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Abstract
The interwar period (1920–1940) witnessed profound transformations in European history education, shaped by the aftermath of World War I, the rise of totalitarian regimes, and efforts to foster international peace through the League of Nations. This article examines key issues in history teaching across major European countries, including textbook biases, the tension between national patriotism and internationalism, ideological indoctrination in authoritarian states, and pacifist influences in democratic contexts. Drawing on systematic analysis of scholarly literature, it highlights the League of Nations’ unsuccessful attempts to create an “international mind” via textbook revisions and teacher retraining, contrasted with radical curriculum overhauls in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy that weaponized history for propaganda.
References
1. Gaudio, A. (2021). The Italian School During Twenty-Years Fascism (1923–1943). Russia-Italia cooperation in education sciences.
2. James, I. R. (2019). Education in Nazi Germany. Gettysburg College Student Scholarship.
3. Osborne, K. (2016). Creating the “International Mind”: The League of Nations Attempts to Reform History Teaching, 1920–1939. History of Education Quarterly, 56(2).
4. Siegel, M. L. (2004). The Moral Disarmament of France: Education, Pacifism, and Patriotism, 1914–1940. Cambridge University Press.
5. EHNE Encyclopédie d’histoire numérique de l’Europe. (n.d.). International Textbook Revision in Europe... and What history books for Europe?
6. Additional: Stradling, R. (2001). Teaching 20th-Century European History. Council of Europe;
7. Kandel, I. L. (1935). Education in Nazi Germany.
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