The Current Highschool World History Textbooks’ Representation of Russian and Soviet History

Russian history has been presented in a highly negative manner in Korean highschool World History textbooks since the last century. Textbooks in the current curriculum set by the Ministry of Education of the Korean government in 2009 and 2011 are no exception. In their picture, Russian history took a different and sometimes opposite path from that of the West which the textbooks actually presuppose as the model of the development of world history. Russian case was always late and backward compared to the Western experiences. Such backwardness, however, is not translated into the weakness of Russia in the textbooks. Rather, it is curiously connected into its alleged offensive and expansionist nature, creating an image that historically Russia has been always displaying provocative ambitions. In parallel with such formidability in the arena of international politics, Russia domestic politics and society are also described as being brutal and ruthless, a country often resorting to, and accustomed to, inhumane violence. Both international peace movements and social reforms that Russia had led are simply dropped out of the picture that the textbooks painted for world history. In doing so, the textbooks deliberately de-emphasize Russia’s contribution to the evolution of world civilization. Such negative treatment of Russian history by our secondary school textbooks has origins in the Cold War years. Now is the time for us to rethink the content of Russian history in the textbooks.