A Regional Analysis of History-Based Propaganda
History education and the weaponisation of the past – those were the keywords a research team from the four project countries dealt with in their study.
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News
DVV Cooperation “History Competitions” Enters Fourth Phase
In addition to organising history competitions in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, this phase of the project focuses on the development of a toolkit for critical history teaching.
Read more … DVV Cooperation “History Competitions” Enters Fourth Phase
Dedication in Times of War: Ukrainian Teachers Continue Working
Despite the dread of the war, tutors of the best student entries of the Ukrainian national history competitions in 2022 worked on educational materials for the future.
Read more … Dedication in Times of War: Ukrainian Teachers Continue Working
Videos
Insights Into Moldovan History Competition 2021/2022
Are you interested in Moldova’s largest history competition? This video covers the ideas behind some of the award winners’ works of 2022, their insights as well as the contests’ innovative topic.
Copyright: DVV International Moldova
Georgian History Competition 2021/2022
The promotional video provides necessary information about the Georgian History Competition “30 Years Since the End of the Soviet Rule” and shows impressions of earlier competition.
Copyright: DVV International Georgia, Producer: Tamar Bartaia
History Competition 2021/2022 in Moldova
The promotional video provides a short introduction to the Moldovan History Competition “Dialogue Between Generations After 30 Years of Independence” and is an invitation to participate.
Copyright: DVV International Moldova
Competition Topics
Common theme in 2021/2022:
“Between Rejection and Nostalgia: Soviet and Post-Soviet History in Families and Local Communities“
This theme pays tribute to the 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the USSR in 2021 and serves as an umbrella theme for all five national history competitions.
Common theme in 2023/2024:
"Exploring History-Based Propaganda in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine"
Please click on the flip cards below to learn more about the individual topics of each national competition!
Armenia
2023/2024: “Using Propaganda as a Tool for Dissemination Soviet Ideology in Armenia, Specifically in Public Spaces, Everyday Life, Culture and Education”
Belarus
2021/2022: “Behind the Scenes: From the History of the Family to the History of the Community. 1986-2000“ (Note: The Belarusian History Competition 2021/2022 is currently not going ahead due to the political situation in Belarus)
2019/2020: “Behind the Scenes: From the History of the Family to the History of the Community“
2017/2018: “Behind the Scenes: From the History of the Family to the History of the Community“
Georgia
2023/2024: “Faking History – A Tool of Propaganda”
2021/2022: “30 Years Since the End of the Soviet Rule“
2019/2020: “Migration - Restarting Life From Scratch“
2017/2018: “Being Young in 20th Century Georgia - My Ancestors at My Age“
Moldova
2023/2024: “Dismantling Propaganda in the History of the 20th Century – Call for Peace and Development”
2021/2022: “Dialogue Between Generations After 30 Years of Independence“
2019/2020: “Discovering Local Heroes“
2017/2018: “Heroes of the 20th Century in Your Neighbourhood“
Ukraine
2023/2024: "Soviet Past: (Re)Thinking of History in the Field of Propaganda of Values"
2021/2022: “Soviet Past: (Re)thinking the History“
2019/2020: “Soviet Past: (Re)thinking the History“
2017/2018: “History of My Community – Past for a Common Future“
This common umbrella topic in 2021/2022 is paying tribute to the 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the USSR in 2021
“Thirty years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Everyone thought it would last forever until it was no more. Since then, the vast majority of the former Soviet Republics have condemned totalitarianism, repressions, human rights abuses, lack of freedom of speech, and communist ideology.
One may well think that Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, properly assessed the Soviet past, learned the lessons from it. But upon closer look, the Soviet legacy still holds a grip on our daily lives, economics, and political culture. While one part of the society strongly condemns and rejects the Soviet past, another vociferously harbors nostalgia. Radical decommunisation and demolitions of the Soviet monuments exist alongside the restoration of the Soviet anthems and emblems. The veneration of Stalin shadows unprecedented religious revival. And the way we talk about the Soviet era still affects our identities.
Historians call this “a haunting past” which means that the past refuses to pass away. Either because we haven't discussed it much, or because we haven’t reached a consensus about it, or because we have replaced it with one-sided, uncritical narratives.
