,
with a generic "the state set the agenda on the issue of corporate social
responsibility". In any case, post- soviet Russia is the only period
treated without analyzes or interpretations, mainstream media are keen to let
people know.
The initiative of the unified textbook, ordered by Putin last February but already
under discussion as far back as 2007, has garnered much criticism in the
scientific world. The Russian head of state had asked to receive proposals on
the new textbook by November 1, denouncing as "absolutely unacceptable"
the number of history textbooks used in schools of the Federation , which rose
from 41 to 65 since the beginning of the year last year.
In recent weeks, there had already been controversy over the fact that the 'unified
manual' would cover the period up to 2012 , in order to include history of the
Putin era . According to some experts, it is still too soon to evaluate and
analyze the last thirteen years. Others have suggested to stop at 2000, and
then prepare a separate section on the era where Putin can list the facts, but
without interpreting them. The Russian news agencies recall that in June, both
the Ministers of Education and Culture that had expressed the need to set the
time limit in the study of national history to the year 2000.
Even if it cannot be described as a radical ' revision ' of the school
curricula, some changes are bound to cause controversy : the becomes the Tatar-
Mongol affair becomes the Golden Horde ( to please the Tatars historians) , the
great 'October Socialist Revolution' will be 'the Great Revolution of 1917 ' ,
the title 'Stalinist socialism' disappears from the period 1929-1941 (which ,
however, remains in the text) and it does not mention the number of victims of
the purges of the leader, while it does recognize his establishing a
dictatorship. The protests that accompanied the return of Putin to the Kremlin
in 2012 are also omitted in favor of a general reference to protests for and
against the government.
The guidelines shall establish twenty subjects recognized as "controversial",
allowing teachers to deal with different interpretations. They include the role
of Stalin, the cost of the Second World War and the economic and political
situation of the country in the 2000s.
The initiative, analysts point out, is part of Moscow's broader policy to
create a strong national identity, based on Christian values on the one hand
and the other on the victory in World War II, while closing one eye on the
crimes and atrocities the Soviet era.
Now a tender will be launched for the compilation of the textbook and the
Russian Orthodox Church has promised it will make its contribution, especially regarding
the Soviet period, where it is unwilling to accept any omissions or superficial
approaches to the crimes and the repression implemented by the regime.
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