ABSTRACT
When trying to understand how and why modem nation-states teach history, the Soviet Union provides one of our century's most fascinating illustrations. From its inception there was great concern with how history should be taught and interpreted. This concern was manifested perhaps most clearly in the ways that 'official history' (Tulviste and Wertsch, 1994) was created in the USSR and in how all other 'unofficial histories' were to be rejected, if not strongly suppressed. In the centrally controlled educational system this meant that official history provided the one and only script for textbooks, classroom discussions, and other aspects of the curriculum.
