Tamara Eidelman. What history are we teaching?

What history are we teaching?
Tamara Eidelman

Publication date: April 8, 2002

I am often asked whether the content of teaching history has changed much over the past ten to fifteen years. With the Soviet period, everything is clear - the blind spots have been eliminated, fairly democratic accents have generally been placed. But if we talk about what happened before 1917, then, apart from small inclusions on the history of the Orthodox Church or stories about Loris-Melikov or the Cadet Party , everything remained as it was. Some details, of course, have changed, but one thing has remained absolutely unshakable - the course of Russian history presupposes, first of all, a story about the Russian people and the Russian state.

How we all amused ourselves in the old days, looking at textbooks called “History of the USSR from Ancient Times” - there were always chapters “People of the USSR in such and such a century”, which described, for example, the state of Urartu, whose inhabitants did not even suspect that through for many centuries their descendants will live in the Armenian Socialist Republic. Ukraine and Russia in the seventeenth century, of course, “reunited”, which obviously hinted at the centuries-old dream of the Ukrainian people about merging with “big brother”... At the end of each section there was a chapter on culture, where the famous and not known to anyone were listed in a patter famous writers, artists, scientists, united only by their belonging to the “culture of the peoples of the USSR”. No one read these chapters, and no one asked this material during the exams...

Now times have changed. We no longer talk about the state of Urartu; we write carefully about Ukraine. The main place in the school history course is occupied by the well-known subject - “History of the Fatherland”. Of course, formally, we study the entire world history “From Adam to Potsdam,” but there is not enough time, final and entrance exams never tire of reminding us, and, naturally, teachers pay the most attention to Russian history. In general, there is no clear answer to the question that constantly arises about what we mean by Russian history, and we teach, naturally, according to tradition, placing the main emphasis on the “most significant problems” of our country’s past. It is clear that this course cannot exist without a story about Kievan Rus, the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan the Terrible, the Time of Troubles, Peter the Great... A familiar set, isn’t it? Our history in almost all textbooks consists of standard sections: domestic and foreign policy, socio-economic development, social movement and culture, for which there is never enough time. Everything is clear and understandable - after all, these are the topics that deserve our attention. That is, if you think about it, this means that the centuries-old development of our country comes down to several things - continuous wars, during which either someone brutally conquered us, or we “liberated” territories taken from us several centuries earlier and ourselves something was taken from someone. There were also all kinds of uprisings and revolutions and statesmen, some of whom opposed progress, while others, on the contrary, tried to carry out reforms, usually unsuccessfully.

First of all, people are almost completely absent from this set of absolutely important and necessary facts. Over the past fifteen years, something has changed in this regard - stories have appeared in textbooks not only about generals and Emelyan Pugachev, but also at least about political figures. Obviously, there were no more people worthy of attention in our country, since it is clear that if the name of a scientist, writer or thinker is simply mentioned among others, then for a schoolchild it will remain an empty phrase. Ordinary people, of course, did not exist in history. That is, naturally, there were “the masses”, but the people who lived, loved, rejoiced and grieved were completely absent. So fashionable today all over the world, and here too, the history of everyday life, the history of childhood, the history of women are practically absent from the pages of school textbooks. While they are studying ancient Egypt or Greece , they still talk about this at the very least, but in Russia... What kind of children are they? What kind of women? You need to know the battle of Gross-Jägersdorf or the battle of Vedrosha - but everyday life is nonsense.

But if the above-mentioned shortcomings of our teaching of history are now being increasingly spoken and written about, and one can hope that something will change in the foreseeable future, then there is one feature of the history course in school, which, apparently, will remain for a very long time.

In textbooks and programs there is practically no idea of ​​​​the multinational character of our country. Our Fatherland, of course, is now not the Soviet Union , but Russia, but this has not changed the ethnic and religious composition of the population too much. If you look at the pages of the manuals, then mainly only Russian people - or Orthodox Christians - act there, which for some reason in our country is perceived practically as a synonym.

