History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
– Winston Churchill
What could your favorite modern parliamentary republic, Russia, and the ancient Roman republic have in common? Unfortunately, it seems that both of these nations have actively commandeered history and twisted it to serve their respective purposes. How could humans warp history? you might ask. Rome managed this task by burning the cities that could speak out against their histories, and Russia, by “fixing” textbooks.
Over the course of the past year, hundreds of textbooks have been marked by the Russian government as unfit and ill-suited to educate Russian youth. The logic behind these decisions has not always been clear – sometimes because of small errors in the text, because they do not instill a sense of patriotism, or because they just do not measure up to newly instated standard that the Russian government has set for textbooks. According to Jo Becker of the New York Times, “By the time the school year began this fall, the number of approved textbooks for Russia’s 14 million schoolchildren has been slashed by more than half.” Unfortunately, this number is only increasing, threatening dozens of small publishers, as they can no longer sell their textbooks. This move has hurt Russian citizens and students as well, as they will have to purchase new, approved textbooks as more textbooks are cut on a daily basis.
Why would Russia do this? Such becomes clear when we see who benefitted from this move, specifically Arkady K. Rotenberg, an old friend of President Vladmir Putin. Shortly before the massive textbook cuts, Putin instated Rotenberg as chairman of the Enlightenment Publishing Company, which happens to produce a great deal of the newly-standard and approved textbooks. (What a coincidence!) During the reign of the Soviet Union many years ago, Enlightenment was the major and practically sole publisher of Soviet literature for youth. During this time, schools had no choice but to use these textbooks. Even though the Soviet Union has long collapsed, Enlightenment is once again becoming a textbook mogul – robbing the Russian people of their choice. As the people struggle to keep up with the ever-changing government-approved literature, Rotenberg basks in his new wealth; he is worth an estimated 3.1 billion dollars.
Why does this matter? If you control the only source of history, you can do with that history whatever you please. If this “knowledge” is being fed to impressionable youth, the less likely it is that this information be disputed. Of course, Russia is not alone in terms of distorting history. A prime example of such distortion of history is the conflict between Rome and Carthage. This conflict is expressed through three separate instances of the Punic Wars. The name of the wars is, in itself, representative of Roman bias. “Punici” was a racially derogatory term created by the Romans, similar to the word “Negro” as employed by white slavers against their African slaves. (After the Second Punic War, Carthaginians constituted a large portion of the Roman slave. population. It is during this time that Carthaginians were labeled with the derogatory “Punici.”) At the end of the Third Punic War, after having besieged Carthage for five years, in 146 B.C.E. the Romans sacked the city, killing or enslaving all of its inhabitants, and razed the settlement, shattering the walls and reducing every building to ash. The Roman forces, under command of Scipio Aemilianus, had specific orders to burn the libraries of Carthage along with any literature that they came across. Such is why historians have such a hard time differentiating between Roman propaganda and the truth surrounding this ancient civilization. For instance, Roman historians have said that Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian commander who made a name for himself in the Second Punic War, sacrificed his only son before marching against Rome. Some ancient historians say the Carthaginians ate children, some say they were just sacrificed, but as most of Carthage’s history fell with the city, which testimony should be accepted?
Such constitutes Socrates’ fear of rhetoric. With a few clever words, especially if you have a monopoly on knowledge outlets, you can convince a populace of any history you choose. History is powerful. We need it to understand the present in order to better plan for the future. Our future can only be harmed if such knowledge comes from one indisputable outlet.
How do you feel about Russia’s textbook purge? What should be done? Leave a comment below!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu
Further reading on the fall of Carthage:
http://www.unrv.com/empire/fall-of-carthage.php
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=guerber&book=romans&story=carthage
http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/carthage-index.html
Further reading on Russia’s textbook purge: