Municipal budgetary educational institution

Lyceum No. 5

“Why you need to know the history of your country” (essay)

student 3 B class MBOU Lyceum No. 5

Poludkin Alexey Ruslanovich

Supervisor

primary school teacher

MBOU Lyceum No. 5

Volokitina Elena Sergeevna.

Yelets, 2012

When my mother asked me the question: “Why should we know the history of our

country?”, I replied: “Because we must know what to say to our

children."

My grandmother often tells me about the difficult years of the Great

Patriotic War. How they, small children, worked together with

adults. How they experienced hunger and cold. How my great-grandfather died in the war,

defending the Motherland from the Nazis. Our Russian accomplished many feats

people during this terrible war.

And when I watched the film “Alexander Nevsky”, I realized that back in

in ancient times, people heroically defended their homeland from enemies. They are not

regretted their lives. Prince Alexander Nevsky and his army defeated

crusaders on Lake Peipsi. The glory of the great commander Alexander

Nevsky and about Russian soldiers thundered across Europe.

No less feats were accomplished during the Patriotic War

1812. Russian army led by Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov

expelled Napoleon and his army from Russia. During this war people

They went into the forests, united in detachments and fought a guerrilla war. A lot of

suffering befell the Russian people.

Do you need to know the history of your country, your people? Why today

Is it so important to know and study history? Yes, because, without knowing the past,

It is impossible to comprehend and understand the present, or look into the future.

Only through history can one comprehend the spiritual world of ancestors, understand its language and culture.

You need to know history. This is basic respect for ancestors. The history of a country is made up of the stories of individual families. And from the history of our family - too. Knowing the history of your own country is self-respect. One of the great people said: “A person who does not know his past has no right to the future.”Every country should know its heroes. “Everything new is well forgotten old.” Studying history is great for developing memory, we will have something to talk about with erudite people, and besides, it is very, very interesting!

Any person other than parents must have a native history, a native land, native language, native culture. But the most important of these roots is native history.

I really like reading books on native history. My parents buy me historical reference books and encyclopedias. They help me better understand the present and think about the future. After all, we must be grateful to those who sincerely served the Fatherland, who kept the faith, and developed science and art.

Why do we need history?

History, like chess, teaches us to be disciplined with time and analyze difficult situations with many circumstances and don’t despair when things don’t work out

I am sure that no matter what profession you strive to realize yourself in, you need to be interested in the experience of your predecessors. This will definitely help. This is the only way to achieve success. Actually, this is the story. Often, knowledge of history allows you to prevent mistakes, helps you build a well-thought-out strategy, and control yourself in stressful situations. Moreover, this works not only at the level of society, but also in the professional life of each of us. The experience of predecessors is truly enriching, we become stronger and wiser when we learn from the past.

History is a concentration of the experience of many generations. The roots go deep, they intertwine, spread out to the sides. Behind each person you can see thousands of predecessors, the chain goes back to ancient times...

The ancients considered history an art on a par with theater, music and poetry. Of course, since the time of Herodotus, scientific requirements for historical knowledge have become stricter. And yet, knowledge begins with interest, with passion. As a thousand years ago, so in our time.

Of course, studying history does not mean knowing the ultimate truth. Much is revealed to us in hypotheses, in discussions - and this is the essence of the processes of cognition. Each of us, sooner or later, experiences such a need - to leaf through the chronicle of the past, to take a closer look at its pictures. The first Russian chronicler asked the question: “Where did the Russian land come from?” In other words: what came before us? We see what a wise and prudent person he was, our first historian, how he loved his native land, how he called for reconciliation, for joining forces for the common good. This is the only way to withstand the trials that befall the country.

IN troubled times Nihilism about our past was imposed on us. IN last years we began to overcome this disease. The understanding has come: you can’t break away from your roots. There are forces in the world that benefit from presenting Russian history in a distorted way. Today the real information war against our country. I have not seen such intensity of Russophobia among the ruling elite in the West even in years cold war. And if we do not carefully study the past, if we do not know our history, a distorted interpretation of it will certainly be imposed on us.

