National Textbook Narratives and Historiography: Presenting a Same That is Never the Same

Abstract

National textbook narratives are written from particular national perspectivesand goals. Thus, “the same is never (or at least not always) the same” and whatwe learn depends on the context of when and where we are learning it. When itcomes to major conflicts between nations or states, how one handles the telling ofthe same conflict event can be especially poignant. Starting from the writing ofnational events, this text looks back to another large-scale (inter-)national conflict,the Prussian Wars (1864-1871), to discuss how the four different developing nationstatesof Germany (via Prussia), Denmark, Austria, and France elaborated uniquehistorical narrative trajectories (from the 1860s to 1910s) for their own nationalcurricula and future citizens. From the findings, which discuss the ways thesedeveloping nation-states represented their national ideals, identity, and goals intheir national Prussian War narratives in textbooks, we then come back to thepresent with a better understanding of how to approach current internationalevents and nation-building processes.Keywords: historiography; national identity; national narratives; nation-building;Prussian Wars; textbooks.