Finska kriget 1808–1809 i svenska och finska gymnasieböcker i historia

Abstract

The article discusses how a historical turning point, the Finnish war 1808–1809, has been described in a sample of Swedish and Finnish upper secondary school history textbooks. A chronological comparison is made in order to examine the changes over time. A question of interest is if there are national differences in the perspectives of the texts. The article presents a tentative typology based on the breadth and depth of the descriptions. In general, the descriptions of the Finnish war events have become shorter. However, the Finnish textbooks give more space to this event, while the Swedish textbooks, especially since the 1960s, only mention the war briefly. The description of this war exemplifies the shifting preferences in the choice of content, and the changing foci of historical knowledge in history textbooks. More generally, the changes in this topic can also be explained by the varying conceptions of national history and different historical cultures in these countries.