REWRITING HISTORY AND PASSING BLAME: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE KATYŃ MASSACRES (1940) AND THE ARMENIAN RELOCATION (1915)
During the nineteenth and twentieth century, different nations initiated their own nation-building process. In early processes of nation- building, the focus was on glorifying existing events to create unity. There are; however, cases in which the focus shifted from glorifying past events into neglecting or even denying events. This was especially the case for newly established nations who witnessed major conflict during the two world wars in which multiple war crimes were committed. In order to not “taint” their independence with such mishaps, the committed atrocities were subsequently downplayed, neglected, or even (in the most extreme situation) subjected to complete rewriting of history. Few nations have resorted to engaging in complete rewriting of history. Nations that rose from the ashes of the two world wars often had a big part in the violence since they had to fight their way to their independence. Hence, they resorted to complete rewriting of history. Since newly established nations preferred to start of their newly reached independence with the thought of being “a noble people” not capable of vile actions against other nations, they exerted much effort into narrating in an alternative manner what happened during the previous period. Nations justified their struggle for independence by pointing out that they were victims of other nations that were oppressing them. Two clear examples for this were the Armenians during their war effort against the Ottoman Empire during World War One (1914-1918); and the Soviet Russians in Poland during Second World War (1939-1945). In both events, the perpetrators tried (and still try) to shift their role in the events from committing atrocities, to victims and heroes. A comparative look into the two case studies will be a good start for a preliminary research in which an outline and model will be determined for nations who have resorted to rewriting history in the process of nation building.
(TARİHİN TEKRAR YAZILMASI VE SUÇUN BAŞKASININ ÜZERİNE ATILMASI: KATYŃ KATLİAMLARI (1940) VE ERMENİ SEVK VE İSKÂNI (1915) ARASINDA KARŞILAŞTIRMALI BİR ÇALIŞMA)
During the nineteenth and twentieth century, different nations initiated their own nation-building process. In early processes of nation- building, the focus was on glorifying existing events to create unity. There are; however, cases in which the focus shifted from glorifying past events into neglecting or even denying events. This was especially the case for newly established nations who witnessed major conflict during the two world wars in which multiple war crimes were committed. In order to not “taint” their independence with such mishaps, the committed atrocities were subsequently downplayed, neglected, or even (in the most extreme situation) subjected to complete rewriting of history. Few nations have resorted to engaging in complete rewriting of history. Nations that rose from the ashes of the two world wars often had a big part in the violence since they had to fight their way to their independence. Hence, they resorted to complete rewriting of history. Since newly established nations preferred to start of their newly reached independence with the thought of being “a noble people” not capable of vile actions against other nations, they exerted much effort into narrating in an alternative manner what happened during the previous period. Nations justified their struggle for independence by pointing out that they were victims of other nations that were oppressing them. Two clear examples for this were the Armenians during their war effort against the Ottoman Empire during World War One (1914-1918); and the Soviet Russians in Poland during Second World War (1939-1945). In both events, the perpetrators tried (and still try) to shift their role in the events from committing atrocities, to victims and heroes. A comparative look into the two case studies will be a good start for a preliminary research in which an outline and model will be determined for nations who have resorted to rewriting history in the process of nation building.
___
“Decision To Commence Investigation Into Katyn Massacre,” Institute of National Remembrance, November 30, 2004, accessed June 25, 2019, http://ipn.gov.pl/en/news/77,dok.htmlAlmond, Gabriel & Lucian Pye. Comparative Political Culture. Princeton, 1965.
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, 2nd edition. London: Verso, 1983/1991.
Barth, Fredrik. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Boston, 1969. Brown, Archie. The Rise and Fall of Communism. New York, 2009.
Cassirer, Ernst. The Myth Of The State, 4th Edition. London: Yale University Press, 2009.
Cienciala, Anna M. & Wojciech Materski. Katyn: A Crime Without Punishment. London: Yale University Press, 2007.
Cienciala, Anna M. “The Katyn Syndrome.” The Russian Review 65, no. 1 (2006).
