From Soviet to Russian History

Paul Dukes looks at how history, like everything else in Russia, is being turned inside out.

At a recent international conference in Russia on the fate of 'historical science' during the twentieth century, several native speakers denied that there was a crisis in their discipline. So far, they argued, in spite of many economic and social difficulties, there had been no significant interference in the freedom of enquiry and expression enjoyed by them since the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. To outside observers, this had some ring of truth – just by comparing the proceedings of the April 1993 Moscow conference with another held there three years before. Then, some of the remarks had been guarded; now, there was little evident restraint.

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