Behind the Facades of Anniversaries

Abstract

The article is devoted to the collective monograph “War, Politics, Memory: The Napoleonic Wars and World War I in the Space of Anniversaries”. Prepared by a large team of academics under the leadership of Olga Porshneva, Nikolai Baranov, and Vladimir Zemtsov (professors at Ural Federal University), it is the first generalizing work dedicated to historical memory and the politics of memory surrounding these wars. The monograph uses a large complex of documents from archives in Russia, France, Great Britain and Germany. This book is distinguished by its high theoretical level, which is supported by concepts from leading specialists on historical memory. The authors characterise the specifics of commemorative practices connected with events that were major milestones in the history of the ‘long’ nineteenth century. The monograph shows the evolution of these practices, which was conditioned by changes in the attitudes of society and the authorities towards the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War. The authors characterise the role of the institutions of civil society in the formation and development of cultural practices connected with the anniversaries of these military conflicts. Most attention is paid to the specifics of commemorative practices related to ‘victory memories’ and ‘defeat memories’ in various European countries. This book helps us to understand the contradictory character of state policies towards historical memory, a relevant issue in modern Russia.