Regimes Rewriting History to Shape Tomorrow: Global Examples of Narrative Control

✒️:. Shahid Manzoor Bhat

Across the globe, regimes are reshaping history in classrooms to influence how future generations see their nation’s past — and their role within it. By revising textbooks and lessons, governments often prioritize political agendas over facts, aiming to foster loyalty, pride, and obedience. As George Orwell warned in 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future.” In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin echoed this sentiment, declaring, “Wars are won by teachers,” underscoring education’s power in consolidating regimes. From autocracies to democracies, history has become a strategic battleground.

Historical Precedents: Indoctrination Through Education

In Nazi Germany (1933–1945), Adolf Hitler’s regime transformed education to advance Aryan supremacy and militarism. History lessons glorified German triumphs, vilified minorities — particularly Jews — and promoted pseudoscientific “race studies” to justify the Holocaust. Schools like the Adolf Hitler Schools prioritized physical discipline and loyalty over critical thought, producing obedient followers molded to serve the Reich.

Similarly, the Soviet Union (1917–1991), especially under Joseph Stalin, weaponized history to cement Communist ideology. Textbooks erased inconvenient truths, rewrote political struggles, and recast leaders as infallible heroes. By removing competing narratives and elevating Russian dominance, Soviet authorities sought to unify citizens under a single, uncontested version of the past.

Modern Examples: Controlling Narratives in the 21st Century

The practice is far from history itself. In the United States, the 1776 Commission, relaunched by former President Donald Trump in January 2025, promotes “patriotic education” to counter narratives emphasizing slavery’s centrality in America’s founding. Its report highlights the nation’s ideals while downplaying racism and slavery — a move critics describe as historical distortion. By September 2025, its influence is visible in policies like Florida’s 2023 restrictions on African American history, which banned courses and softened discussions of slavery, and Texas’s curriculum, which frames the Civil War as a fight over “states’ rights.”

In Russia, since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Putin has intensified efforts to militarize education. By 2025, history lessons increased by 50%, with state-approved narratives replacing Western curricula. Students are taught to glorify Russian military victories and justify territorial expansion, aiming to suppress dissent and bolster imperial ambitions.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has reshaped education since 2010, embedding nationalist figures — including some with antisemitic pasts — into textbooks. By 2025, these policies have curtailed academic freedom and cultivated loyalty, influencing right-wing movements abroad, including among U.S. conservatives.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has revised textbooks through 2025, removing references to the Mughal Empire, Delhi Sultanate, Marathas, and Tipu Sultan, while amplifying ancient Hindu heritage. Critics argue this promotes a “Hindutva agenda” that marginalizes India’s multicultural history and rewrites its diverse identity.

In Japan, 2025 textbooks continue to soften portrayals of WWII atrocities, including the Nanjing Massacre, drawing international criticism for dodging accountability and inflaming tensions with neighboring countries.

In Croatia, while recent reforms have focused on school security, the state has a history of revising narratives. In the 1990s, textbooks downplayed the Ustaše regime’s WWII crimes, and current bans on certain historical works highlight ongoing reluctance to confront painful truths.

The Price of Manipulating Memory

Rewriting history offers regimes a potent tool: it shapes national identity, fosters obedience, and bolsters political power. Yet the costs are profound. Distorted narratives erode truth, stifle critical thinking, and deepen social divides by erasing diverse perspectives. When education becomes propaganda, societies risk repeating past mistakes while remaining vulnerable to manipulation and authoritarianism.

History, when rewritten for power, undermines democracy itself. Without honest engagement with the past, reconciliation falters, progress stalls, and future generations inherit myths instead of lessons.