In the history of every nation, some events are considered to be more significant and important than others. At times they are remembered and celebrated in order to inspire people to respond to the challenges of the time. Sometimes they remain a forgotten part of the past.

Paul A. Cohen in his book History and Popular Memory narrates some historical events and describes certain personalities who have played an important role in national struggles and resistance against adversaries.

The first event that he points out is the battle of Kosovo fought between the Turks and the Serbs in 1448. The battle became a memorable event in the history of Serbia because those who fought in the battle sacrificed their lives for the honour of their nation. It is said that before the beginning of the battle, the Serbian leader addressed his army and told them that they had only two choices; one, to live in the kingdom of heaven and two, to accept the slavery of Turks and face humiliation on this earth.

The result was a bloody battle in which the Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad slaughtered the Serbians and defeated them. Though the Serbs were defeated, they immortalised their defeat and recognised those who died in the battlefield as national heroes. More than 500 years have gone by, yet the Serbs have never forgotten the battle of Kosovo and celebrate it as their national pride.

History is often revised to advance political or ideological agendas

In 1989, when the communist government of Russia fell into disarry, Yugoslavia (which united different ethnic nationalities) disintegrated. As a result, Serbia emerged as an independent nation and made attempts to infuse the spirit of nationalism among its people. The event of the battle of Kosovo was resurrected and a ceremony was held in the very battlefield of Kosovo.

A bloody conflict followed among different nationalities including Albanians, Croatians and Bosnians while Kosovo became an independent country despite Serbia’s protest. However, the battle of Kosovo remains an unforgettable event in the history of the Serbs.

Another important event was the Siege of Masada, when the Romans invaded Jerusalem in 70AD and destroyed the Israelite city and the temple of the Jews. A religious extremist group of the Jews known as Zealots took refuge in the fortress of Masada. When the Roman soldiers attacked the fortress, the Zealots decided to commit mass suicide by setting the fortress ablaze. This was the only way to save themselves from the humiliation of being killed or enslaved by the Romans.

When the Roman army entered the fortress they found nothing but dead bodies of the besieged Jews. The story of this deadly ritual of suicide was told to the Romans by two women and five children who survived by hiding somewhere in the fort.

After occupying Palestine, the Israelis transformed the fortress of Masada into a shrine where the recruits of the Israeli army visited and took an oath to not allow the same event to ever happen again. Children visited Masada on school trips and learnt about the bravery and courage of those who died but did not submit to the enemy.

However, as the Israeli government became politically stable, it changed the symbolic importance of Masada because they thought it reflected defeat and failure instead of the bravery of the Jews. The new message was that the Jews must not surrender but resist in order to ensure their survival and existence. Masada is still a national monument but the army and school children are not obliged to take an oath to repeat the tradition of the Jews who committed suicide. This is how the interpretation of history is transformed according to current national needs.

A third example of an unforgettable event is that of Joan of Arc (d.1431), a peasant girl of 17, who claimed that she received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles VII and rescue France from English domination late in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) between England and France.

When she approached the French king and told him that she would liberate the country from the foreign army, no one took her seriously but eventually King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. The siege was lifted in only nine days.

Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII’s coronation at Reims. In 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the allied English-Burgundian faction and later handed over to the English and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon on charges of being a witch, a heretic and a liar who had misguided people by her false claims. After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake in 1431, dying at about 19 years of age.

Her story was revived in the 18th century and she was portrayed as a national heroine. She emerged as a source of inspiration during the Second World War when Marshal Petain (d.1951) established a government with the collaboration of Germans who occupied France. He invoked John of Arc as a national heroine who saved France from foreigners. He ritualised her memory, published pamphlets, narrated her achievements and organised celebrations in her memory in order to legitimise his rule.

On the other hand, John of Arc also became a national symbol to Charles De Gaulle (d.1970), leader of the resistance movement. In his office were portraits of Joan of Arc and Napoleon. De Gaulle considered himself the modern Joan of Arc as he struggled against the occupation of the Germans. History is used politically to fulfill the designs of the nations who need to derive inspiration and hope from past events.

In the history of subcontinent, past events and personalities have either been politically revived or razed. The temple of Somanath was plundered and destroyed by Mehmood of Ghazni in 1025 AD. The event was largely forgotten, but after independence, some Hindu groups revived the memory of the destruction of temple and rebuilt it as a sacred monument. Romila Thapar in her book Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History points out how a forgotten event has been restored to inspire Hindu nationalism.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 25th, 2015

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