Coatney, Louis Robert. “The Katyn Massacre: A Master of Arts Thesis.” Western Illinois University (Illinois/USA, 1993).
Collins, Adrian & Arthur de Gobineau. The Inequality of Human Races. Charleston, 1855/2010.
de Gobineau, Arthur. Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines. Paris, 1853- 1855/1999.
Dyer, Gwynne. “Turkish ‘Falsifiers’ and Armenian ‘Deceivers’: Historiography and the Armenian Massacres.” Middle Eastern Studies 12, no. 1 (1976).
Engel, David. Facing A Holocaust: The Polish Government-In-Exile And The Jews, 1943-1945. North Carolina/USA, 1993).
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives. London: Pluto Press, 1993.
Fischer, Benjamin B. “The Katyn Controversy: Stalin’s Killing Field.” Studies in Intelligence (1999-2000).
Geary, Patrick J. The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Gmyz, Cezary. “1.8 mln polskich ofiar Stalina.” Rzeczpospolita, 2009, accessed July 23, 2019. https://www.rp.pl/artykul/365363-1-8-mln-polskich-ofiar-Stalina.html
Gökalp, Ziya. Türkçülüğün Esasları. İstanbul, 1923/2001. Hayes, Carlton. The Historical Evolution of Modern Nationalism. New York, 1931.
Hewitson, Mark. “Conclusion: Nationalism and the Nineteenth Century.” In What Is a Nation? Europe 1789-1914, Timothy Baycroft & Mark Hewitson (eds.), 312-355. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Higham, Nicholas J. King Arthur, Myth-Making and History. London: Routledge, 2002.
History Museum of Armenia, Հայաստանի պատմության թանգարան (Yerevan, 2014).
Hobsbawm, Eric & Terence Ranger (eds.). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Holdwater. “Armenian Forgeries and Falsifications.” Tall Armenian Tale, accessed June 25, 2019. http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/forgeries.htm.
İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin. History of the Ottoman State, Society & Civilisation, Volume I. Istanbul, 2001.
Iordachi, Constantin. “The Making of Citizenship in the post-Ottoman Balkans: State Building, Foreign Models, and Legal-Political Transfers.” In Ottomans into Europeans: State and Institution-Building in South Eastern Europe, Wim van Meurs & Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (eds.): 179-220. London: Hurst, 2010.
Iordachi, Constantin. “The Ottoman Empire: Syncretic Nationalism and Citizenship in the Balkans.” In What Is a Nation? Europe 1789-1914,
Timothy Baycroft & Mark Hewitson (eds.), 120-151. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Katchaznouni, Hovhannes, Mehmet Perinçek (ed.) & Lale Akalın (tr.). Dashnagtzoutiun Has Nothing To Do Anymore: Report Submitted to the 1923 Party Convention. Istanbul: Kaynak Yayınları, 2007.
Kużniar-Plota, Małgorzata. “Decision To Commence Investigation Into Katyn Massacre.” Departmental Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, 2004.
Lipski, Jan Józef. KOR: A History Of The Workers’ Defense Committee In Poland, 1976-1981. Berkeley, 1985.
Łojek, Bożena. Muzeum Katyńskie w Warszawie, Agencja Wydawm. CB Andrzej Zasieczny, 2000.
Meinecke, Friedrich. Weltbürgertum und Nationalstaat: Studien zur Genesis des deutschen Nationalstaates. Munchen, 1922.
Meltiukhov, Mikhail. Отчёт Украинского и Белорусского фронтов Красной Армии. Moscow, 2010.
Nalbandian, Louise. The Armenian Revolutionary Movement: The Development of Armenian Political Parties Through the Nineteenth Century. California/USA, 1963.
Ouimet, Matthew J. The Rise And Fall Of The Brezhnev Doctrine In Soviet Foreign Policy. North Carolina/USA, 2003.
Özcan, Almıla Gökçe. “XVI. Yüzyılın İkinci Yarısında Osmanlı Devleti’nde Vergi Muâfiyeti: Derbendçilik.” Akademik Bakış 11, no. 22 (Summer, 2018).
