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Historical revisionism is the attempt to better and more accurately understand the past, through the examination of newly discovered sources and/or by re-examining existing sources. The assumption is that a history, as it has been traditionally told, may not be entirely accurate or may not encompass other cultural aspects. In this sense, all forms of historical enquiry (academic, public, private, et al) are inherently revisionist. Historical revisionism can have a manipulating intent, often for political purposes; for example Holocaust Denial . As such, the term 'revisionist' is often employed as a loaded term, both as a negative connotation and as a claim to authenticity. This is known as "negationism" . HISTORICAL REVISIONISM Those historians who work within the existing establishment and who have a body of existing work from which they claim authority, often have the most to gain by maintaining the ''status quo''. This can be called an accepted Paradigm , which in some circles or societies takes the form of a denunciative stance towards revisionism of any kind. If there were a universally accepted view of history which never changed, there would be no need to research it further. Many historians who write revisionist exposés are motivated by a genuine desire to educate and to correct history. Many great discoveries have come as a result of the research of men and women who have been curious enough to revisit certain historical events and explore them again in depth from a new perspective. Revisionist historians contest the mainstream or traditional view of historical events, they raise views at odds with traditionalists, which must be freshly judged. Revisionist history is often practiced by those who are in the minority, such as feminist historians, ethnic minority historians, those working outside of mainstream academia in smaller and less known universities, or the youngest scholars, essentially historians who have the most to gain and the least to lose in challenging the status quo. In the friction between the mainstream of accepted beliefs and the new perspectives of historical revisionism, received historical ideas are either changed, solidified, or clarified. If over a period of time the revisionist ideas become the new establishment ''status quo'' a Paradigm Shift is said to have occurred. ::"''History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.''" –. Historians, like all people, are inexorably influenced by the Zeitgeist (the spirit of the times). Developments in other academic areas, and cultural and political fashions, all help to shape the currently accepted model and outlines of history (the accepted Historiographical paradigm). As time passes and these influences change so do most historians views on the explanation of historical events. The old consensus may no longer be considered by most historians to explain how and why certain events in the past occurred, the accepted model is revised to fit in with the current agreed-upon version of events. Some of the influences on historians, which may change over time are:
EXAMPLES These are examples of historical revisionist ideas. The "Dark Ages" As non-Latin texts such as Welsh , Gaelic and the Sagas have been analyzed and added to the canon of knowledge about the period and a lot more archaeological evidence has come to light, the period traditionally known as the Dark Ages has narrowed to the point where many historians no longer believe that such a term is useful. "Feudalism" The concept of Feudalism has undergone a number of revisions. Recently some revisionist thinking has rejected the term and concept completely Saying It Is Invalid and should not be used at all. Agincourt The , 2005 Alchemy Science historians are taking a new look at , August 1, 2006 New World "discovery" In recounting the European Colonization Of The Americas , history books of the past paid little attention to the Indigenous Peoples Of The Americas , usually mentioning them only in passing and making no attempt to understand the events from their point of view. This was reflected in the once widespread description of Christopher Columbus having "discovered" America. The portrayal of these events has since been revised, and much present scholarship examines the impact of European exploration and colonization on indigenous peoples. Some of this historical writing is revisionist in the ideological sense of the word, such as in portrayals of Columbus which compare him to Adolf Hitler , which are arguably Polemic al and Presentist . But even moderate portrayals of Columbus now take into account modern revisionism, and rarely, for example, use the word ''discovery'' without quotation marks. (''see'' Postcolonialism ). Slavery During historical periods of slavery, slaves have not been considered equal to their masters, something that has been reflected in the accepted histories of the time. In the study of the Reconstruction era of the American South , the revisionist interpretation of events has completely replaced the Dunning School interpretation. French attacking formations in the Napoleonic wars The military historian James R. Arnold argues that: :The writings of Sir , August 2004.James R. Arnold, "A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Napoleonic Wars" Journal Of The Society For Army Historical Research LX no. 244 (Winter 1982): pp. 196-208. Military leadership during the First World War The military leadership of the British Army during the First World War was frequently condemned as poor by historians and politicians for decades after the war ended. Common charges were that the generals commanding the army were blind to the realities of Trench Warfare , ignorant of the conditions of their men and were unable to learn from their mistakes, thus causing enormous numbers of casualties (' Lions Led By Donkeys ').Lions Led By Donkeys
There has been a similar movement regarding the French Army during the war with contributions by historians such as Anthony Clayton . Revisionists are far more likely to view commanders such as French General Ferdinand Foch , British General Douglas Haig and other figures, such as American General Pershing , in a sympathetic light. Irish history concerning relations with Britain In the ideological approach of Irish Nationalism leading to the independence of most of Ireland from Britain in 1922, a natural priority was to distance any mutual aspects of the relationship. Irish was made a compulsory subject at school, much was made of religious differences, militant patriots were glorified and considered martyrs and the existence of the border with Northern Ireland was deprecated. Since 1970 some commentators and historians have sought or promoted a revisionist approach, often deprecated as 'anti-national', focusing on newer aspects such as local, economic and women's history. Professor Kevin Whelan has proposed a 'post-revisionist' stage in his studies of the 1798 Rebellion .Whelan, K. ''The Tree of Liberty'' (CUP 1996) p.174. ISBN 1-859218-060-4 His chapter '' '98 after '98'' follows the differing interpretations of the rebellion within the nationalist and loyalist camps over two centuries. Whelan argues that revisionism in Irish history has been an on-going, uneven and multifaceted process since the 1700s. SEE ALSO NOTES |
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