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"Heroic Beginnings": Representations of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries in the Arab Gulf States' Historiography

Research Project
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01.08.2021
 - 31.07.2025

The recent efforts of the Gulf monarchies to establish national holidays and to unite the native population behind the flag testify to the ongoing nation building process in these states. However, the focus is not on the people, but on the respective ruling houses, which claim absolute power. Despite their authoritarian rule, the monarchs have never had confirmed their claim to power by popular decision. For historical processes, which were significantly influenced by foreign actors, laid the foundation for today's power structures. According to the ruling houses, the history of the country and of the people only came into being through their actions. In this way, they suppress any alternative interpretations of the past from the historiography. The research project starts at this point and explores the question of how the Gulf states interpret their national history. The focus lies on the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. At that time, the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain were struggling for supremacy along the Persian Gulf. The numerous Arab tribes knew how to make use of this situation and actively intervened as political actors. Those who were able to assert themselves successfully are today at the head of the super-rich monarchies. History textbooks serve as the object of study for this PhD project. As state-sanctioned teaching aids for public schools, these textbooks reflect the ruling dynasties' view of the country's history. The focus of this doctoral thesis therefore enables to study the historical education of the younger generations and to critically evaluate the country's deliberate production of history.

Members (2)

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Mustafa Nasar

Principal Investigator
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Maurus Reinkowski

Principal Investigator