The Image of the October revolution in Russian and Chinese History Textbooks of the 2000s

Abstract

The present article deals with the particularities of historical education in Chinese senior secondary schools in the 2000s. It especially focuses on the Image of the October Revolution in today’s Russian and Chinese history textbooks. The comparative analysis allows to demonstrate the differences in the interpretations of this historical event in the history programs for the secondary schools of both countries. The particular features of these interpretations largely depend on the current political and ideological agenda in each society. Our analysis of the October Revolution’s image in contemporary history books of China and Russia serves to demonstrate that the content of these texts reflects complex and multidirectional trends in the academic and political environment. In both countries, the national history is reinterpreted under the influence of a political and economic course towards international openness and integration into world economic and political structures. However, the details of the image of the 1917 Revolution are already determined by the actual ideological agenda and the tasks of the political system. In Russia, the Revolution is being conceptualized already in line with the movement towards democratization, whereas in China its socialist character is emphasized, which is intended to justify the state ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics.