DOCSLIB.ORG

Historical Interpretations of the Gorbachev Era and the End of the Soviet Union: Secondary School History Education in Russia, 1991-2010

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Historical Interpretations of the Gorbachev Era and the End of the Soviet Union: Secondary School History Education in Russia, 1991-2010 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Saskatchewan's Research Archive Historical Interpretations of the Gorbachev Era and the End of the Soviet Union: Secondary School History Education in Russia, 1991-2010 A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History University of Saskatchewan Crystal Amber Nataraj © Crystal Amber Nataraj, April 2011. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s of Arts Degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department of History. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or in part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A5 i ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to shed light on the formation of historical myths in Post- Soviet secondary school history classrooms from 1991 to 2010. Specifically, this thesis provides insight into how Russian high school teachers and textbook authors shaped historical interpretations of the perestroika era under the leadership of Mikhail S. Gorbachev and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This case study of the teaching of the historical time period of 1985 to 1991 illuminates the ways in which Russians reinterpreted the final years of communist rule, as well as the dominant factors influencing those assessments, including memory and the state. The historical narratives taught in post-Soviet Russian classrooms, serve as an indicator of the evolution of democratic processes, national identity and historical consciousness in Russia. In addition to a survey of secondary source literature, my methodology includes the evaluation of interviews and surveys I conducted in 2009 and 2010 from over thirty secondary school history teachers in six Russian localities (in the Novosibirsk region, Moscow and St. Petersburg). I also assess the chapter contents of 15 widely-used high school history textbooks from the period of 1988 to 2009. In the newly democratic Russian state, the government (including the Ministry of Education) played a central role in the reform agenda of schools. During these formative decades, the process took a revolutionary pattern, with a radical, more liberal, stage of reform occurring in the early 1990s and a more conservative, traditional retreat taking place from the mid-1990s onwards. In response to society’s widespread discontent over the changes which took place in Russian schools in the 1990s, Presidents Vladimir V. Putin and Dmitri A. Medvedev took more active roles in education reform than their predecessor, Boris N. Yeltsin, especially in the realm of history education. Putin’s more centralized approach resulted in stricter controls on curriculum and textbook publication. Accordingly, history education was employed as a tool of the state to shape patriotic citizens through the restricting of various historical interpretations. “Gorbachev as leader,” “perestroika” and “the end of the Soviet Union” are controversial historical topics in Russia due to the social and economic upheaval that took place during and after these years. Textbook analysis of this period often reflected dominant political discourses in Russia. In the 1990s the interpretations were quite varied as Russians were unsure of how to assess such recent history. In the 2000s the textbook interpretations became more streamlined, ii and Gorbachev became a scapegoat for many subsequent state problems. In contrast, history teachers’ opinions about the Gorbachev era did not appear to change as markedly. Many factors weigh in on an individual’s interpretation of this historical period, but memory plays an especially prominent role in the teaching of the topic. Nevertheless, history teachers and textbook authors, reflecting Russian society at large, used historical myths in the teaching of the Gorbachev era, and this thesis documents these myths and sheds light on which were most prevalent and which lost favour. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Pamela Jordan for supervising me throughout my Master’s program and taking such care in helping me develop this research. Her comments and advice have only served to strengthen my academic capabilities. Professor Jordan’s depth of knowledge has been invaluable to me and the development of this thesis. Her commitment to quality research and writing is truly inspiring. I will be forever grateful to her for the encouragement and guidance. I would also like to extend sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr. John McCannon and Dr. Erika Dyck, supervisory committee members, for their feedback and comments throughout the development and writing of this thesis. I am also grateful for the insightful observations of the external examiner, Dr. Terry Wotherspoon. I greatly appreciate the entire committee’s hard work and dedication. This research was made possible through the financial support of the University of Saskatchewan’s Dean’s Scholarship and the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. I am very thankful to both institutions for their generous support. Additionally, I would like to thank SSHRC for awarding me the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement to conduct research in Russia. I also wish to thank Irina Khromova for acting as my host-supervisor while researching at Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University. Her enthusiasm to assist me with my research resulted in an extremely fulfilling academic experience abroad. I have also benefitted from numerous meetings and discussions with other Russian and Canadian colleagues and friends, to whom I am sincerely indebted. Thank you to my family and close friends for cheering me on the last few years. Special thanks to my mother Joan, who was always eager to proofread. Last but not least, I wish to thank my greatest supporter, my husband Richard, for tirelessly encouraging, motivating and supporting me throughout this endeavour. This is as much his achievement as it is mine. