The Effect of National History Courses in Turkey and Other Countries on the Formation Process of National States

Abstract

Many European states tried to establish their own nation-states by making the people internalize the new values and new state understanding emerging in this formation process of nation states at the 19th century, in particular. These states which attached a great importance to the process of placing these new values and state understanding in the minds of the people and conveying them to the future generations used many different methods to fulfill their goals. Without doubt, the most important means used by the states to this end has become the national history courses. With the Turkish Revolution led by Ataturk, similar developments were also observed in Turkey and it was aimed at creating awareness in Turkish community in this respect through the national history courses and developing a national identity for the Turkish people and establishing the targetted national state. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.