We must not forget that we have something to be proud of. Our people built and defended a great state. During this time, many peoples simply disappeared, were unable to withstand wars, many states disappeared with political map peace. And our fathers and grandfathers defended the country in the most brutal war - the Great Patriotic War. The memory of the fallen, the soldiers, commanders and home front workers who did not spare their lives in that war is sacred to us. I think that in school we need to pay as much attention as possible to the history of our people - starting with the history of the family, with stories about our grandparents and great-grandfathers.

I can imagine the image of the future of our country only with a careful and thoughtful attitude to both our historical heritage and the nature that surrounds us. Tomorrow will bring new discoveries. Perhaps they will help to more accurately study archaeological finds, and we will receive new, more detailed information about the distant past.

But success comes only to those who have mastered knowledge. Everything begins with knowledge. As children, we are attracted to adventures and mysteries; we try to imagine what our distant ancestors looked like, how they defended their land, how they explored space, and built their lives.

To know the past of your country, your city, your people and the past of humanity - what could be more important? To know your predecessors, including distant ones, to know what goals they set for themselves, what system of values ​​they professed - conscious patriotism begins with this desire. This is the only way to enrich your mind with the experience of previous generations. It is in the past that often lies the answers to the questions that the present asks us. And the main thing that history teaches is that in our lives there is nothing more important and dearer than peaceful development, than enlightenment. And the foundation is school education, home and family education, with which each of us begins our journey into the profession.

Anatoly KARPOV,State Duma deputy, multiple world chess champion

Among the disciplines, acquaintance with which begins in high school, we should call history, which allows schoolchildren to understand how people of past eras lived, what events took place centuries ago, and what consequences they led to. Let's consider what history studies, why we need to know about long-past events.

Description of the discipline

Historical science allows you to learn about past eras, specific events, monarchs, inventions. However, such an understanding of what history studies would be simplistic. This discipline works not only with facts, but also makes it possible to identify patterns in the development of life, identify periods, analyze the mistakes of the past in order to try not to repeat them. In general, the science of “world history” comprehends the process of development of human society.

This area of ​​knowledge is classified as humanitarian. Being one of the most ancient sciences (Herodotus is considered its founder), it continues to actively develop.

Subject of study

What does history study? First of all, the main subject of this science is the past, that is, the totality of events that occurred in a certain state, society as a whole. This discipline explores wars, reforms, uprisings and rebellions, the relationships between different states, activity historical figures. To better understand what history studies, let's make a table.

Historical periodization

	What is being studied
Primitive	Peculiarities appearance and the lives of the most ancient and ancient hunters and gatherers, the emergence of social relations, the emergence of art, the structure of ancient society, the emergence of crafts, the specifics of community life
Ancient world, Antiquity	Features of the first states, specifics of external and domestic policy the first monarchs social structures ancient societies, the first laws and their meaning, conducting business activities
Middle Ages	The specifics of the early European kingdoms, the relationship between statehood and the church, the classes distinguished in society and the characteristics of life of each of them, reforms, the specifics of foreign policy, chivalry, Viking raids, knightly orders, Crusades, Inquisition, Hundred Years' War
New time	Technical discoveries, world economic development, colonization, education and diversity political parties, bourgeois revolutions, industrial revolutions
Newest	Second World War, relations between Russia and the world community, features of life, the war in Afghanistan, the Chechen campaign, the coup in Spain

The table shows that in the study historical science there is a huge number of facts, trends, features, events. This discipline helps people understand the past of their country or the world community as a whole, not to forget this invaluable knowledge, but to preserve it, analyze it, and realize it.

Evolution of the term

The word “history” was not always used in its modern meaning.

• Originally this word was Greek language translated as “recognition”, “investigation”. Therefore, the term meant a way of identifying a certain fact or event.
• During the times of ancient Rome, the word began to be used in the sense of “retelling the events of the past.”
• During the Renaissance, the term began to be understood as a generalized meaning - not only the establishment of truth, but also its written recording. This understanding incorporates the first and second.

Only in the 17th century did historical science become an independent branch of knowledge and acquire the significance we know.

Klyuchevsky's position

The famous Russian historian Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky spoke very interestingly about the subject of historical science, emphasizing the dual nature of the term:

• This is the process of moving forward.
• Study of this process.

Thus, everything that happens in the world is its history. At the same time, science comprehends the features of the historical process, that is, events, conditions, results.

Klyuchevsky spoke very briefly but succinctly about the role of this science: “History teaches nothing, but only punishes for ignorance of the lessons.”