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE .......................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Historiography ................................................................................................................ 3 Research Methods ......................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: Traditions in Soviet Education .................................................................. 13 Revolutionary Times Under Lenin .............................................................................. 17 A Conservative Retreat Under Stalin ......................................................................... 19 Khrushchev’s Thaw ...................................................................................................... 20 Conservative Policies Under Brezhnev ....................................................................... 21 The Restructuring of Education Under Gorbachev .................................................. 22 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 3: Post-Soviet Education Reform ................................................................... 26 Revolutionary Patterns................................................................................................. 27 Education Reforms Under Yeltsin (1991 to 1999) ..................................................... 28 Modernization Under Putin and Medvedev (2000 to 2010) ...................................... 37 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 4: Russian History Education in Post-Soviet Times ..................................... 42 History Education Reforms from 1991 to 1999 .......................................................... 45 History Classrooms from 1991 to 1999 ....................................................................... 52 History Education Reforms from 2000 to 2010 .........................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Impossible, Yet Real! 187
    CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy 2011 of Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed jour- 1 2011 Vol VIII No 1 nal devoted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to promote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understanding the values and cultural phenomena in the contemporary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL ISBN 978-3-89975-251-9 CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy 2011 of Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed jour- 1 2011 Vol VIII No 1 nal devoted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to promote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understanding the values and cultural phenomena in the contemporary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology E-ISSN (Online): 2065-5002 (Published online by Versita, Solipska 14A/1, 02-482 Warsaw, Poland) ISSN (Print): 1584-1057 Advisory Board Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise and Fall of Stalinism
    MARXIST EDUCATION PROGRAMME The Rise and Fall of Stalinism How and why did the bureaucratic dictatorship fail? 7 Marxist Education Series www.workerssocialistparty.co.za R10 CONTENTS The Rise of Stalinism.......................….................................................1 Richard Monroe & Philip Masters, 1990 The Nature of the Soviet Regime.....................................................12 Richard Monroe & Philip Masters, 1990 The Crisis of the Stalinist States.........................................................20 Marxist Workers Tendency, 1982 From Perestroika to Glasnost...........................................................30 Rob Jones, 2009 IF YOU AGREE WITH THEN WHAT YOU READ... JOIN tel: 081 366 7375 SMS: 081 366 7375 WhatsApp: 081 366 7375 US! web: www.workerssocialistparty.co.za/join-wasp email: [email protected] “The basis of bureaucratic rule is the poverty of society in objects of consumption, with the resulting struggle of each against all. When there are enough goods in a store, the purchasers can come whenever they want to. When there are few goods, the purchasers are compelled to stand in line. When the lines are very long, it is necessary to appoint a policeman to keep order. Such is the starting point of the power of the Soviet bureaucracy.” Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed, 1936 Cover image: the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against Stalinist rule The Rise of Stalinism (Chapter 2 of The Legacy of Leon Trotsky) by Richard Monroe & Philip Masters, 1990 On October 25, 1917, the Provisional Government was armies and to the working class across Europe, to support and overthrown in Petrograd. The Russian working class took take forward the Russian revolution. The old parties of the Second state power. The Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers International split, with big sections, sometimes majorities, rallying Deputies, highest organ of workers’ democracy, was in session to the banner of the Third (Communist) International launched by in the capital.
