History is a very interesting science, somewhat reminiscent of journalism. It is possible to describe the events that occurred from different points of view, which leads to a huge number of very diverse interpretations of these events. Most of the historical research is created "at the request" of one or another political group or for the sake of the current conjuncture. Therefore, it is not surprising that history textbooks can change once a decade.
The American writer George Orwell very correctly noted that the one who controls the past can control the future. It is impossible not to agree with this. Any ideology is somehow based on history. It is impossible to build the future without examples from the “glorious past”. The whole question is to explain to the masses how to perceive the events of the past from the correct ideological angle. Sometimes it comes not just to distorting views on events. Often the events themselves are “changed” in a variety of ways. This is how persistent myths appear about something that never happened.
As a result, we have a lot of examples when things that seem to be obvious and known to everyone, in fact, were either involuntary mistakes of historians, or were grossly manipulated or distorted in order to please one or another political goal.
A textbook example of such distortions of history is the myth that Ivan the Terrible killed his son in a fit of anger. This myth originated long before the famous painting by Repin was written. He was supported by such authoritative historians as Karamzin and Shcherbatov. We can only guess what the historians' motives were, however, an examination of the tsarevich's remains, carried out about 50 years ago, showed that the cause of his death could have been poisoning, but not a blow to the head with a heavy object.
The events of the 20th century, which changed the political vector of Russia at least five times, provided a very rich ground for all kinds of falsifications of history. Beginning in 1917, history textbooks have been radically changed to please political events. The same facts were constantly interpreted differently or distorted. However, the most interesting thing started relatively recently. In 1991, the USSR collapsed, in its place 15 independent states arose, each of which began to write its own history, often throwing mud at something without which they simply would not exist.
Naturally, such events were inspired in the overwhelming majority of cases by foreign influence, since for the West the final victory in the Cold War was the impossibility of re-creating the state conglomerate that was the USSR. It is all the more surprising how the inhabitants of the former Soviet Union, with an inexplicable zeal, rushed to renounce their truly glorious past as if it were a curse.
Whole theories about the great Aryan peoples appear like mushrooms after the rain (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians also sin with this); about the great Turkmens (it is enough to recall Niyazov and his "Rukhnama"); about the Georgians who actually have Iberian roots; about the first people descended from the Armenians and so on. And it would be fine, the matter concerned private initiative - there are a lot of supporters of "alternative history", but no: whole research centers are being created, sometimes even institutions that are engaged in direct rigging of facts that are most suitable for the current political situation. For example, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, which is engaged in direct forgery of facts, and has already “pierced” it more than once, was created not at the initiative of the US State Department or the Freemasons, as its opponents like to represent, but by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. That is, the Ukrainian government sponsors the writing of a new history for itself.
The same organizations existed and exist throughout the territory of the former "socialist camp". Only there this phenomenon flourished somewhat earlier. In no case should these peoples be allowed to unite again, not to give them the opportunity to resist hegemony - this is the purpose of such projects. What is needed for this? Yes, just rewrite their history, tell them a fairy tale that they are special, but evil Russians (or Ukrainians, or Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, and so on) are not that, not their way. The divide and conquer principle has not changed since the days of the Roman Empire. However, the paradigm can change. Now it is fashionable to “be friends against Russia,” tomorrow some Iran will be a pariah country. Or China.
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But one should not think that such a revision of history is characteristic only of the post-Soviet space. Or that only countries with blinkered regimes, such as the DPRK or Saudi Arabia, sin like that. For their populations, the beacons of democracy also regularly adjust their ideological basis. For example, in the United States, for over 150 years, it has been said that the noble North won a brilliant victory in the Civil War against the inhuman, slave-owning South; The victorious northerners gave freedom to all slaves, built schools for them, provided them with jobs … And so on and so forth.
In fact, the North freed its slaves in order to have a banal replacement for the labor force, since it was employed in the army. The lack of officers and soldiers among the northerners led to the fact that the vaunted American citizenship was issued at that time only for participation in the war on their side. And often the passengers of the ships were sent entirely from the berth to the active army. And the emancipation of the slaves led to the fact that most of them were forced to starve, since before they were fed by the masters, and now, accordingly, no one. No one needed their labor, since all the jobs in the war-torn country were occupied by impoverished whites. Black had no choice but to engage in robbery and robbery. Such is the "liberation" …
But the intensity of passions does not subside until now. It has already gotten to the point that in the southern states over the past couple of years, more than two dozen monuments of the Confederate commander have been dismantled. Yes, yes, dismantling of monuments in the USA! We are accustomed to the fact that something like that is the lot of "our" latitudes: for some reason, all the inhabitants of the former USSR are fighting, first of all, with monuments, as if you fill up a monument to Lenin or Kirov - and a new life will immediately come and you will be taken to Europe.
The "old world" also suffers from similar facts. If you look at how England represents colonial policy in the form of "necessity at that historical stage" or how modern English historians talk about the Irish War of Independence in the 20s of the last century, then you understand that the urgent need for a rewinding of history is inherent in all representatives of our species.
What to do in this situation? How not to succumb to the momentary whims of the "powerful of this world" and keep a sober view of your past? First of all, it is necessary to approach all such manifestations carefully, critically assessing any information, to question even the opinions of serious authorities and sources. After all, it is common for people to make mistakes. Truth is one, but there can be many opinions.