Auxiliary disciplines

The history is multi-branch, complex science who has to deal with a large number facts and events. That is why a number of auxiliary disciplines appeared, information about which is presented in the table.

Each of these auxiliary disciplines is very important for understanding the historical process as a whole.

Industries

The development of man and society is a complex, multifaceted process, including the activities of individuals, the development of social and cultural spheres, internal and foreign policy states

Because of this, in science itself it is customary to distinguish a number of main directions of history:

• Military.
• State.
• Political.
• History of religion.
• Rights.
• Economic.
• Social.

All these directions taken together constitute history. However, as part of the school course, only the most general information from the discipline, history textbooks use a different division:

• Ancient world history.
• Medieval.
• New.
• Newest.

World and domestic history is highlighted separately. also in school course local history is also included, within the framework of which students become acquainted with the features of development native land.

Basic methods

Before understanding the question of why study history, you should consider the set of methods that this fascinating science uses:

• Chronological - the study of science by periods and dates. For example, when studying new history, it is very important to understand the chronology of the Great Geographical Discoveries.
• Synchronic - an attempt to identify the connection between processes and phenomena.
• Historical-genetic - analysis of a historical event, determination of its causes, significance, connection with other events. For example, the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress led to the American Revolutionary War.
• Comparative-historical - comparison of a given phenomenon with others. For example, a comparison of the features of the Renaissance period in different European countries when studying the history of the world.
• Statistical - collection of specific numerical data for analysis. History is an exact science, so such information is necessary: ​​how many victims this or that uprising, clash, or war claimed.
• Historical-typological - distribution of events and phenomena based on community. For example, the features of the industrial revolution in new history from various states.

All these methods are used by scientists to comprehend the features and patterns of the development of society.

Role

Let's look at why you need to study history. This science allows us to understand patterns historical development humanity and society, on the basis of this information it becomes possible to understand what awaits us in the future.

The historical path is complex and contradictory, even the most intelligent and far-sighted individuals made mistakes that led to terrifying consequences: riots, civil wars, the death of hundreds of thousands ordinary people, revolutions. We can only avoid these mistakes if we are aware of them.

Without knowledge of world and native history, it is impossible to be an educated, literate person, a patriot, or to understand one’s place in the world. That is why it is necessary to study this fascinating science from childhood.

How to understand science

To understand the features of the development of society, you should choose a good history textbook and workbook. In high school, work also requires contour maps, filling which allows you to visually represent the features of a particular process.

An additional advantage will be reading literature on the subject, through which you can significantly expand your knowledge and get acquainted with interesting facts.

Difficulties

Having considered what history studies, let’s look at the question of what difficulties one faces when comprehending this humanitarian discipline:

• Many events historical path have contradictory and often subjective assessments by researchers.
• The new history is being rethought, so the knowledge that the “old school” teachers taught in their lessons all their lives turned out to be irrelevant.
• When studying ancient periods, many facts are in the nature of hypotheses, albeit supported by evidence.
• Science strives for precision, which is not always possible.
• The need to keep in mind a huge number of dates, names, reforms.

That is why acquaintance with the science of history often does not arouse enthusiasm among modern schoolchildren. Most often, they simply do not understand the enormous importance of this discipline, do not see interest in it, perceiving the subject as boring and requiring memorization of a large amount of information.

The teacher is required to convey to his students the role of this fascinating science and help schoolchildren realize its value. Only in this case will work in the classroom become useful and productive.

The text of the work is posted without images and formulas.
Full version work is available in the "Work Files" tab in PDF format

Introduction

We need history not to figure out what and how happened in the past, but so that the revived past will explain to us who we are and open the way to the future.

Allan Bloom

Every person at any age is interested in the questions: “Why do you need to know the history of your country? Will this affect my life in any way? After all, everything that happened over the centuries is long in the past. All these battles and historical processes have become irrelevant. Why do we need to know about them? Why teach dates that are long in the past? I, too, have asked myself this question more than once; I will try to outline my thoughts and searches for an answer on this matter below.

The famous historian V. O. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911) said: “History is a lantern to the future that shines for us from the past.” Many people are mistaken in thinking that history does not play any role in our lives and does not influence the future of humanity. Children now are mainly interested in events happening on the Internet, computer games, and history is perceived as just another lesson for which you need to get grades. That's why this problem is relevant today, since “Without knowledge of the past, there is no future.”