Let's walk through the glorious centuries of our history. Who lived in Ancient Rus'? It is known who - the Eastern Slavs. Polyane, Drevlyan, Dregovichi, Radimichi, etc. and so on. - they are all listed in detail. Where are the Finno-Ugric people, who made up the majority of the population in the north of the East European Plain? And the Turkic and Iranian-speaking peoples, who for many centuries were in close contact with the same Slavs, so close that Prince Vladimir, next to the images of the Slavic gods, placed in Kiev statues of obvious newcomers from the east - Khors and Semargl? There is a mention of them in the textbook by L. Katsva and A. Yurganov , and in the textbook by A. Danilov and L. Kosulina - and thanks to the authors for this. But, having paid tribute to “political correctness,” the authors immediately quickly return to the main road, and the next paragraph is called “the activities of the Eastern Slavs” or “the society of the Eastern Slavs.” It turns out that all these “non-Slavs” disappeared somewhere, they had no classes, no society, and in general - you can safely forget about them, because they will no longer appear on the pages of the textbook as peaceful neighbors of the Slavs and peoples , which were one of the equal components of the Old Russian or Ukrainian nationality. The Finno-Ugric peoples and Balts are disappearing altogether and will only appear together with the “shelter of the wretched Chukhonts,” that is, when Peter the Great conquers them. It’s even worse with the eastern tribes - they will continue to act only as our primordial enemies. Who bordered ancient Russia? - first, some Volga Bulgars, about whom there is no talk at all, but these are the ancestors of modern Tatars, far from the smallest people inhabiting Russia today. There were also Khazars, well, what can you take from these - Pushkin also said that they were “unreasonable”, and Academician Rybakov and others like him later turned them almost into wild nomads. The fact that the Khazar kingdom had a very interesting history and enormous political significance in the medieval history of Eurasia is out of the question. Is it possible to take seriously a people who have converted to Judaism of their own free will? Therefore, the Khazars appear in our history only at the moment when Prince Svyatoslav , if you think about it, much more deserving of the epithet “unreasonable,” destroyed their state and thereby opened the way to Russia for much more hostile nomadic tribes.

These nomads - first the Pechenegs, then the Polovtsians - are generally just some kind of fascist invaders. Their trace in our history, or rather, in our textbooks, is only one - they came, robbed, trampled fields, took away prisoners. Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich, who allegedly was the first to turn to the Polovtsians for help in his struggle for power, is named Oleg Gorislavich in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign . ” Vladimir Monomakh , on the contrary, constantly called on the Russian princes to unite against the “filthy” ones. The fact that “filthy” does not mean “bad” at all, but pagans, the fact that they entered into alliances with the Polovtsians, traded, entered into family relationships - all this does not bother anyone. It is clear that there is not enough time and space. So maybe it’s worth shortening some other plots, but at least showing that eastern ethnic groups were present in Rus' not only as invaders and terrorists?

However, there is not enough space not only for the Polovtsians. Western Europe also remains somewhere far, far away. Saint Vladimir baptized Russia with the help of Byzantium, but this does not mean that the West seemed so far away at that time. Thanks to the filmmakers, everyone has heard about Yaroslavna, the Queen of France, but it would be nice to also imagine how many princes of Kievan Rus were married to foreigners. But this means that with each bride her servants, associates, confessor, etc. came. and so on. And there were also merchants - Arab, Khazar, Byzantine, Varangian, Western European. And there were also craftsmen from Italy and Germany who had a hand in many of our famous temples. It seems that this is less important than the story about the Battle of Alta or the Battle of Lipitsa (does everyone remember exactly what happened there?). But is it worth it from the very beginning to present the history of our country in isolation from the world and to strengthen the already quite deep-rooted national limitations?

Let's go further. Tatar-Mongol invasion and the Horde yoke. Horror, horror, horror. Fires, ruin, slowdown in the country's development. All this happened, and it is at least strange to argue with it. But why don’t we say anything about the diverse and close contacts between Russia and the Horde? Why is there no talk of the fact that the Horde were not only robbers and murderers? The Horde remained a tolerant state for quite a long time, which was not so common in the Middle Ages. There was a wonderfully organized state apparatus, an amazing postal service, which was not even suspected in Rus' at that time, and much, much more. If you just imagine for a moment what a huge number of today's residents of our country - in Kazan, Siberia or Moscow - are descendants of the inhabitants of the Horde, then it is probably worth thinking about whether it is necessary to develop in them an inferiority complex, explaining that their ancestors brought only evil?

Another important ethnic factor for the Russian Middle Ages was Lithuania. Thank God, in the textbooks mentioned above, this state, which was practically part of Rus', is given a whole paragraph. In the textbook by Katsva and Yurganov, which was published quite a long time ago, this paragraph, however, is intended “for independent study,” while in Danilov and Kosulina it is already equal to the rest. Are there many teachers studying the history of medieval Lithuania? I don't know. I'm not sure it's a lot. But Vilnius could well become a Russian city, and maybe even the capital. Isn’t it worth remembering this more often in today’s situation? Not to make claims against the independent Republic of Lithuania, but simply to understand how closely history has connected us with our neighbors.

Further more. Thanks to the film “Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession,” now even the lowest student knows that Grozny “took Kazan, took Astrakhan”... They annexed the Volga region, strengthened the borders, everything was as it should be... Naturally, all events are presented from the point of view of “big brother” ". I am not at all proposing to condemn the “aggressor Ivan the Terrible ” - this is both stupid and has nothing to do with history - in the sixteenth century, any more or less strong state captured someone. But still, why limit yourself to the story of how “we” successfully defeated... Who? Yes, us too - if we operate with the realities of today, studying the history of the country where Russians, Tatars, and many others theoretically live on equal rights. A few years ago, a very interesting textbook was published dedicated to the history of the city of Kasimov, in which history, everyday life, and culture of both Russians and Tatars are closely intertwined. It is unlikely that only this book is used outside of Kasimov, which, however, naturally, is intended for residents of the city; everyone else continues to study only how the Russians and Tatars fought among themselves.

