A comparison of textbooks reflected i̇n the national struggle of Turkey and Algeria

One of the most important events in the history of nations is the struggle for independence. Passing the struggles on to future generations is as important as winning them. Schools are the most important institutions that perform this transfer. States, through the schools, try to create a common national culture and social order by transferring their official ideologies to future generations. The textbooks that are taught in schools after being prepared under the observation and supervision of states are among the most important tools that serve this purpose, because these books are prepared according to the curricula based on the needs of the society and make significant contributions to states for reaching their target, which is to create social order, as they are taught in all the schools throughout the country. In this research, it was investigated comparatively how the struggles of the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Algeria for independence are taught in the textbooks used in the related schools of the aforementioned countries. Used as the data source in the study, the way the Turkish national struggle was taught in the textbooks of Social Studies and TR Revolution History and Kemalism lessons given in the secondary schools of the Republic of Turkey was compared to the way the Algerian national struggle was taught in the textbooks of History lesson given in the primary and secondary schools of the Republic of Algeria. To provide a complete examination, the Algerian textbooks were translated into Turkish from Arabic. The study was carried out through the document analysis from the qualitative research methods, which are suitable for reviewing and analyzing written materials containing information about the events or phenomena that are aimed to be investigated due to their characteristic. As a result, it has been revealed that there are also similarities in addition to differences between the Turkish national struggle and the Algerian national struggle. In this context, it was determined that the Turkish national struggle and Mustafa Kemal were admiringly followed and taken as an example by the Algerian national fighters, however, this was not reflected in the Algerian textbooks.