The Representation of Wars in History Textbooks for Secondary Schools in the Soviet Union (1940-1950)

This article analyses the evolution of the representation of wars and conflicts in Soviet history textbooks for secondary school over the period 1940-1950. The first section offers an introductory analysis of the somewhat under-investigated ideological and historical context in which the main history textbook for secondary schools, A History of the U.S.S.R. (for years 8, 9 and 10), was published under A.M. Pankratova’s direction in the late 1940s, with a view to providing a picture of regime-published school textbooks. Given the fact that school books covered history up to the 1930s, during the years of the Second World War, past wars became a source of patriotic education for the ongoing war, yet to be documented and narrated. The second part will examine different narrative strategies used in the portrayal of wars on the basis of other sources (Stalin’s speech, Pankratova’s article, a collection of poems), and shows how stories of the wars were both tales of heroism and patriotism drawn from the glorious Russian past, and of contempt and revenge aimed at the enemy. The third part presents the narrative of the “Great patriotic war” in history textbooks for secondary school as revised and updated in the post-war period (1945-1948) in relation to reports on history teaching described by Archival materials (from the Ministry of Education). The narrative of wars hinged on the cult of Stalin, which dominated teachers’ lessons, and was under continuous ideological control. After the war, “the ritual sacrifice” reopened the connection between history and subjective memory, thus preserving this war pedagogy consisting of tales of hatred and revenge against the Germans.