The seventeenth century - the development of Siberia, the heroic explorers, Khabarov, Dezhnev and others like them. Russia received new territories, raw materials, access to the Pacific Ocean. The feeling that the Cossacks were moving through the desert. Naturally, the textbooks contain a list of peoples who lived in Siberia before the arrival of the Russians - a list that says absolutely nothing to children - except that the word "Chukchi" makes them laugh unhealthy. But through the efforts of the brave Cossack atamans, our country received not only vast lands, forests and furs, but also many new inhabitants, new cultures, beliefs - how much richer we have become... Alas, there is simply no time to tell the guys about this. There are more important stories ahead. Well, let's take a closer look at them.

Seventeenth, eighteenth centuries, the victorious expansion of the empire not only towards the Pacific Ocean, but also to the west and south. Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states, Crimea, the first steps towards Central Asia and the Caucasus... All this is included in the program and is studied in the history course. And it is studied very clearly and clearly - in such and such a year there was such and such a battle, and then part of the Russian troops went in such and such a direction, and another battle took place there. Lord, until when will we consider that our goal is to force schoolchildren to learn the names and dates of a huge number of battles? Troops are marching, a window to Europe is being opened, access to the seas is being provided... And not a word about the fact that over these two centuries, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Jews, Tatars, Kazakhs, and, accordingly, Catholics, Jews, Muslims have become part of Russia , pagans... After all, on the very lands through which the armies were advancing, there lived people to whom neither textbooks nor programs pay practically any attention.

This list can be continued for a very, very long time. War, battles, peace, annexation of territories. Everyone, hurray, let's move on. Russian-Turkish wars, partitions of Poland. And also Russian-Iranian, Russian-Swedish, again Russian-Turkish, and again, and again.

Naturally, we only fought in the Caucasus. Of course, everyone knows about this: Lermontov fought there, and Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy , and today on TV they again talked about the anti-terrorist operation... And the fact that the Caucasus is a complex world, a whole universe in which there were and are a variety of , beliefs, languages, peoples who were at different levels of development - there is no talk about this. There is also no mention of the fact that not all residents of the Caucasus considered the Russians their primordial enemies, or that many peoples quite peacefully became part of the empire. Not enough time? Well, naturally. But we have time for all the most important battles of the Russian-Turkish wars, this, of course, is more significant - the glory of Russian weapons, after all. But the Caucasians were killed two hundred years ago and will continue to be killed...

Now let’s imagine for a moment how a Tatar, Ukrainian, Jewish, Azerbaijani child feels who goes to a regular Russian school and studies a regular course in Russian history. There is no place for him and his people on these pages. He does not appear here at all or appears only as an object of conquest, annexation, subjugation. You can, of course, send your children to a national school or go to Tatarstan, Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan... What if you don’t want to leave? If you want to study in a regular school, then in a Russian one? Then sit and listen to how you were conquered.

But there is another side to this problem. How do Russian children feel? Here, it seems to me, there may be two main options. Some will consciously or unconsciously form the idea that this is how it should be, everything is correct - we have always conquered everyone and, first of all, we are proud of this. I am afraid that this reaction, always quite common, will now become more and more typical every year. However, the other option is not much better. What kind of country are we that only conquers and oppresses everyone? Agree, this is also not the best form of attitude towards one’s own homeland...

Recently, at a conference of history teachers, a young teacher working in a school near Moscow read excerpts from essays written by his students on the topic “My Worldview.” The worldview basically consists of the desire to kill all the “abreks and khachiks.” The authors of the essays, by the way, watch with interest not only videotapes of the film “Brother ,” but also those on which documentary scenes of fights between football fans and beatings of “blacks” in the Moscow metro were filmed. In more intelligent schools they don’t write such frank essays, but many people say something similar, and they even think... The wave of nationalism is now sweeping over everyone, and at school this can be seen very clearly, since teenagers sometimes express their emotions more strongly and more primitively than adults. I will not say that only history teachers are to blame for this. Of course not, but shouldn’t teachers try to at least somehow resist this turbid wave?

The same young teacher proposed several options for “humanizing” teaching and revealing the “multiculturalism” of history. You can not talk about the war as solely about the movement of military units, but talk more about the people in the war who die, commit meanness and exploits, as we know, on both sides of the front. It can be shown how much connections with other peoples have given Russian culture, how many remarkable figures of art, literature, and science did not have the “correct” shape of the nose or even the “only correct” religion. We can talk about trade and diplomatic contacts.