Subject research work - “Why you need to know history”.

Purpose is - clarifying the role of history in human life.

Object of study- the past of humanity.

Subject of study- story.

Z research objectives:

1. Study of historical and methodological literature on the research topic.

2. Disclosure of the concept of history.

3. Convey the significance of this science to research participants (classmates and peers).

Research base: the study was conducted on the basis of MAOU Secondary School No. 15. Balashikha, Moscow region.

Work structure: the work consists of an introduction, one chapter, a conclusion and a list of sources and literature used, 3 appendices.

CHAPTER 1. WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW HISTORY

1.1 The concept of “history”

Is it possible to look into those distant times when there were no books or schools; visit the museum without leaving home; travel the whole world in a few months? It’s possible, science will help us with this story .

What is it story ? This is a science that studies the past of human society in all its specificity and diversity, which is learned in order to understand its present and prospects for the future. “We know only one single science, the science of history. History can be viewed from two sides, it can be divided into the history of nature and the history of mankind. However, both of these sides are inextricably linked; as long as people exist, the history of nature and the history of people mutually determine each other"

The main task of historical science is the study of specific conditions, stages and forms of development of phenomena and processes of the past. History is designed to reflect the reality of the past at its key points. As the famous Roman politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 BC) noted, the first task of history is to refrain from lying, the second is not to conceal the truth, the third is not to give any reason to suspect oneself of partiality or biased hostility.

The historian, as a rule, deals with the past and cannot directly observe the object of his study. The main thing for him is the historical monument, through which he receives the necessary specific historical data, factual material that forms the basis of historical knowledge. The researcher, based on studying sources of different origin, establishes the veracity of the information.

Historian-archaeologists carry out excavations and find foundations of old houses, dishes, tools, and toys in the thickness of the earth. These objects and, in general, everything that has been preserved from ancient times to the present day are called historical sources. They can be compared to forest springs that feed streams and rivers with their waters. In the same way, historical sources give us knowledge about how people lived many centuries ago.

All historical sources can be divided into 6 groups:

written sources ( epigraphic monuments, i.e. ancient inscriptions on stone, metal, ceramics, etc.; graffiti - texts scrawled by hand on the walls of buildings and dishes; birch bark letters, manuscripts on papyrus, parchment and paper, printed materials, etc.);

material monuments(tools, handicrafts, household items, dishes, clothing, jewelry, coins, weapons, remains of dwellings, architectural structures, etc.);

ethnographic monuments(remains that have survived to this day, remnants of the ancient life of various peoples);

folklore materials(monuments of oral folk art, i.e. legends, songs, fairy tales, proverbs, sayings, anecdotes, etc.);

linguistically monuments(geographical names, personal names, etc.);

film and photo documents.

Mobile phones, cars, books, wise sayings of great people, moral principles by which we live - this is all our historical heritage. We know that there is a past, that each of us has our own roots. The science of history preserves events long ago in memory. days gone by. History helps us know that all this did not appear out of nowhere, overnight. We can find out how people created their culture and why, how they lived without it, what difficulties they had to overcome.

1.2 The importance of history in human life

Knowledge of history helps people live: learning the past, we see that at all times our ancestors experienced difficulties, hardships and deprivations. But life went on, years of sorrows and misfortunes gave way to better times.

History teaches us justice and helps us take a fresh look at the world around us.

History is a journey through time. It goes back centuries, into hoary antiquity.

Thanks to knowledge of history, we see the causes and consequences of events and think about them. For example, the fact that internecine wars lead to devastation in the country. So, it’s better not to get involved in them. The cult of personality leads to cruel tyranny. So, it’s better not to allow this to happen. History gives us lessons for the future so that we take them into account in practice. When reading history, we must remember that this is not the fiction of another author, this is our life, which we must remember in order to pass on from generation to generation.

How much does humanity need historical science?

Many cases in life show that knowledge of history helps in creating the future. Politicians know where their activities can lead; businessmen and economists study how companies conducted business in the past, study their innovations, and monitor the avoidance of mistakes; people of art look for inspiration in stories about ancient times.

