Suchergebnisse

History and the emotions linked to the past have been a source of conflicts. In particular, the different interpretations of events – or the impossibility to talk about these "white spots" – bring tensions between groups within society, but also among various countries. Indeed, the past leaves traces on politics. It can also be selected as a tool for legitimising action (cf. Lavabre, 1992 and her distinction between the weight and the choice of the past). In International Relations, the past can be used for various goals (cf. Rosoux, 2001). Memory can also be misused (Lavabre, 2000) or abused (Todorov, 1995). How do states address these uses of the past in bilateral relations and how do they try to limit these actions? To tackle this politicisation of the past, historical commissions have been created – already in the interwar period, but mostly as from the 1950's and especially the 1970's – in order to create a dialogue on history and to appease bilateral relations. This contribution is based on two case-studies: the Polish-German Schoolbook Commission, established in 1972 and the Polish-Russian Group for Difficult Matters, created in 2002 and reactivated in 2008. The corpus, collected within the framework of my PhD, is composed of 54 interviews, archives, as well as additional sources such as participant observations, discourses, the press and opinion polls on reconciliation in Poland. Historical commissions are created in the aim of rapprochement, if not reconciliation. In this paper I want to precise the scope and limits of these commissions and insist on the variables explaining their (non-) continuity and (non-) success on overcoming traumatic historical experiences.

History and the emotions linked to the past have been a source of conflicts. In particular, the different interpretations of events – or the impossibility to talk about these "white spots" – bring tensions between groups within society, but also among various countries. Indeed, the past leaves traces on politics. It can also be selected as a tool for legitimising action (cf. Lavabre, 1992 and her distinction between the weight and the choice of the past). In International Relations, the past can be used for various goals (cf. Rosoux, 2001). Memory can also be misused (Lavabre, 2000) or abused (Todorov, 1995). How do states address these uses of the past in bilateral relations and how do they try to limit these actions? To tackle this politicisation of the past, historical commissions have been created – already in the interwar period, but mostly as from the 1950's and especially the 1970's – in order to create a dialogue on history and to appease bilateral relations. This contribution is based on two case-studies: the Polish-German Schoolbook Commission, established in 1972 and the Polish-Russian Group for Difficult Matters, created in 2002 and reactivated in 2008. The corpus, collected within the framework of my PhD, is composed of 54 interviews, archives, as well as additional sources such as participant observations, discourses, the press and opinion polls on reconciliation in Poland. Historical commissions are created in the aim of rapprochement, if not reconciliation. In this paper I want to precise the scope and limits of these commissions and insist on the variables explaining their (non-) continuity and (non-) success on overcoming traumatic historical experiences.

In today's world, we can point to many international disputes and interstate conflicts fueled by past events. Historical resentments or memories of past suffering or fame are often used to justify political, economic and even territorial demands. Inter-state disputes and historical conflicts should be understood as evidence of political and social tensions related to active, serious differences in the assessment of the common past. The book explains the role of such conflicts in international relations and suggests ways of classifying them. It presents examples of the internationally relevant instrumentalisation of history from different regions of the world and outlines ways of overcoming them.