MSU: Azerbaijan gives a false color to history; Armenia doesn't

To determine how impartial text-books are in use at the colleges of the former soviet republics, the specialists of the Moscow State University have conducted a survey. An investigation showed that only Armenia and Belarus have unbiased view on history while others give a false color to it.

Results of the survey of the text-books were released by the New Region – Moscow edition.

It was found out that almost all the latter-day historians set down an ancient origin to their peoples as well as some extra mission.

“It sometimes sounds like a joke, or an anecdote. The Balts, for example, are studying the ethnicity of the ancient man while Azerbaijani scientists say have common origin with the Sumerians,” said in paper.

Besides, this ‘new history’ says whom the certain territories belong to. “Azerbaijani text-books say Armenia was founded on Georgian land. Georgian text-books, in its turn, say some Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani territories are Georgian in origin.

The Ukrainian text-books cover no less interesting “facts’. They say, the Ukrainians have founded Rome and Troy, and all world languages have its origin in grand-Ukrainian. Among other things is the view on the reasons and all of the World War II. Text-books of Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Baltic states say that exactly Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact caused the war while both USSR and Germany are to blame for this.

The enemy image has been added to everything else: Russia in these books is a centuries-old oppressor, colonialist, robber, freedom-killer, and so on.

“We have been surprised when studied these text-books,” said Assistant Professor of National History Department of the Moscow State University, Andrey Shadrin. “We knew the books had nationalistic handling but the surprise was that this only was a covering party for the real ideology of the ruling elites of these states. The books contain the readings on the ‘sovereignty and independence – the most important and sacred values’ while the idea is that these states’ ideology is to find a patron in exchange for independence and national dignity.”