If humanity did not know history, then it would go in circles, repeating the same mistakes that were made before them. This would slow down the development of civilizations; you and I would be sitting in the Stone Age, living in caves, surviving by hunting mammoths.

1.3 Research the knowledge of my peers and classmates.

This part of the work was carried out in order to understand how relevant the chosen topic is at the present time. The study proves the need to discuss this issue with parents, teachers, relatives, and each other in order to convey the importance of studying history.

At the first stage, I asked my classmates to compose family tree their families, it was interesting to find out how much they know the history of their family, whether there are family archives, traditions, old photographs, items left over from their grandparents at home. Find out if the ancestors of my classmates fought.

Genealogy is a branch of historical science that studies the origins and connections of individual families.

As a result of the first stage, it turned out that a small part of second-graders know their ancestors to their great-grandparents and remember them with the help of their parents. They get confused about patronymics, and sometimes don’t know them at all. We can conclude that parents do not have enough time to convey the family history to their child. Talk about the exploits of your ancestors. What we got can be seen in Appendix 1.

At the second stage, I asked questions to classmates and peers in the yard, friends in sports clubs about the most significant and famous events that happened in our country.

Survey questions.

What was the Russian Federation called before?

What street do you live on?

What monuments are there in your city?

What are the names of your grandparents?

What is history?

Name the dates of the Great Patriotic War.

Would you like to live abroad?

The results can be seen in Appendix 2. The survey showed that some guys do not know: the dates of the beginning and end of the Great Patriotic War, what happened during these terrible and difficult years for our Motherland; why are demonstrations and parades held on May 9; why the street we live on has exactly this name; to whom are the monuments erected in our city dedicated?

Unfortunately, many are not only not instilled with knowledge of the history of the country, but also have no desire to know the history of their family, who their relatives were, thanks to whom they were born. All these questions are directly related to history. They are interesting. Any person needs to know them: both schoolchildren and parents.

Conclusion

Many events happen in the life of every person. We remember many of them for a very long time, and some, especially important for us, we do not forget throughout our lives. We do things that we are then proud of, and sometimes we do things that we are ashamed of. All the events of our life, as if collected in a “chain”, one after another, make up the biography of each of us. We, living today, and those who lived long before us, and those who will live many, many years after us - all together we make up Humanity. Humanity also has a biography - this is History.

In our opinion, one of the main charms of this science is that it is impossible to come up with something new in this field of knowledge: you can only carry out excavations and find something hitherto unknown. Everything that falls within the jurisdiction of history has already happened; someone once already had an idea about these events and, perhaps, even took direct part in them.

History also differs from such sciences as mathematics and physics in that it becomes broader every day: the law of universal gravitation and the Pythagorean theorem have always existed, but people know about it only from the moment these facts were discovered, and history has never hidden it from people nothing - of course, we forget about something, but that’s our fault. In general, the main strength of history is that it provides the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. Many achievements and discoveries were made thanks to the experience of our ancestors. History helps build relationships between different countries, people. After all, history never repeats itself: it is historians who repeat each other, and each of us can look back at other people’s experiences and understand how best to act.

From all this we can conclude that knowledge of the history of one’s country is necessary for everyone in order to be an intelligent, wise and respected person! And knowing history, respect your ancestors and the country in which you live.

List of sources and literature used

Vakhrushev A.A. / The world. My fatherland. Guidelines/ A.A. Vakhrushev. - M.: Balass, 2013. - 144 p.

Info lesson. "How chronology is calculated. Lives of ancient people." [Electronic resource] - Access mode: https://infourok.ru/videouroki/ 3609. - (Date of access: 11/11/2017)

Object and subject of history [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://biofile.ru/his/12535.html. - (Date of access: 07.11.2017)

Ozhegov S.I. / Dictionary Russian language / S.I. Ozhigov. - M.: ONIX World and Education, 2012. - 1376 p.

Chudakova N.V., Gromov V.A. / I explore the world. Story. - M.: TKO AST, 1997. - 512 p.

Annex 1

Family tree

Appendix 2

Survey questions

Question 1: What was the Russian Federation called before?

Question 2: What street do you live on?

Question 3: What monuments are there in your city?

Question 4: What were the names of your grandparents?

Question 5: What is history?

Question 6: What is the date of the Great Patriotic War?.

Question 8: Would you like to live abroad?

