title: Infested with History
abstract: This chapter presents the rationale of the volume with its focus on two pairs of countries mired in complex conflicts and shared histories (Armenia-Azerbaijan and Russia-Ukraine). It discusses how “preparation” of the young generation to inspire them to fight for their country is at the center of history education policy and memory practices in the four countries. It also elucidates the crucial roles played by textbooks and curricula in this process, in which the past is instrumentalized to just