On July 30, Vladimir Putin issued a ukase (a Russian decree) creating a Russian commission on historical education, “in order to ensure a planned and aggressive approach to the matter of defending the national interests of the Russian Federation.” This commission will cover not only education, but also entertainment, museums, and cultural references: pretty much anything of historical interest that is encountered by a Russian resident.
In “’A Dangerous Commission’: Russian Historians Alarmed As Putin Creates State Body On ‘Historical Education’” RFE/RL’s Mikhail Sokolov reports that Putin’s allies are using national security arguments to justify Putin’s plans for rewriting Russian history. Sokolov, who interviewed Russian historian and Putin ally Pavel Pozhigailo, writes:
Because Russia is a “multinational” country, the need for a “unified” version of its history is urgent, Pozhigailo said. There cannot be a presentation of history that “tells how great the people of the Far North are and how bad the Russians are or how great the North Caucasus are and how bad the Russians are” because “Russia would simply collapse into an enormous number of tiny states.”
In other words, don’t talk about the 25,000–50,000 dead or missing in the Second Chechen War, because Russia might collapse if you did. And of course whatever you do, don’t say anything bad about the Russians.
It strikes me that Putin’s new commission is similar to the 1836 Project set up by Texas House Bill 2497, recently signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The Texas law requires that the project promote the state’s “Christian heritage” and “history of prosperity”. (See Walter Einenkel’s “Texas’ 1836 Project is a big bag of BS, and we all know everything’s bigger in Texas”.) Rep. Tan Parker, the Texas bill’s author, accused liberal opponents of trying to “divide” the country, in an argument similar to that used by Putin’s allies in Russia.
It’s no coincidence, I think, that Putin and Texas Republicans are in tune on this issue. Russia has long sponsored a disinformation campaign aimed at Texans that promotes ideas popular among many Texas conservatives, including a Texas secession Facebook page that has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers. Many Texas Republicans admire Putin, and want Texas to imitate Putin’s control over how Russian history is recorded and taught.
George Orwell would be proud.