War, Nation, Memory: International Perspectives on World War II in School History TextbooksKeith A. Crawford, Stuart J. Foster The Second World War stands as the most devastating and destructive global conflict in human history. More than 60 nations representing 1.7 billion people or three quarters of the world’s population were consumed by its horror. Not surprisingly, therefore, World War II stands as a landmark episode in history education throughout the world and its prominent place in school history textbooks is almost guaranteed. As this book demonstrates, however, the stories that nations choose to tell their young about World War II do not represent a universally accepted “truth” about events during the war. Rather, wartime narratives contained in school textbooks typically are selected to instil in the young a sense of national pride, common identify, and shared collective memory. To understand this process War, Nation, Memory describes and evaluates school history textbooks from many nations deeply affected by World War II including China, France, Germany, Japan, USA, and the United Kingdom. It critically examines the very different and complex perspectives offered in many nations and analyses the ways in which textbooks commonly serve as instruments of socialisation and, in some cases, propaganda. Above all, War, Nation, Memory demonstrates that far from containing “neutral” knowledge, history textbooks prove fascinating cultural artefacts consciously shaped and legitimated by powerful ideological, cultural, and sociopolitical forces dominant in the present. |
Contents
1 | |
A Comparative Analysis of English and German History Textbooks | 21 |
Chapter 3 Wartime or War Crime? The Destruction of Dresden in English History Textbooks | 43 |
Chapter 4 Wartime Resistance and Collaboration in French History Textbooks | 63 |
Chapter 5 The SinoJapanese War and the Politics of Official Remembrance in the Peoples Republic of China | 89 |
Chapter 6 Responsibility and Victimhood in Japanese History Textbooks | 111 |
Portrayals of World War II in US History Textbooks | 125 |
Chapter 8 Textbook Portrayals of British Women During World War II 19422004 | 145 |
Selection and Omission in English History Textbooks | 177 |
World War II and the Landscape of Memory | 203 |
About the Authors | 209 |
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Africa Allied American analysis analyzed argued army atrocities attention Axis powers Bomber bombing of Dresden Britain British chapter China Chinese civilians claims colonial contemporary coverage crimes critical cultural defeat despite devoted discourse emphasize Empire and Commonwealth England ethnic Europe example focus focused forces France French GCSE gender German German cities Goldhagen groups Hatier high school Hiroshima historians history education Hitler Holocaust ibid ideological Information Age issues Japan Jews killed London military Modern World History Nanjing massacre narrative National Curriculum National Socialism Nazi op cit Oxford past patriotic People’s Education Press perspective photographs political portrayals portrayed powerful pupils role of women school history textbooks Second World Second World War Shephard significant Social Studies society Soviet Soviet Union teachers textbooks produced tion troops typically U.S. textbooks United University Press Vichy Vichy France war crimes wartime women’s history World War II