The founder and creator of the first book about history is the famous ancient Greek historian and philosopher Herodotus (5th century BC). His book, “History,” described chronological sequence events. The ancient Greeks called her “magistra vitae” - “teacher of life.” The famous Roman orator Cicero called history the teacher of life. Spanish writer Miguel Cervantes noted: “History is the treasury of our deeds, a witness to the past and a lesson for the present, a warning for the future.”. Russian writer Leonid Andreev stated: “To move forward, look back more often, otherwise you will forget where you came from and where you need to go.”.

The above statements emphasize the idea that knowledge of the past helps to better understand the present and foresee the future. But what is the direct benefit of knowing history? Why remember the dates of battles, study facts and events of the past, and look for their cause-and-effect relationship? All this can be formulated in one question - why study history?

There are a number of traditional answers to this question.

1. History must be studied in order to have the right to be called a truly educated person.
2. To know and remember how the statehood of one’s country was born, what path the people took in order to become a full-fledged society, how the culture of mankind developed is the sacred duty of a person and a citizen.
3. By conducting a thorough analysis of various historical events, people try to avoid making any more mistakes in the future.
4. Politicians, when building state policy, take lessons from the lives of our ancestors and try to avoid their mistakes.
5. Creative people look to the past to create works of art or find a new idea.
6. When studying the history of our ancestors, it is important to understand the role of our country in the global civilizational process.
7. Each country has its own history, a history of failures and heroic achievements, a unique history that is not similar to the history of the development of other countries.
8. By analyzing history, humanity has established the causes and consequences of events and phenomena, which allows it to avoid these mistakes in the future.

All these answers are correct, but something else is known - “history teaches that it teaches nothing”. New generations of people make the same mistakes as their predecessors. Probably due to insufficient knowledge of history lessons. But to do this, you need to find a reasonable answer to the question - why should I study history?

First, a few observations

1. The nobility of a noble family is largely determined by its pedigree. Of course, accomplished deeds and exploits should be added to this, but the antiquity of the family has the greatest value. A family tree allows you not only to preserve the memory of noble ancestors, but also to prove the origin of the family. The following picture emerges: the further the memory of ancestors fades, the more confident the descendant feels. The same principle in technology - the lower the center of gravity, the more stable the system is.

Pedigree (genealogical) tree of the Romanovs and stability of the system

2. Some states are trying to assert their superiority, again at the expense of their ancient ancestors. IN fascist Germany the ancestry of the Germans was traced back to the ancient Aryans - the peoples of Ancient Iran and Ancient India(II...I millennium BC), who spoke Aryan languages ​​of the Indo-European family of languages. In racist literature, the Aryans (mostly Germans) were declared the “superior” Aryan race.

There are also modern examples. There is a statement that “the oldest Ukrainian nation on earth” arose 40 thousand years ago and in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. created the state “Great Ukraine”. However, until the 90s of the 19th century, when representatives of a small group of radical nationalist parties in Galicia proclaimed themselves the “Ukrainian nation,” history knew nothing about the existence of such a people as “Ukrainians.”

The history of “Great Ukraine” amazes readers with its greatness. "Ukry" destroyed the armies of the Persian kings. “Ancient Ukrainians” successfully resisted the army of Alexander the Great, which allegedly tried to seize the “Ukrainet” (Crimea) peninsula and seize “Ukrainian” cities and ports. “Great Ukraine” defeated the invaders after a long struggle. Then the “proud Ukrainians” successfully resisted the Roman legions. The “Ukrainians” were supposedly the “true Aryans”. Their capital in ancient times was “Ariygrad”, and they were ruled by “Ariyslav”. In general, it turns out that Hitler and his ideologists “robbed” the history of “Ancient Ukraine”.

3. Recently, they have been trying to change the outcome of World War II, claiming that it was won by the United States and not the USSR. One of the arguments is that the United States ensured the victory of the USSR with supplies under Lend-Lease. Real facts - Lend-Lease supplies amounted to 4% of the USSR's costs, and besides, all this assistance was paid for in gold.

Despite the presence of a lot of evidence, documentary and scientific evidence, such historical facts, like the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide. Unable to completely refute the reality of these events, the authors of “alternative theories” question or falsify minor historical evidence, such as individual documents, figures or photographs. Due to the impossibility of completely refuting these events, the purpose of such falsifications is to refuse to perceive these facts, an attempt to sow the seed of doubt about their veracity.

