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Historical revisionism (also but less often in English "'''negationism'''" Negationism is the denial of historic crimes. The word is derived from the French term ''Le négationnisme'', which refers to Holocaust denial. It is now also sometimes used for more general political historical revisionsim as in:
In some countries historical revisionism (negationism) of certain historical events is a criminal offence. Examples of historical revisionism (negationism) include Holocaust Denial and Soviet history. Negationism relies on a number of techniques such as Logical Fallacies and Appeal To Fear . Negationism can be found in literature, for example '' Nineteen Eighty-Four '' by George Orwell and is used by Hate Groups on the Internet. POLITICALLY MOTIVATED HISTORICAL REVISIONISM Historical revisionism can used as a label to describe the views of self-taught historians who publish articles that deliberately misrepresent and manipulate historical evidence. An example of this usage is reported in a ''Washington Post'' article, "Conservatives Celebrate Winning One for the Gipper" Conservatives Celebrate Winning One for the Gipper by Lisa de Moraes in the Washington Post , November 6 , 2003 , Page C07: :People for the American Way saw it in a different light {Link without Title} ''Our primary concern is continued right-wing intimidation against the expressions of opposing points of view, whether attacks on dissent, intimidation of scientific researchers, or a demand for historical revisionism -- or historical cleansing -- regarding Ronald Reagan.'' (emphasis added). This usage has occurred because some authors who publish articles that deliberately misrepresent and manipulate historical evidence (such as David Irving , a proponent of Holocaust Denial ), have called themselves "historical revisionists""Lying About Hitler", Evans, see References . Page 145.. This label has been used by others Pejorative ly to describe them when criticising their work. For example, some people have published popular histories that challenge the generally accepted view of a given period, such as the Holocaust . They do this by downplaying its scale and whitewashing other Nazi War Crime s while emphasising the suffering of the Axis populations at the hands of the Allies and stating or implying that the Allies committed war crimes as well. TECHNIQUES USED BY POLITICALLY MOTIVATED REVISIONISTS It is sometimes hard for a non-historian to distinguish between a book published by a historian doing Peer-reviewed academic work, and a bestselling "amateur writer of history". For example it was not until Irving lost his British libel suit against Lipstadt and that he was found to be a "falsifier of history", that the general public realised that his books were outside the canon of acceptable academic historiesFalsifier:
The distinction rests on the techniques used to write such histories. Accuracy and revision are central to historical scholarship. As in any scientific discipline, historians' papers are submitted to Peer Review . Instead of submitting their work to the challenges of peer review, revisionists rewrite history to support an agenda, often political, using any number of techniques and Logical Fallacies to obtain their results. Because of this, they are considered by the historian community to be writing flawed History . Some of their most common Rhetoric al and other techniques include the following:
LAW AND HISTORICAL REVISIONISM Historical revisionism of some issues (such as the Holocaust), in some countries, is a criminal offense. The Council Of Europe defines it as "Denial, gross minimisation, approval or justification of Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity " (article 6, additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime - ''see below''). International law Additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime An additional protocol to the web site. The Protocol requires participating States to criminalize the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems, as well as of racist and xenophobic-motivated threats and insults Frequently asked questions and answers Council of Europe Convention on cybercrime by the United States Department of Justice. Article 6, Section 1 of the Protocol specifically covers the denial of The Holocaust and other genocides recognised as such by other international courts set up since 1945 by relevant international legal instruments. Section 2 of Article 6 allows a Party to the Protocol at their discression only to prosecute if the offense is committed with the intent to incite hatred, discrimination or violence; or to make use of a reservation, by allowing a Party not to apply – in whole or in part – Article 6. Explanatory Report on the additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime The Council of Europe ''Explanatory Report'' of the Protocol states " European Court Of Human Rights has made it clear that the denial or revision of “clearly established historical