    [Show full text]
  • This Thesis Comes Within Category D
    * SHL ITEM BARCODE 19 1721901 5 REFERENCE ONLY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THESIS Degree Year i ^Loo 0 Name of Author COPYRIGHT This Is a thesis accepted for a Higher Degree of the University of London, it is an unpubfished typescript and the copyright is held by the author. All persons consulting the thesis must read and abide by the Copyright Declaration below. COPYRIGHT DECLARATION I recognise that the copyright of the above-described thesis rests with the author and that no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. LOANS Theses may not be lent to individuals, but the Senate House Library may lend a copy to approved libraries within the United Kingdom, for consultation solely on the .premises of those libraries. Application should be made to: Inter-Library Loans, Senate House Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. REPRODUCTION University of London theses may not be reproduced without explicit written permission from the Senate House Library. Enquiries should be addressed to the Theses Section of the Library. Regulations concerning reproduction vary according to the date of acceptance of the thesis and are listed below as guidelines. A. Before 1962. Permission granted only upon the prior written consent of the author. (The Senate House Library will provide addresses where possible). B. 1962 -1974. In many cases the author has agreed to permit copying upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. C. 1975 -1988. Most theses may be copied upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. D. 1989 onwards. Most theses may be copied.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting Zero Hour 1945
    REVISITING ZERO-HOUR 1945 THE EMERGENCE OF POSTWAR GERMAN CULTURE edited by STEPHEN BROCKMANN FRANK TROMMLER VOLUME 1 American Institute for Contemporary German Studies The Johns Hopkins University REVISITING ZERO-HOUR 1945 THE EMERGENCE OF POSTWAR GERMAN CULTURE edited by STEPHEN BROCKMANN FRANK TROMMLER HUMANITIES PROGRAM REPORT VOLUME 1 The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. ©1996 by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies ISBN 0-941441-15-1 This Humanities Program Volume is made possible by the Harry & Helen Gray Humanities Program. Additional copies are available for $5.00 to cover postage and handling from the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, Suite 420, 1400 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-2217. Telephone 202/332-9312, Fax 202/265- 9531, E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.aicgs.org ii F O R E W O R D Since its inception, AICGS has incorporated the study of German literature and culture as a part of its mandate to help provide a comprehensive understanding of contemporary Germany. The nature of Germany’s past and present requires nothing less than an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of German society and culture. Within its research and public affairs programs, the analysis of Germany’s intellectual and cultural traditions and debates has always been central to the Institute’s work. At the time the Berlin Wall was about to fall, the Institute was awarded a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to help create an endowment for its humanities programs.
    [Show full text]
  • Title of Thesis: ABSTRACT CLASSIFYING BIAS
    ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: CLASSIFYING BIAS IN LARGE MULTILINGUAL CORPORA VIA CROWDSOURCING AND TOPIC MODELING Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang Thesis Directed By: Dr. David Zajic, Ph.D. Our project extends previous algorithmic approaches to finding bias in large text corpora. We used multilingual topic modeling to examine language-specific bias in the English, Spanish, and Russian versions of Wikipedia. In particular, we placed Spanish articles discussing the Cold War on a Russian-English viewpoint spectrum based on similarity in topic distribution. We then crowdsourced human annotations of Spanish Wikipedia articles for comparison to the topic model. Our hypothesis was that human annotators and topic modeling algorithms would provide correlated results for bias. However, that was not the case. Our annotators indicated that humans were more perceptive of sentiment in article text than topic distribution, which suggests that our classifier provides a different perspective on a text’s bias. CLASSIFYING BIAS IN LARGE MULTILINGUAL CORPORA VIA CROWDSOURCING AND TOPIC MODELING by Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, 2018 Advisory Committee: Dr. David Zajic, Chair Dr. Brian Butler Dr. Marine Carpuat Dr. Melanie Kill Dr. Philip Resnik Mr. Ed Summers © Copyright by Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang 2018 Acknowledgements We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our mentor, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Brigitte Bailer-Galanda “Revisionism”1 in Germany and Austria: the Evolution of a Doctrine
    www.doew.at Brigitte Bailer-Galanda “Revisionism”1 in Germany and Austria: The Evolution of a Doctrine Published in: Hermann Kurthen/Rainer Erb/Werner Bergmann (ed.), Anti-Sem- itism and Xenophobia in Germany after Unification, New York–Oxford 1997 Development of “revisionism” since 1945 Most people understand so called „revisionism“ as just another word for the movement of holocaust denial (Benz 1994; Lipstadt 1993; Shapiro 1990). Therefore it was suggested lately to use the word „negationism“ instead. How- ever in the author‘s point of view „revisionism“ covers some more topics than just the denying of the National Socialist mass murders. Especially in Germany and Austria there are some more points of National Socialist politics some people have tried to minimize or apologize since 1945, e. g. the responsibility for World War II, the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 (quite a modern topic), (the discussion) about the number of the victims of the holocaust a. s. o.. In the seventies the late historian Martin Broszat already called that movement „run- ning amok against reality“ (Broszat 1976). These pseudo-historical writers, many of them just right wing extremist publishers or people who quite rapidly turned to right wing extremists, really try to prove that history has not taken place, just as if they were able to make events undone by denying them. A conception of “negationism” (Auerbach 1993a; Fromm and Kernbach 1994, p. 9; Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz 1994) or “holocaust denial” (Lipstadt 1993, p. 20) would neglect the additional components of “revision- ism”, which are logically connected with the denying of the holocaust, this being the extreme variant.
    [Show full text]
  • FOR PROMOTING a DEMOCRATIC CULTURE of DEBATE Media Professionals' Handling of Anti-Democratic Populism
    IN COOPERATION WITH COLLECTION OF EXPERIENCES FOR PROMOTING A DEMOCRATIC CULTURE OF DEBATE Media professionals' handling of anti-democratic populism 1. BACKGROUND 2 2. COLLECTION OF EXPERIENCES 3 A. STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE MEDIA AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 3 B. JOURNALISTIC WORK WHEN DEALING WITH ANTI-DEMOCRATIC POPULISTS 5 C. GUIDELINE FOR ACTION IN YOUR OWN EDITORIAL TEAM 7 D. PARTICULAR CHALLENGES IN THE AREA OF SOCIAL MEDIA 8 E. DEALING WITH LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC IMAGES 10 F. THE NEED FOR FACT CHECKING 10 3. RECOMMENDED READING 12 4. ON THE AUTHORS | LEGAL NOTICE 13 COUNTERING POPULISM IN PUBLIC SPACE COLLECTION OF EXPERIENCES FOR PROMOTING A DEMOCRATIC CULTURE OF DEBATE IN COOPERATION WITH COLLECTION OF EXPERIENCES FOR PROMOTING A DEMOCRATIC CULTURE OF DEBATE 1. BACKGROUND as Progressive Zentrum promotes the improvement of should also convey subjective perspectives and the rivalry Dknowledge-sharing, particularly among young adults, between various political positions as foundations upon regarding the way journalism deals with anti-democratic which citizens can form a political opinion. In this regard, populism and its representatives in the public space. This pa- political information not only includes news coverage, but per builds on the expertise and experience of media profes- also the discussion and questioning of central political ac- sionals. During the "workshop for promoting a democratic tors, such as the federal government or the different parties. culture of debate" on 14 December 2018 in Berlin, they iden- tified challenges, pointed out problems and discussed solu- Over the past few years, media professionals have been faced tions. These recommendations for solutions are not univer- with greater challenges than they were previously used to sally applicable or exhaustive, but instead illustrate different in the German context.
    [Show full text]
  • Con-Scripting the Masses: False Documents and Historical Revisionism in the Americas
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Open Access Dissertations 2-2011 Con-Scripting the Masses: False Documents and Historical Revisionism in the Americas Frans Weiser University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Comparative Literature Commons Recommended Citation Weiser, Frans, "Con-Scripting the Masses: False Documents and Historical Revisionism in the Americas" (2011). Open Access Dissertations. 347. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/347 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CON-SCRIPTING THE MASSES: FALSE DOCUMENTS AND HISTORICAL REVISIONISM IN THE AMERICAS A Dissertation Presented by FRANS-STEPHEN WEISER Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 2011 Program of Comparative Literature © Copyright 2011 by Frans-Stephen Weiser All Rights Reserved CON-SCRIPTING THE MASSES: FALSE DOCUMENTS AND HISTORICAL REVISIONISM IN THE AMERICAS A Dissertation Presented by FRANS-STEPHEN WEISER Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________________ David Lenson, Chair _______________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Raisa Gorbacheva, the Soviet Union’S Only First Lady
    Outraging the People by Stepping out of the Shadows Gender roles, the ‘feminine ideal’ and gender discourse in the Soviet Union and Raisa Gorbacheva, the Soviet Union’s only First Lady. Noraly Terbijhe Master Thesis MA Russian & Eurasian Studies Leiden University January 2020, Leiden Everywhere in the civilised world, the position, the rights and obligations of a wife of the head of state are more or less determined. For instance, I found out that the President’s wife in the White House has special staff to assist her in preforming her duties. She even has her own ‘territory’ and office in one wing of the White House. As it turns out, I as the First Lady had only one tradition to be proud of, the lack of any right to an official public existence.1 Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (1991) 1 Translated into English from Russian. From: Raisa Gorbacheva, Ya Nadeyus’ (Moscow 1991) 162. 1 Table of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Literature review ........................................................................................................................... 9 3. Gender roles and discourse in Russia and the USSR ................................................................. 17 The supportive comrade ................................................................................................................. 19 The hardworking mother ...............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • US Historians of Latin America and the Colonial Question
