I remember how I felt when at some point in life I learned something unsettling:
History is taught differently depending on where you live.

That different countries frame historical events in ways that align with their national identity or political priorities. They teach different versions of the same event in terms of facts, framing, and even entire omissions, to create a version that the citizens are supposed to believe in.

This was very unsettling to me because I used to think history meant something like… universal and objective recording of events.
(I know… I probably sound dumb for believing that.)

It made me wonder how easily “education” could become a form of propaganda. And how hard it can be for people to untangle what’s actually real from what’s just been repeated long enough to sound real.

For instance, I learned that in Japan, the Nanjing Massacre, which Chinese consider to be one of the worst atrocities, has long been downplayed or removed in many school textbooks.

In Britain, children often learned about the colonisation of India as a part of “the British Empire”. It is seen more as a time of trade routes and railways rather than a violent occupation or oppression. The language used (“bringing civilisation”, “administrative efficiency”, “infrastructure development”) erases the exploitation and cultural loss. Generations grew up believing it was a neutral or even noble chapter in history, not realising that for Indians, it was anything but that.

In the United States, many school curriculums focused on the founding fathers, while ignoring topics like displacement of Native Americans. This history is now slowly being included, but not without resistance.

Even in Germany, which is seen as a country accepting its history, the way the World Wars are taught today was not always like this. The shift came after years of restructuring the curriculum.

And we all know about Pak and China, right?

It made me think about the various kinds of things people are taught, not just in school, but by culture, by media, by family – which may just be one version shaped by a nation’s goals, pride or shame; based on what the people in power wanted to focus on or leave out.

And I wonder how easily they can become unquestioned “truths” if no one gives us the tools to look beyond them.