facts – such as the Holocaust – would be removed from the protection of Article 10 by Article 17” of the ECHR (see in this context the Lehideux And Isorni judgment of 23 September 1998)"[http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Reports/Html/189.htm Explanatory Report on the additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime . However the United States Government does not believe that the final version of the Protocol is consistent with the United States' constitutional guarantees and has informed the Council of Europe that the U.S. will not become a Party to the protocol Frequently asked questions and answers Council of Europe Convention on cybercrime by the United States Department of Justice. Domestic law February 23, 2005 French law on the "positive value" of colonialism On . Several critics also pointed out that this refusal to acknowledge the Racism involved in French Colonialism was a form of revisionism. In retaliation against the law, Algeria n president Abdelaziz Bouteflika refused to sign the prepared "friendly treaty" with France. In Martinique , Aimé Césaire , the famous author of the '' Négritude '' litterary movement, refused to receive UMP leader Nicolas Sarkozy , a probable contender for the 2007 presidential election. On June 26 , 2005 , Bouteflika declared that the law "...approached mental blindness, negationism and revisionism." Supporters of the law were decried as a resurgence of the "colonial lobby", a term used in late 19th century France to label those people (deputies, scientifics, businessmen, etc.) who supported French colonialism. The public uproar surrounding this law finally pushed president charging the president of the Assembly, Jean-Louis Debré (UMP), with modifying the controversial law, taking out the revisionist article about the "recognition of the positive role of the French presence abroad". In order to do so, Chirac ordered Prime minister Dominique De Villepin to seize the Constitutional Council , whose decision would permit the legal repeal of the law. 4 The Constitutional Council judged that history textbooks regulation is not the domain of the law, but of administrative reglementation. As such, the contested amendment was repealed in the beginning of 2006. The debate lifted on the February 23, 2005 law point out, however, to a further debate in France concerning colonialism, which is linked to Immigration . As the historian Benjamin Stora pointed out, colonialism is a major "memory" stake that is influencing the way various communities and the Nation itself represent themselves. Official state history always had a hard time accepting the existence of past crimes and errors. Historian Olivier LeCour Grandmaison also criticized the law. Indeed, the Algerian War Of Independence (1954-1962), previously qualified as a "public order operation", was only recognized as a "war" by the French National Assembly in 1999. 5; 6 In the same sense, philosopher Paul Ricœur (1981) has underlined the needs for a " Decolonization of memory", because mentalities themselves have been colonized during the " Age Of Imperialism ." Holocaust denial See Also: Holocaust denial Examination of Holocaust denial Since the adoption of the term by Holocaust-deniers, ''historical revisionism'' has become stigmatized, and the term ''revisionist'' used as a description of suspect historical works dealing with the Holocaust. In Europe , historical revisionism more often than not refers to denial of the crimes committed by the Nazi state between 1933 and 1945 (the Holocaust, but also the Gypsy genocide ('' Porajmos ''), the murder of Gay people and the assassination and Sterilization Of Disabled People ). Holocaust-deniers have attached themselves to the issue of the '' Heimatvertriebene n'', and have in the view of their opposition attempted to use the sympathy for the plight of those Germans who suffered to blame the Jews for the suffering of the ''Heimatvertriebenen'', or to retroactively minimise the suffering of the Holocaust. . ISBN 0452272742), the trial judge Justice Charles Gray concluded that: :"Irving has for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence; that for the same reasons he has portrayed Hitler in an unwarrantedly favourable light, principally in relation to his attitude towards and responsibility for the treatment of the Jews; that he is an active Holocaust denier; that he is anti-semitic and racist and that he associates with right wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism." David Pallister '' Author fights Holocaust denier judgment '' in The Guardian June 21 , 2001 On 21 February 2006. "Austria is one of 11 countries with laws against denying the Holocaust." which include, Belgium (1995 Negationism Act ), France (1990 ''Loi Gayssot''), Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Switzerland (article 261bis of the Penal Code), have passed a law which makes denial of the Holocaust a criminal offence, which may be punished by prison sentence.Laws against denying the Holocaust.
