Falsification of History as a Tool of Influence
Falsification of History as a Tool of Influence
Contributor(s): Amanda Rivkin (Editor), Anne Geisow (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Social Sciences, Political Theory, Sociology, International relations/trade, Politics and communication, Crowd Psychology: Mass phenomena and political interactions, Geopolitics, Politics of History/Memory
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Falsification of history; Russia; use of historical propaganda; foreign policy; shaping perceptions; manipulation; influence;
Summary/Abstract: This study deals with the growing trend of Russia’s use of historical propaganda to further its foreign policy goals. It contains chapters written by experts in the field in the respective countries of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland. The methodological aspects of the project were discussed in detail during a seminar in Riga on 11 December 2018. It was agreed that, for the integrity of the compendium, at least the central theme should be commonly understood as Jowett and O’Donnell conceptualise it: propaganda is a deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist. Its systematic nature requires the longitudinal study of its progress. Because the essence of propaganda is its deliberateness of purpose, considerable investigation is required to find out what this purpose is.
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-9934-564-93-2
- Page Count: 92
- Publication Year: 2020
- Language: English
Introduction: Russia’s Approach to (ab)use of History
Introduction: Russia’s Approach to (ab)use of History
(Introduction: Russia’s Approach to (ab)use of History)
- Author(s):Ivo Juurvee
- Language:English
- Subject(s):International relations/trade, Politics and communication, Crowd Psychology: Mass phenomena and political interactions, Geopolitics, Politics of History/Memory
- Page Range:5-17
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:Falsification of history; Russia; use of historical propaganda; foreign policy; shaping perceptions; manipulation; influence;
- Summary/Abstract:This study deals with the growing trend of Russia’s use of historical propaganda to further its foreign policy goals. It contains chapters written by experts in the field in the respective countries of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland. The methodological aspects of the project were discussed in detail during a seminar in Riga on 11 December 2018. It was agreed that, for the integrity of the compendium, at least the central theme should be commonly understood as Jowett and O’Donnell conceptualise it: propaganda is a deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist. Its systematic nature requires the longitudinal study of its progress. Because the essence of propaganda is its deliberateness of purpose, considerable investigation is required to find out what this purpose is.
Case Study: Estonia. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, World War II and Soviet Legacy
Case Study: Estonia. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, World War II and Soviet Legacy
(Case Study: Estonia. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, World War II and Soviet Legacy)
- Author(s):Vladimir Sazonov
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Political history, Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Crowd Psychology: Mass phenomena and political interactions, History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II, Politics of History/Memory
- Page Range:18-29
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Estonia;Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; World War II; Soviet legacy; history as a tool of influence; historical propaganda; Russia; foreign policy; historical facts; pro-Kremlin oriented historians;
- Summary/Abstract:History can be used as a tool of influence as was highlighted in Annual Review 2014 of Estonian Internal Security Service; “historical propaganda plays a key role in justifying the actions and conquests of Russia’s aggressive foreign policy”. Russia has its own historical policy, which the Kremlin uses for achieving its goals. Various methods of using and (re)-interpreting or manipulation(s) historical facts and narratives are not a new phenomenon in the modern world, but in the 21st century they have become more significant in influencing target audiences. Several modern pro-Kremlin oriented Russian historians and even politicians are manipulating historical facts.
Case Study: Finland. Competing Narratives of War
Case Study: Finland. Competing Narratives of War
(Case Study: Finland. Competing Narratives of War)
- Author(s):Kati Mari Johanna Parppei
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Fascism, Nazism and WW II, Politics of History/Memory
- Page Range:30-41
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Finland; history; politics of history; Russia; falsifying history; alternative truth; World War II; war history;
- Summary/Abstract:Compared to many other East European countries, the issue of history – or the history politics – in relation to Russia has never been such a central or openly disputed one in Finland. This is the case for obvious historical reasons. Russians have not openly accused Finnish historians for falsifying history, either; however, this does not mean that Russian attempts to control or use the past have not been a concern in Finland. Rather, such attempts have been quite subtle, playing with strong mental images favourable to Russia and offering competing narratives, or ‘alternative truths’, to the Russian audience, which has been their main target (presumably including the Russian minority in Finland). In this article, two recent or on-going cases of such falsifications of history, having taking place between 2016 and 2019, are briefly examined and contextualised. Both are connected to the Second World War and the hostilities between Russia and Finland. The first is the case of the shelling of Mainila. In this context, we are referring to the Russian attempts to challenge the established view of the Soviet Union having started the war against Finland on 30 November 1939, and arguing that, instead, it was a Finnish provocation, influenced and encouraged by Germany.
