The cornerstone of unity

36 HISTORIANS WITHOUT BORDERS
How can historians contribute to conflict resolution and conflict prevention?
There are numerous examples of how different views and interpretations of even very ancient history 
continue to play a role in creating and stoking conflicts and in hampering efforts for conflict resolution. And even 
when conflicts are resolved with peace agreements, the unaddressed history you think you have buried can 
return to haunt you and at worst lead to a renewal of the conflict.
Post-conflict work also entails writing the history of the conflict in a way which meets the approval of all 
parties to it. We can well imagine how challenging this will be for writing a common history of Cyprus, not to 
mention how to write Middle Eastern history, if and when a lasting peace can be made between Israel and 
Palestine. 
Most historians will deplore those in our profession who have willingly lent their names and work to instigating 
and amplifying conflicts. Thus we are more likely to encounter cases where the work of historians has been 
misused by politicians and demagogues for questionable purposes. 
History and politics have always been intertwined, but the concept of Politics of History is relatively new and its 
roots lead to Germany, where the concept of 
vergangenheitsbewältigung 
has shown the right way to deal with 
one’s difficult history. This does not mean the management of history in the sense of manipulating it, but rather 
refers to addressing one’s history with an open mind and coming to terms with it, warts and all.
The list of countries who have dealt as openly with their own history is very short compared to the long list of 
countries where even any attempts to do so have been rejected. Japan and Russia come easily to mind. But not 
all the countries we regard as liberal democracies pass critical scrutiny. This can be said of former colonial 
powers in general, which still have difficulties in openly addressing the dark corners of their colonial wars in 
Algeria, Kenya and elsewhere. 
In Finland history also has had a central role in constructing our national awareness and state institutions 
during the 19th century, which lead to polemics with Russian historians. Only much later has it been possible to 
admit that the Russians too may have had valid arguments when criticising the Finnish-Nationalist arguments 
used in the struggle to defend Finnish autonomy. 
Also after our independence in 1917 historians were recruited to support nationalist ambitions for a Greater 
Finland. After the armistice in 1944 historians were again called on to propagate the thesis of Finland as 
Germany’s cobelligerent conducting a completely separate war against the Soviet-Union. Also during the Cold 
War Finns resorted to convoluted historical narratives which were useful for us living in the shadow of the Soviet-
Union.
The 1918 Civil War which broke out immediately after our independence left deep wounds in our society. 

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These were kept unhealed by the way the war was commemorated by the opposing sides. Nor did historians 
always contribute to the healing, often actually exacerbating the wounds. But new writers both in literature and in 
historiography have since the beginning of the sixties promoted understanding and reconciliation. Today it is 
possible to view the events of the Civil War without linking different interpretations and opinions in any 
meaningful way to issues concerning or dividing Finns today. 
What happened in Finland in 1918 was not unique in the world, then or today. Fortunately we have been able 
to gradually foster a mind-set emphasizing a common responsibility to intervene to prevent and stop all human 
rights violations and war crimes.
Today we have no real domestic fights over history, nor open historical issues with other countries either. 
Finland is one of the few countries in the world that has not undergone any sudden or violent regime changes 
during its hundred years of independence. Regimes changes almost inevitably lead to some purges and 
rewriting of history. When dictatorships fall, it is understandable and maybe also necessary that the statues and 
monuments erected in their honour also fall.
Post regime-change situations will always entail a demand for the work of historians. While they should be 
ready to make their knowledge, experience and research results available to those directly engaged in these 
processes, they should not allow themselves to become institutional parts of them, much less take any role 
resembling that of a judge. 
A regime change, whatever the viciousness of the former regime, should not and cannot entail erasing history, 
or the eradication of all the very concrete marks and monuments the 
ancien regime
has left. A cultured approach 
to historical monuments should leave an environment where traces of all our history, the more unpalatable and 
unsavoury parts of it included can be seen and, as times passes, can be regarded as historical relics which need 
not unduly bother future generations but will serve as focal points in understanding our common past.
As a historian and in my work of as Minister for Foreign Affairs I have in both capacities been frustrated by 
the all too frequent misuse of history. It also lead me to ask, could we turn this the other way and ask what can 
historians do, not only to prevent the misuse of their work but also to actively contribute to conflict prevention 
and resolution. 
Discussing this with historians and diplomats engaged in mediation in Finland and elsewhere gave us the 
impetus to found Historians without Borders in Finland as an NGO in June 2015. Our membership today includes 
most of the history professors in our universities and hundreds of others working in one way or another with 
historical issues and conflicts.
Our founding meeting was addressed by the Finnish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, who 
recalled the numerous occasions on which he as a mediator was faced with the difficulties that history kept 
making for mediation efforts. 
Our purpose was to make the initiative truly global. We therefore arranged the international Conference on 
the Use and Abuse of History in Conflicts at the University of Helsinki in May last year. The Conference ended 
with the 300 participants agreeing on a declaration creating the network of Historians without Borders.
 
In this declaration the signatories to continue working together in order to 
•
Deepen general and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of history; 
•
Promote open and free access to historical material and archives; 
•
Encourage interactive dialogue between different views and interpretations of history to assist in the process of 
mutual understanding; 
•
Support efforts to identify the abuse of history in fostering and sustaining conflicts, 
•
Help defuse conflicts and contribute to conflict-resolution processes; 
•
Promote the teaching of history in the spirit of this declaration; 
•
Incorporate an understanding of the role of women and gender perspectives in efforts to build peace and resolve 

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conflicts; 
We invited all professional historians and others working with historical issues and international relations, who 
wish to build better mutual understanding of history and want to prevent the misuse of history to create and 
foster conflicts, to join our network.
In the numerous meetings with historians we have had in all over the world both before and after the 
conference the welcome the initiative has received has been overwhelmingly positively.
Our work means i.a. bringing historians dealing with conflicts together, making their knowledge, experience 
and expertise available to international organisations and others engaged in mediation efforts and initiating 
research on issues that can contribute on the fulfilment of our aims. 
We are living in increasingly ahistorical times where people’s awareness and understanding of from where 
and how we have arrived at where we are today is diminishing rather than increasing. One consequence of this 
ignorance is that it also makes it more difficult to see into the future and shape it, fostering what is sometimes 
described as postmodern here-and-now short-termism. 
To assert that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it may or may not be true, but 
ignorance will always increase the risk of being made an unconscious prisoner of history and prey to the 
machinations of politicians seeking to exploit history for their own ends. 
Historians without Borders wants to contribute actively to removing history as an instrument in fostering 
conflicts and hampering efforts at conflict resolution, and to use it as a means for creating more common 
understanding and enhancing conflict prevention.
Erkki Tuomioja 
– Minister for Foreign Affairs 2000-2007
and 2011-2015. Chairperson of the network
of Historians without Borders.