Turkey and the Armenian genocide Turkey has drafted laws like 25 January 2005 . On Tuesday April 11 2006 . The aim of the conference, organized by a number of academics and intellectuals, was to offer a critical look at the official approach to the events of 1915, a topic that has long been News 22 September 2005 . Ironically, Article 301 was introduced as part of a package of penal-law reform introduced to bring Turkey up to EU standards, in the process preceding the opening of negotations for Turkish EU membership. Turkey's new penal code touches raw nerves '' EurActiv 2 June 2005 , updated 14 November 2005 . The Republic of Turkey does not deny the Ottoman Armenian Casualties , but contests that they were genocide. EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL REVISIONISM Japanese war crimes See also Japanese Imperialism Historical attempts by Japan at downgrading the various war crimes committed by ''. The successive visits of Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine , where war criminals are buried, have each time lighted a political storm in Asia 10. Furthermore, the History Textbook Controversy centres on how a junior-high history textbook called the "Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho" or "New History Textbook" downplays or " Whitewashes " the nature of Japan's military aggression in the First Sino-Japanese War , in Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, and in World War II . The textbook was created by the Japanese Society For History Textbook Reform , a conservative Japanese organization, which, as its name implies, aims to revise Japanese history to suit its rightist ends. It glosses over wartime atrocities, de-emphasizes the subject of the Chinese and Korean Comfort Women . Japan's official policy is that publishers have the right to freedom of speech, however, the central government does have the right to stop it from being published. To be exact, the majority of textbooks in circulation are not the ones being contested, but a small minority of the history texts put out by conservative organizations. On the contrary, ''''11 Soviet and Russian history During the rule of dictator Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union , a variety of revisionist tactics were employed to ignore unpleasant events of the past. Soviet school books would constantly be revised to remove photographs and articles that dealt with politicians who had fallen out of favor with the regime. History was frequently re-written, with past events modified so they always portrayed Stalin's government favourably. Russian actual textbooks on the 20th Century The textbook '' in the Daily Herald August 17 , 2004 . Page A2 The revisionist school of communist studies According to studies in the field of Soviet And Communist Studies , especially in the area of History Of The Soviet Union and regarding the history of the Communist Party USA by the so-called "Revisionist School" have generally taken a benign view of the Party while minimizing Soviet atrocities and the Totalitarian nature of the movement"''In Denial''", Haynes and Klehr, see References . Pages 14-19.. Haynes and Klehr attribute the alleged biased stance of these historians, many of whom entered academia during the Vietnam War era, to anti-American and anti-capitalist sentiments"''In Denial''", Haynes and Klehr, see References . Pages 47-53.. MISCELLANEOUS Outdated terminology or ideas Some history materials, especially those targeted to children or young adults, exclude or restate words and ideas that were widely used in a past era. This form of revisionism might avoid using terminology now considered offensive, or exclude political positions now considered unacceptable. Motivations vary widely, but might include avoiding controversy or hurt feelings, or producing a large distance between older and modern ideas. For example, in some American schools the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. are not presented in their entirety, as King frequently used racial terms such as '' Negro '', which was widely accepted when he used it, but in modern United States usage is generally considered outdated or offensive. Slander or Promotion Revisionist history is also used to promote or slander persons, or promote or discredit an idea — for example, bringing evidence that Abraham Lincoln was Homosexual , or that Winston Churchill was a Communist sympathizer; of course in these cases the goal would not be to downplay or ignore a figure or event, but rather to highlight or reveal a supposedly revised aspect of history, or one that was simply unknown or thought to be of little importance. Sometimes some historical figures are censored or hidden, such as James Wolfe in some Canadian history textbooks. Other times more famillar white/anglo males are de-emphasized in favor of women or non-white males, in an attempt to redress a perceived bias. Though this practice may be more Politically Correct , it also risks the loss of important figures. HISTORICAL REVISIONISM IN LITERATURE In George Orwell 's '' 1984 '', the government of the main character's country, nominally led by the enigmatic Big Brother , is constantly revising history to be in harmony with the current political situation. For instance, if the country is at war with another, then the official position is that they have always been at war with that country. If the situation changes, the civilians are brainwashed accordingly. In this novel, historical revisionism is one of the main policies of the propaganda arm ("The Ministry of Truth") of Oceania 's government. HISTORICAL REVISIONISM ON THE INTERNET As the internet is always in movement, sites being created and others erased, it may lead to the temptation of revising history by erasing traces and proofs of previous actions. The Internet Archive , for example, was created against such a loss of memory which reminds Orwell's ''1984''. According to a 2006 article by the '' Financial Times '', "Wikipedia users expose flattery by political staff" and "revisionism" attempts by US senators
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