The history of Ukraine about the war of 1812 talks about the Cossack militia, which did not believe that Napoleon would liberate Ukraine, and gathered a 70,000-strong army against him, which drove out the usurper. In one of the textbooks, the final paragraph about the War of 1812 is called: “Persecution of the French by Ukrainian troops.”

According to V. Klyuchevsky, “history is not a teacher, but a supervisor... it teaches nothing, but only punishes for unlearned lessons”.

The most complete answer to the question “why study history” is given in the story “1984” by George Orwell.

“Who controls the past,” says the party slogan, “controls the future; He who controls the present controls the past.” And yet the past, which is changeable by nature, has never been subject to change. What is true now is true from time to time and forever. Everything is very simple. All you need is a continuous chain of victories over your own memory...

... when applied to a party member, a well-intentioned willingness to call black white if party discipline requires it. But not only to name it: also to believe that black is white, moreover, to know that black is white, and to forget that you once thought otherwise. This requires a continuous remaking of the past, which is allowed to be carried out by a system of thinking that essentially embraces all others and is called doublethink in Newspeak.

Remaking the past is necessary for two reasons. One of them, secondary and, so to speak, preventative, is as follows. The party member, like the proletarian, tolerates current conditions partly because he has nothing to compare with. He must be cut off from the past as well as from foreign countries, because he needs to believe that he lives better than his ancestors and that the level of material security is steadily increasing. But incomparably more important reason to correct the past - that it is necessary to protect the infallibility of the party. Speeches, statistics, all kinds of documents must be adjusted to the present day to prove that the party's predictions have always been correct. Moreover, no changes in doctrine and political line can be recognized. For to change one’s views, or at least one’s policy, means admitting weakness. If, for example, today the enemy is Eurasia (or Eastasia, it doesn’t matter who), then it has always been the enemy. And if the facts say otherwise, then the facts must be changed. This is how history is continually being rewritten. This daily erasure of the past, which is carried out by the Ministry of Truth, is as necessary for the stability of the regime as the repressive and espionage work carried out by the Ministry of Love.

The variability of the past is the main tenet of Ingsoc. It is argued that the events of the past do not exist objectively, but are preserved only in written documents and in human memories. The past is that which is consistent with records and memories. And since the party has complete control over the documents and minds of its members, the past is what the party wants to make it. It also follows that although the past is changeable, it has not been changed at any point. For if it is recreated in the form that is needed now, then this a new version and there is a past and there could be no other past. The above is also true when a past event, as often happens, changes beyond recognition several times a year. At every moment the Party possesses absolute truth; the absolute obviously cannot be different from what it is now. It is also clear that managing the past primarily depends on memory training. Bringing all documents into line with the requirements of the day is a purely mechanical matter. But it is also necessary to remember that events happened as required. And if it is necessary to alter memories and falsify documents, then it is necessary to forget that this was done. This trick can be learned in the same way as any method of mental work.

The conclusion is simple - the past is unchanged, but by changing the content of sources of information about the past, hushing up some events, you can change consciousness, life attitudes, and the principles of existence of entire nations. This always takes 20...40 years to achieve a sustainable result. History, or rather the interpretation of history, is one of the main priorities of managing humanity. Knowledge is power, but ignorance is even greater power. Each person in life has his own individual task, or rather a series of sequential tasks of increasing complexity. Everyone chooses their own path, and this requires precise guidelines - where you came from, and most importantly - where you are going.

History is the foundation on which the present and future are built. And if the foundation is light, then the house can be easily destroyed by hurricanes and storms modern civilization. And to achieve high goals requires a stable foundation and an understanding of what is happening not in a kaleidoscope of flashing events, but in the painstaking laying out of a mosaic of life from world events. That is why studying history is important for every person, regardless of the chosen profession.

How to study history

At the beginning of any path, studying any subject, you should accurately determine the purpose of this lesson. The more distant the goal is, the more accurately the movement towards it occurs. There are many definitions regarding history.

