Legislating History

In October, the Spanish parliament passed a Law on Historical Memory, which bans rallies and memorials celebrating the late dictator Francisco Franco. But this and similar attempts elsewhere to legislate history, while often a hallmark of democratization, can impede free thought or, worse, turn those with abhorrent views into martyrs.

NEW YORK -- In October, the Spanish parliament passed a Law on Historical Memory, which bans rallies and memorials celebrating the late dictator Francisco Franco. His Falangist regime will be officially denounced and its victims honored.

There are plausible reasons for enacting such a law. Many people killed by the Fascists during the Spanish Civil War lie unremembered in mass graves. There is still a certain degree of nostalgia on the far right for Fanco’s dictatorship. People gathered at his tomb earlier this year chanted “We won the Civil War!”, while denouncing socialists and foreigners, especially Muslims. Reason enough, one might think, for Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to use the law to exorcize the demons of dictatorship for the sake of democracy’s good health.

But legislation is a blunt instrument for dealing with history. While historical discussion won’t be out of bounds in Spain, even banning ceremonies celebrating bygone days may go a step too far. The desire to control both past and present is, of course, a common feature of dictatorships. This can be done through false propaganda, distorting the truth, or suppressing the facts. Anyone in China who mentions what happened on Tiananmen Square (and many other places) in June 1989 will soon find himself in the less-than-tender embrace of the State Security Police. Indeed, much of what happened under Chairman Mao remains taboo.

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