![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
History as we were taught it… and history as it was. (First article.)
I decided to start this series because the kind of “history” they teach in schools – and, alas, increasingly, in universities – is to a very large extent not even the fragile interpretation of scholars, but the detritus of ancient propaganda, kept alive by intellectual laziness, sentimentality and political self-interest. I am sick and tired of the trash I hear passing for history in common debate, of the unchallenged assumptions that are as false as a three-pound banknote, and most especially of the blackmailing sentimentality that often lies at their back. In my own space, at least – which is what this blog is – I would like to set up an alternative perspective. Here, for a start, let me deal with the mountain of misconceptions, learned at school and kept alive by all sorts of popular culture – including even genuine masterpieces such as David Olney’s song 1917 – about the First World War; for, in a sense – especially because the War led to a more central event for the evolution of our culture, the Russian Civil War – these misconceptions and ingrained lies have a direct effect on the management of politics in our day.
( Read more... )
I decided to start this series because the kind of “history” they teach in schools – and, alas, increasingly, in universities – is to a very large extent not even the fragile interpretation of scholars, but the detritus of ancient propaganda, kept alive by intellectual laziness, sentimentality and political self-interest. I am sick and tired of the trash I hear passing for history in common debate, of the unchallenged assumptions that are as false as a three-pound banknote, and most especially of the blackmailing sentimentality that often lies at their back. In my own space, at least – which is what this blog is – I would like to set up an alternative perspective. Here, for a start, let me deal with the mountain of misconceptions, learned at school and kept alive by all sorts of popular culture – including even genuine masterpieces such as David Olney’s song 1917 – about the First World War; for, in a sense – especially because the War led to a more central event for the evolution of our culture, the Russian Civil War – these misconceptions and ingrained lies have a direct effect on the management of politics in our day.
( Read more... )
