Формирование памяти о Первой мировой войне через деятельность британских ветеранов и историческую политику Великобритании в 1930-е гг.

Abstract

Importance. The scientific problem lies in the World War I historical memory’s formation’s features’ study. The purpose of the research is to reveal what was the ratio of the state’s and veterans’ influence in the narratives’ formation of World War I historical memory in the Great Britain in the 1930s. Research Methods. The historical policy of the British government in the field of the memory about World War I was studied by a historical and systematic approach for consideration as one of the instruments of influence on the Great Britain’s society. The activity of veteran organizations and individual front-line soldiers during the 1930s was analyzed, whose protest against the state narrative of historical memory after the “Great Depression” began to fade by 1939. Results and Discussion. On the basis of the materials of the British press of the 1930s, as well as the involvement of additional sources, narratives about World War I were illustrated, which gradually changed in the 1930s. The ideology and activities of the state in the field of historical policy actively from 1932–1933 displaced negative ideas about the war, suppressed anti-war movements and pacifist sentiments in British society. The strengthening of the state’s influence on the British Legion testified to its subordination to the official agenda, which allowed the ruling circles to use veterans in the implementation of domestic and foreign policy (to develop international contacts, influence public opinion). Conclusion. The value of the research lies in the introduction into scientific circulation of the materials of the British press as historical sources that allow us to trace the gradual weakening of the role of veterans’ organizations in the field of memory about World War I by the middle of 1930s, and the strengthening of the influence of the state in this regard. The correlation of official and public (veteran) narratives in historical memory is shown.