ISSN 2039-2117 (online) ISSN 2039-9340 (print) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 6 No 6 November 2015 84 1 Law and Justice in the Discussion of Military Conflicts in 2 Russian Secondary School World History Textbooks 3 4 Tatyana Kudryavtseva 5 6 Vladimir Zemlyanicyn 7 8 Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 191186, 48, Moika emb., Saint Petersburg,Russia 9 10 Doi:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6p 11 12 Abstract 13 14 The paper analyzes the treatment of military conflicts and their legal resolution in current Russian history textbooks for 15 secondary school (grades 5-9), particularly in regard to shaping the students' notions of “just war”, “just peace” as well as the 16 legitimacy of making certain decisions in the international relations sphere. The conducted analysis allows us to claim that 17 Russian secondary school world history textbooks only touch upon the issues of justice and law. The textbooks are critical of 18 military ways of resolving international conflicts, and declare the importance and the fundamental possibility of diplomatic 19 solutions. They really shape the concept of a just war, but the legal evaluation of the opposing parties' actions is practically 20 inexistent. 21 22 Keywords: textbooks, history, secondary school, war, peace, justice. 23 24 25 Introduction 1. 26 27 The Federal State Education Standard for secondary education (hereinafter FSES) that is to become mandatory for all 28 Russian schools as of September 1, 2015, contains requirements for personal competency results of education. This 29 personal competency element contains a significant ideological component. For example, the students who have 30 mastered the secondary education program have to demonstrate patriotism, tolerance, ethical behavior and competence 31 in solving moral dilemmas (Federalnyj gosudarstvennyj obrazovatel’nyj standart dlja osnovnogo obshchego obrasovanja. 32 Retrieved Ɇɚɭ 30, 2015, p.5-6). Thus the modern Russian education increases the significance of the historical science's 33 character-building potential and its role in the self-identification process based on the exploration of humankind's 34 historical experience. The chief burden is certainly placed upon the Russian history course, however, it is closely 35 interlaced with the world history course, and also implies the reinforcement of the character-building component in the 36 world history courses. 37 38 Objectives, Methodology and Research Design 2. 39 40 While we are not aspiring to a comprehensive analysis of the current world history textbooks' morale-building potential, 41 we will attempt to discern the ways in which world history courses shape the notions of law and justice in international 42 relations and military conflicts. Our attention to this particular agenda is bound by the fact that the issues of making 43 certain decisions in international relations and their relationship to historical justice are especially volatile in the current 44 discourse within Russia, which, directly or vicariously, has undoubtedly impacted the way in which history is taught in 45 school. From this point of view it is crucial to determine how exactly these issues are covered in the educational materials 46 aimed at Russian students. The object of our analysis are the world history textbooks from the Federal index of textbooks 47 recommended for use in the state-accredited educational programs of the basic elementary, middle and secondary 48 education (Federalnij perechen’ uchebnikov, recomenduemykh k ispol’sovaniju pri realisatsii imejushchikh 49 gosudarstvennuju akkreditatsiju obrazovatel’nykh programm nachal’nogo obshchego, osnovnogo obshchego i srednego 50 obshchego obrasovanja. Retrieved Ɇɚɭ 30, 2015, p.64-67). Since the mastering of the FSES-based educational 51 programs will be specifically based on the textbooks listed in the Federal index, the source base for our research seems 52 sufficient for obtaining objective results. 53 54 55