I will add from myself - you can discuss different points of view, Russian, Ukrainian, Tatar, Chechen, you can simply, regardless of the era being studied, try to look at it from different sides and understand that people and their ideas are different...

By the way, this is certainly done by a variety of teachers, not just a teacher from the Moscow region. There are many examples that can be given.

At the teachers’ conference already mentioned above, a teacher from a Jewish school spoke and demonstrated his website , amazing in professionalism and quality , where materials on the history of the Jewish people were collected. In addition to sources that are quite understandable and expected here, he was not afraid to place texts of anti-Semitic books on the site , including even Mein Kampf. One can only be amazed at the courage and wisdom of this man, who judiciously explained that in this way it is possible to deprive these works of an aura of mystery and mystery and turn them into material for analysis.

There are other ways to awaken thought. Thus, several years ago, Moscow specialists in museum pedagogy, with the help of Dutch methodologists, developed a wonderful exhibition “I and Others.” The exhibition first existed in exhibition halls, and then turned into materials that fit in a small yellow suitcase, from where they can be taken out and placed on desks. And then the children will come, look at the sometimes funny and sometimes very serious exhibits and think that people don’t have to all be alike.

I have no doubt that in our country there are a lot of teachers who realize that teaching history in a multinational society is associated with great responsibility. There are probably many more of them than I know, perhaps more than one might imagine. But how I wish such teaching was not the lot of loners, doomed to overcome not only prejudices and ignorance, but also the lack of textbooks, programs, methods...

This year, history teachers also gathered in Prague, only from all over Europe. The conference was dedicated specifically to the study of “minorities” in history. The main conclusion, of course, was that throughout Europe, which is becoming more ethnically diverse every year, teachers do not have a very good idea of ​​how to adapt to this situation. How to teach refugees? How to teach in a country where there are not one or two minorities, but dozens? How to deal with what some consider their traditional customs, and others consider to be a manifestation of fanaticism and superstition? And most importantly, how to cultivate tolerance in our intolerant world? The most remarkable examples of instilling ethnic tolerance demonstrated at the conference were associated precisely with attempts to “humanize” history, to bring it closer to the understanding of schoolchildren. On one of her working days, an employee of the Jewish Museum in Prague gave a lesson on everyday life in a traditional Jewish family. This lesson was so fascinating and - there is simply no other word - charming that teachers from different parts of Europe were inspired to try Shabbat food, show each other ancient things used during weddings or other ceremonies - and the things were from one of the most famous historical and ethnographic museums in the world...

The next day, employees of another museum, created on the territory of the former Jewish ghetto in Theresienstadt, talked about how they are trying to make visiting children feel what it means to be turned into a camp room just because you belong to the “wrong” race. Among the many amazing methodological discoveries, schoolchildren in the Terezin Museum are asked to carry out a task: “find out the fate of the number.” They are given papers from the camp administration and asked to find out what happened to the prisoner who had this or that number - where he was brought from, where he was then sent, who he was, whether he survived or not. I have no doubt that such a small study gives a teenager more than many of the most solemn speeches about the inhumanity of fascism. Czech, German, and American children come here. Excursions from Russia don’t come often...

There, in Terezin, young guys from the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam held their lesson based on the notes of a Jewish boy from Berlin, who day after day recorded in his diary the restrictions imposed by the Nazis (there were about seventy of them). The lesson methodology was surprisingly simple and surprisingly effective. Students are asked to sort the sheets with anti-Jewish decrees into groups and explain on what basis they identified these groups. This alone is enough for students to really think about what they read. But after that they are asked to try to identify in each group that order that should have had a particularly strong impact on the lives of fourteen to fifteen year olds. You immediately pay attention to those decisions that, from the point of view of “big” history, seem to be not so important - for example, at some point Jews were forbidden to have pets, and Aryan children could not play with non-Aryan ones. This is nothing compared to the death camps, but in this way a modern schoolchild is more likely to understand what his peer felt seventy years ago, and realizes that these humiliations, which it seemed possible to accept with clenched teeth, actually led to Auschwitz.

Let us not delude ourselves, nationalism in its ugliest manifestations exists in all countries, no matter how well they teach it in schools. And in the Czech Republic, everything is far from prosperous - they are strenuously fighting against anti-Semitism, but everyone unanimously hates Roma and Germans. There are these problems even in the super-tolerant Netherlands, where many methods have been developed for training immigrants, refugees, people from colonies, where they still talk about their participation in the Holocaust, because the trains that took deported Jews to the camps were driven by Dutch drivers... But Still, I have no doubt that the most notorious chauvinists, having gone through the classes described above, will at least think about it. And this is already the beginning of the journey...

So maybe we should try it too?