The history textbook project: Moldavia (Moldova)

The history textbook project pops up somewhere every day in the world. Moldavia (Moldova) is today's special, being the subject of a long article in the New York Times (2/25/02). Romanian-speaking Moldavia was part of the USSR until the breakup. There was rejoicing when democracy and capitalism prevailed, but soon disillusionment with both spread. Disillusionment is a common political phenomenon. I was in Madrid in 1931 when the republic was proclaimed amidst unbridled euphoria. Disillusionment soon set in, and the result was civil war. We must beware of this phenomenon. Argentines are disillusioned.

After a decade, the Communists returned democratically in Moldavia, and instituted educational reforms. The previous regime had abandoned Soviet-era textbooks and substituted the history of Moldavia in a Rumanian rather than a Soviet context. (I had written "Romanian", but the Eudora spell-check prescribes "Romania, Rumanian". Does that make sense?) Now the neo-communists went into reverse gear, reimposed the study of Russian and textbooks written in a Soviet context. The result has been massive street riots by students. This is a perfect example of the relationship between history textbooks and politics. Teachers are fighting, students are frustrated and confused.

Ronald Hilton - 2/26/02