Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

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History and National Identity 193 Štefan Šutaj Inhabitants of Slovakia – whether of Slovak or of Hungarian nationality – have differing opinions about a large number of events in the history of Slovak-Hungarian intra-state relations. This is caused by several factors. Despite the existence of a common school system, there are differences in the readings of history that pupils encounter in their history lessons, because teachers often interpret historical events loosely. Historical memory is formed individually, and all individuals store up traces of various events that have affected their lives. For example, family upbringing plays a significant role. The 20 th century has left its impressions – a stamp of the past – on every Hungarian or Slovak family. Members of Slovak, Hungarian and mixed families ‘struggled’ not only in organisations alongside one another, but also in opposing ones. There is also inter-generational dialogue about these events, and this has significantly influenced the formation of opinions on individual historical events. A further element that has left its mark on the formation of opinions and attitudes among the inhabitants of Slovakia is societal environment. This means social environment, including affiliation to a religious denomination or to interest groups; the nature of the milieu in which the individual lives is also important (town or village – size of municipality). Just as there are different types of communities, their prevailing atmosphere leaves its mark on the formation of attitudes to historical events. At all these levels, however, we also encounter the important role of ethnicity and ethnic affiliation. The degree or measure – the strength – of an individual’s identity plays a significant role. Since 1986, the Institute of Social Sciences has conducted a great deal of research, in which we have obtained the opinions of respondents on the history of Slovaks and Hungarians. In this article, Professor Stefan Šutaj works at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute for Social Studies. He is co-chairman of the Mixed Committee of Slovak-Hungarian Historians.
we shall turn our attention to two research projects of the Institute. In 2003-2005, we asked a sample of 1 280 respondents whether there have been events that have had a negative influence on the mutual relations of Slovaks and Hungarians. Our results are presented in the following chart. Figure 1 Opinions on the existence of events that have had a negative influence on the inter-ethnic relations of Slovaks and minorities (Slovaks about minorities, minorities about Slovaks). 1 2 3 Legend: 1 – yes, and the event was … 2 – don’t remember any, but such events do exist 3 – no, because none exists Hungarians Slovaks Hungarians often mentioned a specific historical event (53.75% of respondents), of which their perception was negative and which had considerably influenced mutual relations. The majority mentioned repressive measures taken against inhabitants of Hungarian nationality after the Second World War. The events they most frequently defined in this way were the expulsion of populations or the Beneš decrees, the removal of citizenship, the confiscation of property, the years 1945 to 1948, and ‘re-Slovakisation’. Slovak 194
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Twenty years after the end of the C
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Dedicated to Bronisław Geremek Bro
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Table of contents Preface: Never Ag
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Preface Never again 7 Martin Schulz
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Preface The Past Does Not Go Away A
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Introduction by the Editors In 2008
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about the tense and ambivalent rela
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another debate formulated by Richar
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theoretical and practical impossibi
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History and national identity Histo
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the subject of much controversy, th
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everything on Stalin and communism:
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Prague Spring: “In the mid-1950s,
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Literature Arendt, Hannah (1951) Th
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Common Memory and European Identity
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cried the Ossies as the Berlin Wall
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the first phase of negotiations aft
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eference to a common destiny, and t
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The ‘enlargement fatigue’ obser
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on each other. The only way of chan
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“The Word Concentration Camp mean
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I think history is essential to thi
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denying it is like saying evil does
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Soviet camp, not because he had don
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Q: In Germany there is a strong fee
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the 17 th century so that the South
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forests near Minsk. I was taken the
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harmonious and prosperous, with the
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were doing and why they were doing
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an explanation. I told him that I e
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This movement once had a big meetin
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guests of Imre Pozsgay, minister of
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HISTORICAL DILEMMAS
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National myths Every society has a
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confessions. The culmination of thi
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First, few countries undertake a th
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Finally, confronted with the experi
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no better placed than governments t
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compartments, and that one must som
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Such an approach certainly has its
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History and Politics: Recommendatio
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The tension between academic histor
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oth a collective and individual exo
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Europe’s responsibilities It is c
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egimes provides a deeper understand
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and accounts for professionals deal
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This shift later inspired the devel
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In Germany, public historical cultu
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Historical Bias in Poland: Lustrati
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The Polish United Workers’ Party
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The right’s criticism of the meth
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epresents one more step in the broa
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European Social Democracy and 20 th
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the KPD - even now - is not about p
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esisted them in many cases. The ove
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turned some of them against the SPD
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The Interpretation of the Soviet Un
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the result of a war of liberation a
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Molotov-Ribbentrop protocol? How di
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pen in Lithuania. The idea was adva
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and politician Giovanni Amendola to
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The most influential analytical mod
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2. A single mass party consisting o
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their differences. Most comparative
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communism are legal heirs of the En
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the world war and to exculpate the
Page 143 and 144: They also criticized “revisionist
Page 145 and 146: seen above, after careful scrutiny
Page 148 and 149: The Real Problem Latvians Have with
Page 150 and 151: not see it as something important e
Page 152 and 153: structures Latvian domestic politic
Page 154 and 155: the language of instruction in scho
Page 156 and 157: Diversity in Historical Education:
Page 158 and 159: and sometimes in adjustment and ada
Page 160 and 161: For the Record: PSE MEPs react 159
Page 162 and 163: F. especially the Nazi- and the Sta
Page 164 and 165: having always been victims, trying
Page 166: SPECIAL REPORT: SLOVAKS AND HUNGARI
Page 169 and 170: Much has happened in the last two y
Page 171 and 172: The conference concentrated, as the
Page 173 and 174: aristocratic, Estates-based ‘nati
Page 175 and 176: A person’s identification with a
Page 177 and 178: ians to evaluate the extent to whic
Page 179 and 180: more intensive part in forming the
Page 182 and 183: A Common Past, a Divided History 18
Page 184 and 185: nearly seven hundred kilometres of
Page 186 and 187: It is extremely important to note,
Page 188 and 189: historical public opinion and self-
Page 190 and 191: thousands of Hungarian and Slovak c
Page 192: enewed historiography will also be
Page 197 and 198: In response to these questions, two
Page 199 and 200: While more than 80% of the oldest a
Page 201 and 202: Table 2 Opinions of respondents of
Page 203 and 204: 6,0 5,5 5,0 4,5 4,0 3,5 3,0 2,5 ▼
Page 205 and 206: we consider the trends suggested be
Page 208 and 209: Resistance and Exile Miguel Angel M
Page 210 and 211: it was necessary to formulate socia
Page 212 and 213: degree of generosity, activism and
Page 214: the ICFTU. There my work focused on
Page 217 and 218: After Stalin’s death, most of the
Page 220 and 221: Moscow versus Prague 219 Boris Orlo
Page 222 and 223: Of all the problems that my country
Page 224 and 225: Social Democracy and the Prague Spr
Page 226 and 227: comprehend the overwhelming contrad
Page 228 and 229: Renaissance of Socialism Observatio
Page 230 and 231: My Personal Encounters with History
Page 232 and 233: Over a decade later, political chan
Page 234 and 235: monument, its location and particul
Page 236: Minister, Dimitri Rupel, I founded
Page 239 and 240: people exactly know what actually w
Page 241 and 242: tablished democracies. What was the
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Memory is a Loaded Gun An Epilogue
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Post office, Gdansk
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Solidarność Memorial
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Krzysztof Pomian, a well known Poli
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effective and positive factor in gi
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Martin Schulz, leader of the PSE Gr
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