Simply removing monuments and renaming streets is not enough to comprehend the incredibly complex and contradictory Soviet experience. Instead, we should approach the Soviet past through the lenses still unusual for our countries, namely everyday history, memory studies, micro-history, and oral history. And by combining this approach with political studies, we could see the complexity of our ancestors' experience and thus understand the various sentiments and stereotypes existing today.
Our project invites teachers and their students from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to join our discussion about the Soviet experience and post-Soviet transition. We offer an opportunity to exchange ideas, to meet your peers from other countries. And also learn how to work with historical sources, how to actually write history, and understand how complex and uncertain the past could be.”
Andrii Fert, Project Coordinator, DVV International – Country Office Ukraine, June 2021
International Youth Encounters
Competition winners of all participating countries meet for international youth activities organised by Körber-Stiftung.
"I wanted to get closer to the hidden meaning of memorials as they keep the connection between the past and present."
History Camp 2022: "Uncovering Soviet Propaganda"
From 25 - 28 October, 2022, seventeen young prize winners from Armenia and Moldova gathered in Armenia for four packed workshop days. "We are taking so much with us that we all will have to pay for extra weight!” one participant summed up his experience.
Online History Camp 2020 "Coping With Painful Pasts"
How does one learn not to "Look Back in Anger"? 16 participants from Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine discussed this issue during a two-month long online workshop. They presented their answers in highly creative and moving works which they shared in a public retrospective.
Workshop 2018 "Analysing and Creating Memorials"
Is “War and Peace Cast in Stone?” During the EUSTORY Next Generation Summit 2018, 16 young prize winners from Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine met with experts and explored the changing meaning of monuments. With this newly acquired knowledge in mind they designed their own monuments. Take a look!
Tutor Encounters
Teachers play a crucial role in the cooperation project “History Competitions” (2017-2024). In educational workshops on national and international levels they reflect on how to support students’ projects on family and local history.
"This workshop helped me understand what to do with my students. We have learnt how to turn our findings into a narrative."
Ukrainian Teachers Discuss Their Experiences Across Borders
In December 2022, the Ukrainian team of the “History Competitions” held a small online workshop for teachers from Armenia, Georgia and Moldova to present a new publication and discuss their experience of the competitions.
Read more … Ukrainian Teachers Discuss Their Experiences Across Borders
Let’s Talk About the Soviet Past in Schools
With the latest national history competitions still in mind, tutors from Armenia, Georgia and Moldova met to discuss Soviet history, its implications and lingering impact for today’s history education in schools.
Learning From Neighbours
In December 2020, tutors from all five project countries used the opportunity to share their experiences of school education. Together they discussed how politics of memory and cultures of commemoration are significant in class.
About
The international cooperation project “History Competitions” was started in 2017 by DVV International and Körber-Stiftung with the funding of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. It supports the implementation of history competitions for pupils and young adults in Belarus (until 2021), Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – and since 2021 also in Armenia. It also fosters international exchange between organisers, teachers and young adults, e.g. through workshops, network meetings and youth encounters.
Initially planned for two years, the project is already in its fourth project round.
Learn more about the cooperation partners by clicking on the button below.
Contact
Each participating country in the cooperation project "History Competitions" (2017-2024) formed an operating project team consisting of the DVV International country office and at least one local partner organisation / NGO.
Hazarashen – Armenian Center for Ethnological Studies
Lusine Kharatyan, lusine.kharatyan@gmail.com
Shushan Saratikyan, shushansar@yahoo.com
DVV International – Country Office Armenia
Tatev Asryan, asryan@dvv-international.am
Youth Public Association Historica
DVV International – Country Office Belarus
(until the beginning of August 2021)
GAHE – Georgian Association of History Educators
Nana Tsikhistavi, ntsikhi@gmail.com
SovLab – Soviet Past Research Laboratory
Irakli Khvadagiani, iraklikhvadagianni@gmail.com
DVV International – Regional Office Georgia
Marika Kereselidze, mkereselidze@dvv-international.ge
ANTIM – The National Association of Young Historians of Moldova
Sergiu Musteață, sergiu_musteata@yahoo.com
DVV International – Country Office Moldova
Aliona Badiur, badiur@dvv-international.md
NOVA DOBA – All-Ukrainian Association of Teachers of History, Civic Education and Social Studies
Petro Kendzor, center@novadoba.org.ua
DVV International – Regional Office Ukraine
Andrii Fert, fert@dvv-international.org.ua
The cooperation project "History Competitions"
(2017-2024) is supported by
