The Korean War in European Social Studies Textbooks

This paper examines how European social studies textbooks deal with the Korean War. The Korean War is not only a major Korean topic covered in foreign textbooks, but it is also an important historical event for European countries as tensions rose in the face of the entrenchment of the Cold War. This paper divides Europe into three regions: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and other European countries. The analysis shows that instead of three different views on the Korean War based upon region, each country has a different emphasis and way of narrating. Textbooks are an important medium in which official ideology and politics are reflected. Even if various perspectives on the Korean War exist, the mainstream view of each country, which is expressed in the textbooks, reflects the knowledge approved by the state.