# 28. Historical manipulation ## 28.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 28.5.2. Retrospective falsification This term was first coined to refer to the process of telling a story that is factual to some extent, but which gets distorted and falsified over time by re-telling it with embellishments. The embellishments may include conflating events, speculation, using different times and places, and the incorporation of historical material without checking accuracy or plausibility. The term is used in psychology to describe the process of creating false memories by selecting and reshaping incidents from the past to fit present needs. Retrospective falsification occurs in most, if not all, people and is generally an unconscious process. The overriding force that drives the story is to find or invent details that fit with a desired outcome. The process can be conscious or unconscious. The original story gets remodelled with favourable points being emphasised and unfavourable ones being dropped. The distorted and false version becomes a memory and record of a remarkable tale. A manipulator uses this tendency to alter historical recollection. For instance, all "battles were glorious", simply because all defeats have been removed from the public record. "All generals are courageous", because all the cowards were shot and forgotten about. "All soldiers were honourable and brave”, because all the others have been disregarded, silenced and forgotten. Examples of this process include stories of miraculous events, the glamorisation of failed or costly military actions, the covering-up of war-crimes, and the rewriting of biographies of politicians with poor reputations to make them seem more virtuous than they really were. When this process occurs consciously, as it often does in manipulative politics, it may be called by other names, such as "political historical revisionism." Historical revisionism is a central pillar of the political manipulator's art and is widely used by all colours of politicians. The technique is also used in the corporate world where some companies work hard to rewrite their own corporate histories. There are many cases of global corporations that have (and are) engaged in the process of retrospective falsification. They all have some serious skeletons in their corporate wardrobes that they would prefer us to forget about, many dating back to Vietnam and even WWII. Governments constantly employ retrospective falsification in education constantly to alter the next generation's view of history in order to fit their current political agenda. For instance, the use of a history textbook sceptical about Britain's entry into the EU was published in 2008 and immediately employed in the British A level curriculum after the Conservative party came into power. ***Parent:** [[Historical Manipulation]]*