Cambridge University Professor David Abulafia claimed there was a tendency
to teach European history as a story about ever greater unity.
He warned teachers were using a “soft push” approach in class to mislead pupils into thinking being European citizens was more important than loyalty to their own countries.
The Mediterranean expert said: “There is a soft push to create a sense of European citizenship, which is based on frankly an invented common history, because the history of Europe is to a large extent the history of division, not the history of unity.”
He added the EU should not use “the myth of a common European identity” to suggest the EU was “inevitable” and justified by history.
His warning came with the launch of a campaign group, Historians For Britain, which is made up of 30 leading academics, who back an in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
He warned teachers were using a “soft push” approach in class to mislead pupils into thinking being European citizens was more important than loyalty to their own countries.
The Mediterranean expert said: “There is a soft push to create a sense of European citizenship, which is based on frankly an invented common history, because the history of Europe is to a large extent the history of division, not the history of unity.”
He added the EU should not use “the myth of a common European identity” to suggest the EU was “inevitable” and justified by history.
His warning came with the launch of a campaign group, Historians For Britain, which is made up of 30 leading academics, who back an in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