1. History is reality in its development, movement, including the laws of history and the basic theories of the historical development of civilization.
2. History is a set of sciences that study the past of human society: the history of the Ancient World, the history of the Middle Ages, modern history.
3. History is the science of the development of any field of knowledge: natural history, the history of geographical discoveries, the history of aeronautics, etc.
4. History is a sequential series of events preserved in memory: the history of my family, historical events for the country in which I live.
5. History is a story, a narration about an incident, an event - it is very difficult to get into history, it is much easier to get into it.

Of course, for every person, the history of their native land is closest and most understood. It is much easier to trace the connection between history and today specific examples, surrounding us. The names of cities, streets, monuments, holidays, legends and much more are a consequence of past events. The study of the history of the Donetsk region in the period of active formation is preferably carried out through “personal communication with antiquity”, searching for evidence of historical events, and their assessment. This will require a presentation of certain facts, an understanding of the main events of world history and much more in order to understand the present and determine the character of the people of Donbass.

The further we move away from the birth of Christ, the more events happen. In the 60s of the last century, it was much easier to teach history, at least shorter. Saturation of events in modern world increases, it becomes almost impossible to learn about all the events, remember them, analyze them, and draw conclusions. How to be in this case? Is it worth remembering dates, names, biographies? The proposal is simple - you need to learn to remember history and pay attention to the clues of fate.

To do this, you should understand the methodology of studying history and use it as necessary, when questions arise that seem to be unrelated modern life. Why is the name of the city, the street, who lives there, what they do, what happened in this place - the answers to these questions determine not only the present, but also open up the future. This is the only thing you need to learn, learn to understand the basic methods of a historian’s work, and most importantly, use them in your life.

The main problem of historical science is the problem of sources. In the very in general terms Historical sources can be called all the remnants of past historical writing up to very recent times. Substantial written evidence has existed since the 15th century. And in this regard, Donbass was lucky. The beginning of the rapid development of industry in the Donbass occurs at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, and there are so many written sources in the form of documents, orders, newspapers, photographs, and stories that one must learn to choose the most important thing. By the way, try to note what you remember from what you read and see - this determines your interests and abilities.

Let us briefly recall the main sources of historical knowledge. And let’s not forget the main property of every researcher - the ability to ask questions, among which the main one most often is “why”.

History contains indisputable and dubious facts. In order to find the truth, historians in this case strive to involve as wide a range of sources as possible. Most often, sources are divided according to their shape into seven types:

1. Written: chronicles, chronicles, decrees, laws, historical works, scientific works, memoirs, newspapers, magazines, and now Internet resources.
2. Real: tools, clothing, weapons, household items, jewelry, homes, coins. Material sources also include works of art: frescoes, statues, mosaics, book miniatures, architectural monuments. Coins studied by numismatics provide valuable information for historians. Coats of arms are studied by heraldry, seals - by sphragistics.
3. Ethnographic: composition, settlement, customs and traditions, occupations and way of life of the people.
4. Oral(folklore): legends, tales, myths, songs, proverbs, sayings, riddles. Folklore studies these sources.
5. Linguistic: names of rivers, cities, individual words and language as a whole. Part of linguistics is onomastics (the science of names), toponymy (the science of geographical names).
6. Film and photographic documents.
7. Phonodocuments.

As humanity develops, the number of historical sources increases. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, photography, sound recording, and newsreels arose; in the second half of the 20th century, documents appeared on electronic media.

Many big and small events have happened and are happening in the world. They need to be ranked according to their degree of importance and influence on the course of history. It is important to learn to view events as links in a certain chain stretching from the past to the present. You can study history not only in archives, museums and when working with artifacts. It surrounds us in our cities and villages, it lives in our memories. You just need to have a desire to join its mysterious and fascinating content.

We are connected to the past by thousands of inextricable threads. Essentially, the carpet of the present is woven from these threads. We encounter the past not only on the pages of historical works, but also in everyday life.

“Any knowledge must have practical meaning. History today seems to be the science of the past. But the point of history is to learn from mistakes. There is meaning in studying history when it appears cyclical. Only in this case can you see the future in the past, and not a set of anecdotes. Only in this case does history become a science about the future, worthy of study.”

S.B. Morozov, “The Secret of Eternal Life”

And I would also like to join the opinion of A.R. Fedonina:

“I want to prove that history is not a complete rebellion, it is, like a rainbow, multi-colored, diverse and, therefore, interesting.”