Hannes swoboda biography books
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HISTORY, RECONCILIATION AND PEACE
What is the relation between history, history teaching, reconciliation and peace? Even if people and especially politicians would agree on historic facts, the evaluation of these facts and of the roots and causes leading to these facts vary extensively. In a Europe which was for centuries characterized by wars the interpretation of history was particularly sensitive. The different, often antagonistic evaluation of past wars lead to new wars. The experiment to build a common Europe, beyond national, ethnic and cultural cleavages could come only with difficulties. And the same was and is true for a region like the Western Balkans.
It was in 2009 when my colleague Jan Marinus Wiersma and myself edited a book, called Politics of the Past: The Use and Abuse of History. Background of our decision to deal with the relation between history and politics were debates in the European Parliament, of which we were members. As we were both engaged with
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CAN WE LEARN FROM HISTORY?
On the occasion of the uppvisning of history books prepared and published by the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in South Eastern Europe (CDRSEE) I participated at a discussion in Tirana, specifically in the premises of the Prime minister office. Tirana has always been a city I liked very much since the first time I was there in the beginning of the nineties. It has a very southern, mediterranean flair, especially after the former mayor Edi Rama – who is now Prime minister – brought a lot of colors and environmental improvements to the city. One additional investment is the opening of the Bunker, which was built in the centre of Tirana for Enver Hoxha and his government during a very strange Communist regime. It shows part of the not so lucky history of that small Balkan country.
There is always the question if we can learn from history and secondly what we can learn. Can we even agree about history, its facts and its interpret