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The textbooks that will be discussed in this part of the study are Georgios Kafentzis’ History of Modern Times (Ιστορία των Νεωτέρων Χρόνων) which was taught from 1974 to 1979 to the pupils of the last year of primary education (Dimotiko) and Georgia Koulikourdi’s Modern European History from the 15th Century A.D. to the Present (Νεώτερη Ευρωπαϊκή Ιστορία από τον 15ο αιώνα μ.Χ. ως σήμερα) which was taught from 1975 to 1984 to the pupils of the last year of the first circle of secondary education (Gymnasium).
Kafentzis’ book was first published in 1956 under the title History of Modern Greece (Ιστορία της Νεωτέρας Ελλάδος) by a private publishing house and served as a state-approved supplement to the primary history textbook that was taught …show more content…
to the Present was introduced to schools in the academic year 1975-1976 and came to replace the ‘junta-textbook’ by Matarasis and Papastamatiou which was taught to the pupils of the last year of the first circle of secondary education from 1967 to 1975. The textbook consists of 332 pages (narrative text, written sources and visual materials) and is divided into five parts each of which is divided into sub-parts and chapters. The events of the period 1939-1945 barely span four pages almost half of which center on the Greek involvement in the Second World War. However, in sharp contrast with Kafentzis’ book in Koulikourdi’s textbook the causes that led to the outbreak of the Second World War do come into consideration and several pages are devoted to the emergence of totalitarian regimes in the inter-war years in Europe, while a short reference is also made to the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime in Germany. Regarding the events of the 1940s in Greece, the largest part of the narrative text is concerned with the military aspect of the Greco-Italian war, while a short paragraph of five lines describes the sufferings of the Greek people during the period of the triple Occupation. It is not without interest that absolutely no mention is made to either the armed resistance movement in Greece or to the military operations of the Greek royal forces in the Middle East. The narration of the Greek 1940s ends with a short reference to the Civil War which seems that intends to educate the younger generation rather than provide information on the events of the period 1944-1949: ‘Greece was liberated on 12 October 1944. Before the wounds of the war were healed, however, [Greece] was torn by a terrible Civil War (1944-1945 and 1945-1949) which opened up deep wounds, destroyed the country, stirred up hatred and obstructed smooth political development for many
The textbooks that will be discussed in this part of the study are Georgios Kafentzis’ History of Modern Times (Ιστορία των Νεωτέρων Χρόνων) which was taught from 1974 to 1979 to the pupils of the last year of primary education (Dimotiko) and Georgia Koulikourdi’s Modern European History from the 15th Century A.D. to the Present (Νεώτερη Ευρωπαϊκή Ιστορία από τον 15ο αιώνα μ.Χ. ως σήμερα) which was taught from 1975 to 1984 to the pupils of the last year of the first circle of secondary education (Gymnasium).
Kafentzis’ book was first published in 1956 under the title History of Modern Greece (Ιστορία της Νεωτέρας Ελλάδος) by a private publishing house and served as a state-approved supplement to the primary history textbook that was taught …show more content…
to the Present was introduced to schools in the academic year 1975-1976 and came to replace the ‘junta-textbook’ by Matarasis and Papastamatiou which was taught to the pupils of the last year of the first circle of secondary education from 1967 to 1975. The textbook consists of 332 pages (narrative text, written sources and visual materials) and is divided into five parts each of which is divided into sub-parts and chapters. The events of the period 1939-1945 barely span four pages almost half of which center on the Greek involvement in the Second World War. However, in sharp contrast with Kafentzis’ book in Koulikourdi’s textbook the causes that led to the outbreak of the Second World War do come into consideration and several pages are devoted to the emergence of totalitarian regimes in the inter-war years in Europe, while a short reference is also made to the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime in Germany. Regarding the events of the 1940s in Greece, the largest part of the narrative text is concerned with the military aspect of the Greco-Italian war, while a short paragraph of five lines describes the sufferings of the Greek people during the period of the triple Occupation. It is not without interest that absolutely no mention is made to either the armed resistance movement in Greece or to the military operations of the Greek royal forces in the Middle East. The narration of the Greek 1940s ends with a short reference to the Civil War which seems that intends to educate the younger generation rather than provide information on the events of the period 1944-1949: ‘Greece was liberated on 12 October 1944. Before the wounds of the war were healed, however, [Greece] was torn by a terrible Civil War (1944-1945 and 1945-1949) which opened up deep wounds, destroyed the country, stirred up hatred and obstructed smooth political development for many