Özkırımlı, Umut. Theories of Nationalism: A critical introduction, 2nd Revised and Extended Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Rieber, Alfred J. Forced Migration In Central And Eastern Europe, 1939-1950. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2000.
Roberts, Geoffrey. Stalin’s Wars: from World War to Cold War, 1939–1953. London: Yale University Press, 2006.
Sağ, Armand. “Armand Sağ vanuit Armenië: Vol spanning op het vliegtuig.” AIP, May 26, 2014.
Sağ, Armand. “Categorizing Historiography: Turkish-Armenian Relations Throughout History.” Review of Armenian Studies, no. 26 (2012).
Sağ, Armand. “De Eerste Wereldoorlog: Armeense Opstanden.” ArmandSag.com, 2009, accessed June 25, 2019. http://www.armandsag.nl/artikelen/De%20Eerste%20Wereldoorlog%20- %20Armeense%20Opstanden.html
Sağ, Armand. “The perfect ethnocide: A review of Bas Kromhout’s ‘De perfecte genocide’.” Review of Armenian Studies, no. 31 (2015).
Sağ, Armand. Nation-Building And Historiography In Modern Turkey. Utrecht: U2pi BV, 2015.
Sanford, George. Katyn and the Soviet Massacre of 1940: Truth, Justice and Memory. Oxford: Routledge, 2005.
Smith, Anthony D. Ethno-Symbolism and Nationalism: A Cultural Approach. New York: Routledge, 2009.
Smith, Anthony D. National Identity. London: Penguin Book, 1991.
Snyder, Louis. The Meaning of Nationalism. New Brunswick/Canada, 1954.
Swietochowski, Tadeusz. Russian Azerbaijan (1905-1920): The Shaping Of A National Identity In A Muslim Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Szarota, Tomasz & Wojciech Materski. Polska 1939-1945. Straty osobowe i ofiary represji pod dwiema okupacjami. Warsaw, 2009..
Toynbee, Arnold. A Study of History. Oxford, 1939.
Turan, Şerafettin. Türk Devrim Tarihi: 1. Kitap - İmparatorluğun Çöküşünden Ulusal Direnişe, 3. Basım. Ankara: Bilgi Yayınevi, 1991/2008.
Turan, Şerafettin. Türk Devrim Tarihi: 2. Kitap - Ulusal Direnişten Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ne, 3. Basım. Ankara: Bilgi Yayınevi, 1992/2009.
Turan, Şerafettin. Türk Devrim Tarihi: 3. Kitap (Birinci Bölüm) - Yeni Türkiye’nin Oluşumu (1923-1938), 2. Basım. Ankara: Bilgi Yayınevi, 1995/2005.
Ünlü, Mahir & Yusuf Çotuksöken. Türkçülüğün Esasları (Günümüz Türkçesiyle). İstanbul, 2001.
Wajda, Andrzej. Katyń. ITI Cinema, 2007. 115 minutes.
Weinberg, Gerhard. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Yalçın, Durmuş, Yaşar Akbıyık, Dursun Ali Akbulut, Mustafa Balcıoğlu, Nuri Köstüklü, Süslü, N., Refik Turan, Cezmi Eraslan & Mehmet Akif Tural. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Tarihi I. Ankara: Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi, 2014.
Yazhborovskaja, Inessa Sergeevna, Anatoly Yablokov & Valentina S. Parsadanova. Катынский синдром в советско-польских и российско- польских отношениях. Moscow, 2001.
- ISSN: 1303-5304
- Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
- Başlangıç: 2002
- Yayıncı: Terazi Yayıncılık Basım Dağıtım Danışmanlık Eğitim Organizasyon Matbaacılık Kırtasiye Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Sayıdaki Diğer Makaleler
KEYS FOR A LEGAL ASSESSMENT OF GENOCIDE RECOGNITION DEMANDS AND REPARATION CLAIMS OF ARMENIANS