Case Study: Latvia. (Ab)use of History as a Russian Tool of Foreign Influence
Case Study: Latvia. (Ab)use of History as a Russian Tool of Foreign Influence
(Case Study: Latvia. (Ab)use of History as a Russian Tool of Foreign Influence)
- Author(s):Edgars Engīzers
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Politics of History/Memory
- Page Range:42-55
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:Latvia; Russia; foreign influence; history as a tool of influence; falsification of history; abuse of history; political goals;
- Summary/Abstract:Varying, controversial and incompatible narratives on Latvian history have developed in Latvia and in Russia for several decades. On an academic level, they always have been analysed as part of a historiographical analysis. Usually, this has been done from a historiographical perspective, without going beyond it – into political constructions or aims set for the creation of such a narrative. Simultaneously, accusations in the falsification of history have mostly been perceived as simply a form of political expression by the Russian authorities, while wider analysis of usage and abuse of history for political aims is quite new. The aim of this paper is to show how Russian state policy abuses history to intervene in processes in Latvia by making accusations of the falsification of history. That will be done without going deeply into the research, either of the abuse of history by Russia to reach its foreign and domestic political goals in the broader sense, nor for domestic purposes, as in many cases, these are two outcomes that are both the aim of such abuse of history.
Case Study: Poland. Soviet Invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939
Case Study: Poland. Soviet Invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939
(Case Study: Poland. Soviet Invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939)
- Author(s):Ieva Pałasz, Małgorzata Zawadzka
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Fascism, Nazism and WW II, Politics of History/Memory
- Page Range:56-72
- No. of Pages:19
- Keywords:Poland; Russia; Soviet invasion of Poland; falsification of history; foreign influence; politics of history; manipulation;
- Summary/Abstract:For the Russian Federation, the most important current issue in the scope of history is the strengthening of belief in the great victory of the USSR over Nazism and, as Jolanta Darczewska writes, a rehabilitation of the special services, as well as a change in the assessment of the deeds of Stalin. The issue of cooperation between the USSR and Hitler before 1941, which, in Russian historiography, is the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, has become quite a problematic question in this context. In this regard, we can observe a number of activities in Russia, the purpose of which is to relativise such events as the secret protocols to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact or the Katyń Massacre (the murder of Polish officers, non-commissioned officers and other individuals in 1940); ethnic genocide as a part of the ‘Polish Operation of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs’, i.e. NKVD (1937-38); the joint Soviet-German parade in Brest; and the NKVD–Gestapo methodological conferences (1939-1940). The same applies to 17 September 1939 – i.e. the aggression of the USSR against Poland. This text will be devoted to the methods of falsifying this event by the Russian Federation.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions and Recommendations
(Conclusions and Recommendations)
- Author(s):Ivo Juurvee
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Crowd Psychology: Mass phenomena and political interactions, Politics of History/Memory
- Page Range:73-75
- No. of Pages:3
- Keywords:Russia; Russian influence; abuse of history; falsification of history; media; internet; public opinion; changing public perception;
- Summary/Abstract:As the previous chapters showed, Russia’s abuse of history to back its current policies is not something present in only one country, but is taking place in numerous countries in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. This is not a new phenomenon, although lately, there has been more emphasis put on its research. Since changing public perceptions takes time, we may not notice dangerous trends until they have already taken hold, thereby delaying the start of possible countermeasures. The authors have each made recommendations at the end of their respective chapters and these are summarised here.
Endnotes
Endnotes
(Endnotes)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Bibliography, Scientific Life
- Page Range:76-90
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:Endnotes;
- Summary/Abstract:Endnotes.