Dergiler / Review of Armenian Studies / 2019 / Sayı: 39
REWRITING HISTORY AND PASSING BLAME: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE KATYŃ MASSACRES (1940) AND THE ARMENIAN RELOCATION (1915)
- Sayı
- 2019 · Sayı: 39
- Sayfa
- 37–67
- DOI
- —
Özet
During the nineteenth and twentieth century, different nations initiated their own nation-building process. In early processes of nation- building, the focus was on glorifying existing events to create unity. There are; however, cases in which the focus shifted from glorifying past events into neglecting or even denying events. This was especially the case for newly established nations who witnessed major conflict during the two world wars in which multiple war crimes were committed. In order to not “taint” their independence with such mishaps, the committed atrocities were subsequently downplayed, neglected, or even (in the most extreme situation) subjected to complete rewriting of history. Few nations have resorted to engaging in complete rewriting of history. Nations that rose from the ashes of the two world wars often had a big part in the violence since they had to fight their way to their independence. Hence, they resorted to complete rewriting of history. Since newly established nations preferred to start of their newly reached independence with the thought of being “a noble people” not capable of vile actions against other nations, they exerted much effort into narrating in an alternative manner what happened during the previous period. Nations justified their struggle for independence by pointing out that they were victims of other nations that were oppressing them. Two clear examples for this were the Armenians during their war effort against the Ottoman Empire during World War One (1914-1918); and the Soviet Russians in Poland during Second World War (1939-1945). In both events, the perpetrators tried (and still try) to shift their role in the events from committing atrocities, to victims and heroes. A comparative look into the two case studies will be a good start for a preliminary research in which an outline and model will be determined for nations who have resorted to rewriting history in the process of nation building.
Abstract
During the nineteenth and twentieth century, different nations initiated their own nation-building process. In early processes of nation- building, the focus was on glorifying existing events to create unity. There are; however, cases in which the focus shifted from glorifying past events into neglecting or even denying events. This was especially the case for newly established nations who witnessed major conflict during the two world wars in which multiple war crimes were committed. In order to not “taint” their independence with such mishaps, the committed atrocities were subsequently downplayed, neglected, or even (in the most extreme situation) subjected to complete rewriting of history. Few nations have resorted to engaging in complete rewriting of history. Nations that rose from the ashes of the two world wars often had a big part in the violence since they had to fight their way to their independence. Hence, they resorted to complete rewriting of history. Since newly established nations preferred to start of their newly reached independence with the thought of being “a noble people” not capable of vile actions against other nations, they exerted much effort into narrating in an alternative manner what happened during the previous period. Nations justified their struggle for independence by pointing out that they were victims of other nations that were oppressing them. Two clear examples for this were the Armenians during their war effort against the Ottoman Empire during World War One (1914-1918); and the Soviet Russians in Poland during Second World War (1939-1945). In both events, the perpetrators tried (and still try) to shift their role in the events from committing atrocities, to victims and heroes. A comparative look into the two case studies will be a good start for a preliminary research in which an outline and model will be determined for nations who have resorted to rewriting history in the process of nation building.