In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, "Russians were hated more than Crimeans." Russia once again updated history textbooks

In 2025, new history textbooks for 7th and 8th grades were released in Russia, authored by Russian Presidential Aide, Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society Vladimir Medinsky and MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov. They were supposed to comply with the Kremlin's new ideological guidelines. However, just a year later, the authorities deemed it necessary to introduce new changes.

Journalists from the Russian publication RBC compared the two editions of the textbooks. For now, new versions are only available to authorized users of the "My School" electronic platform.

The 7th-grade textbook covers Russian history of the 16th-17th centuries. It tells about the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Time of Troubles, and the first tsars of the Romanov dynasty.

Kholops disappeared, and faith in the tsar grew

One of the corrections concerns the paragraph dedicated to the beginning of the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible. The authors changed the wording about the people's attitude towards the monarch. While the first edition stated that "faith in the sovereign as a guardian and protector strengthened," it now reads that "faith in the tsar as a protector of his land and Orthodoxy grew."

Another phrase, present in the paragraph "Russian society in the 11th century," also disappeared. Previously, the textbook stated that "all secular estates of the Russian Tsardom in the language of the 16th century were considered state kholops." In the new edition, it instead notes that all secular estates were divided into "serving people and taxable people."

Changes were also made to the "Let's summarize" section of the paragraph dedicated to the crisis of power and society at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. The previous version asserted that the spiritual and moral foundations, undermined during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, failed to restrain the estates from internecine war.

This explanation has now been removed. Instead, another version appeared:

"Attempts by the authorities to resolve socio-economic and political contradictions at the beginning of the 17th century were unsuccessful. The growing discontent of the estates led to a split in society. The country found itself on the brink of civil war."

More multinationalism

The assessment of the policy of Moscow princes in the Volga region also changed. In the summary of the paragraph "Heirs of the Golden Horde in the mid-16th century" in the 2025 edition, it was stated that "Russian grand dukes sought to take possession of the rich Volga region." In the new edition, it instead states that "Russian rulers sought to strengthen their influence in the rich Volga region."

In addition, the wording about the multinational character of Rus' changed. While earlier the same paragraph began with the assertion that "Rus' has always been a multinational country," in the new edition of the textbook, the authors wrote differently: "Rus' was built as a multinational country from its very beginning."

A new fragment emphasizing the multinational composition of the people's militia was also added to the paragraph "Saviors of the Fatherland," in the section dedicated to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky. According to the new version of the textbook, "the second militia was multinational, like all of Russia":

"It included Tatars, Bashkirs, Mordvinians, representatives of the peoples of the Volga region, and others, to liberate the capital of their state." This information was not in the first edition.

More hatred towards Russians from Western neighbors

Changes also affected paragraphs dedicated to the annexation of the Volga region and the beginning of the Livonian War. In the subsection "Russia and Crimea," a new explanation was provided for why Russia failed to make the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland its allies.

Павялічыць

While the 2025 edition stated that "Lithuania feared Russia's strengthening more than the raids of the Crimean Khanate. Although the Russian side during negotiations did not put forward the traditional demands to 'return our patrimonies Kyiv and Polotsk'," now the authors write that

the rulers of Lithuania and Poland "hated Russians more than Crimeans. Although the Russian side did not put forward legitimate demands to 'return our patrimonies Kyiv and Polotsk'."

Another correction concerns the description of the events of the Time of Troubles. While the previous edition stated that "Western powers and the Papal See" organized "military and spiritual aggression" against Russia, in the new version this is now called an "intervention."

Павялічыць

Emphasis on the voluntariness of "reunification with Russia"

The description of the Pereyaslav Rada in the paragraphs dedicated to Russia's foreign policy in the 17th century also changed. The new edition of the textbook states that "at the Pereyaslav Rada, the question of the voluntary reunification of the lands of Little Russia and the Zaporozhian Host with Russia was resolved." The 2025 edition spoke only of the "reunification of the lands of the Zaporozhian Host with Russia."

In addition, the description of the decision-making procedure itself disappeared. The previous edition of the textbook noted that "all volunteers participated" in the discussion: "To Hetman Khmelnytsky's question whether the Cossacks wanted to come under the rule of the Russian tsar, those present unanimously agreed. Colonels walked among the people for a long time, asking almost everyone if there were any dissenters." This fragment is no longer in the new version.

Павялічыць

More European context

Changes were also made to the Russian history textbook for the 8th grade. Some of the corrections relate to methodological materials and learning tasks. However, one of the main features of the second edition was the expansion of the international historical context.

This is most noticeable in topics dedicated to the Battle of Poltava, the reigns of Catherine II and Paul I. The new edition includes mentions of Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the reforms of Spanish King Charles III in the colonies.

Through these additions, the authors seek to show that the Russian Empire of the 18th century supposedly developed along the same lines as other great European empires. Catherine II's policy is presented as part of the pan-European era of enlightened absolutism, and Russia as one of Europe's leading empires alongside other colonial powers.

Vladislav Kononov, the executive secretary of the textbook series, told RBC that the new corrections were prepared together with teachers and reviewers. According to him, many clarifications were planned by the authors themselves during the preparation of the first edition.

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