    UC Santa Barbara Journal of Transnational American Studies Title Imperial Revisionism: US Historians of Latin America and the Spanish Colonial Empire (ca. 1915–1945) Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/30m769ph Journal Journal of Transnational American Studies, 5(1) Author Salvatore, Ricardo D. Publication Date 2013 DOI 10.5070/T851011618 Supplemental Material https://escholarship.org/uc/item/30m769ph#supplemental Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Imperial Revisionism: US Historians of Latin America and the Spanish Colonial Empire (ca. 1915–1945) RICARDO D. SALVATORE Since its inception, the discipline of Hispanic American history has been overshadowed by a dominant curiosity about the Spanish colonial empire and its legacy in Latin America. Carrying a tradition established in the mid-nineteenth century, the pioneers of the field (Bernard Moses and Edward G. Bourne) wrote mainly about the experience of Spanish colonialism in the Americas. The generation that followed continued with this line of inquiry, generating an increasing number of publications about the colonial period.1 The duration, organization, and principal institutions of the Spanish empire have drawn the attention of many historians who did their archival work during the early twentieth century and joined history departments of major US universities after the outbreak of World War I. The histories they wrote contributed to consolidating the field of Hispanic American history in the United States, producing important findings in a variety of themes related to the Spanish empire. It is my contention that this historiography was greatly influenced by the need to understand the role of the United States’ policies in the hemisphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia DOI: 10.34663/9783945561577-05
    Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Studies 14 John Young: Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia DOI: 10.34663/9783945561577-05 In: John Markakis, Günther Schlee, and John Young: The Nation State : A Wrong Model for the Horn of Africa Online version at https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/studies/14/ ISBN 978-3-945561-57-7, DOI 10.34663/9783945561577-00 First published 2021 by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften, Max Planck Re- search Library for the History and Development of Knowledge under Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Printed and distributed by: epubli / neopubli GmbH, Berlin https://www.epubli.de/shop/buch/111400 The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de Chapter 3 Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia John Young 3.1 Introduction Civil war broke out in Ethiopia on November 4, 2020 when the national army at the be­ hest of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attacked the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) administered state of Tigray. There were many differences between Abiy and the TPLF, but foremost was the Front’s support of national federalism and the prime minister’s back­ ing of a return to the centralized administration of past Ethiopian governments. The issue of national federalism has been controversial since it was first introduced by the Ethiopian Peo­ ple’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991, but the war encourages the debate to be revisited.
    [Show full text]
  • Solidarity and the Fall of Communism
    Solidarity and the Fall of Communism Europejskie Centrum Solidarności Introduction Twenty years have passed since the 4th of June 1989, when the first non- fraudulent elections took place in the People’s Republic of Poland. Those ground-breaking elections were the starting point of the dismantling of the Communist system in Central and Eastern Europe and led to profound social and economic changes. The distinguished personalities of public life, scholars and most importantly, the heroes of those times, now congregate in Warszawa and Gdańsk to evaluate the last 20 years from historical, social and political perspectives. This auspicious assembly is also an opportunity to identify future challenges and find possible answers, using past experiences, of how to approach them. The events of 1989 were of great importance. Not only was it an unarmed fight but also the civic opposition had turned it into a peaceful revolution. Seldom in world history did the revolutions renounce violence bringing radical changes by peaceful means of accord and dialog. Peace and revolution, those usually contrasting words, in 1989 and through the following years described in the most suitable way, the unique changes of those times. The revolution commenced in August 1980. In Central Europe, separated from the rest of the world by the Iron Curtain, workers of the Gdansk Shipyard, paradoxically named after Lenin, supported by students, intellectuals, priests and journalists, utterly opposed the regime. They were followed by ten million Polish people who created a social movement with the symbolic name Solidarnosc. This solidarity led Poland to freedom. The same path was shortly followed by other nations.
    [Show full text]