These politicians were outraged that the museum would exhibit something that would show even the slightest criticism of the United States or the military forces of the United States.
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However, according to politicians espousing a hyper nationalistic and militaristic agenda, the exhibit was an exercise in anti-Americanism. Other historians objected to the exhibit on the grounds that it adopted an essentially nationalist position justifying American atrocities, tried to minimize the depiction of horrible destruction and the immense loss of civilian life caused by the bombing and suppressed other facts which would reflect badly on the United States (Bird & Sherwin, 1995).
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The exhibit depicted the horrible destruction caused by the bombing however the establishment view that the bombing of two Japanese cities was necessary in order to force the Japanese government to surrender unconditionally, was presented in the exhibit (Bird & Sherwin, 1995). The historians at the Smithsonian were came up with what they thought was an objective position on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It becomes a device in the hands of people who wish to chart a particular course for their society, present a particular self-image of the society and establish the validity of certain beliefs (Lowenthal, 1998).Īn example of this can be seen in the Enola Gay exhibit controversy at the Smithsonian Institution. The Reason for Disagreement in the Views and Interpretations of the Pastīecause the past is used as a tool to determine the present and future course of a society, it’s self image and the validity of its beliefs. History is also a tool used to establish the validity of the current beliefs or ideas held by an individual, society or section of a society and the invalidity of the ideas and beliefs held by their ideological enemies (Lowenthal, 1998). Societies cite the real or imagined beliefs and actions of their real or imagined ancestors as evidence that they are a brave, generous and just people, similarly stories about the history of rival societies are told to show them in a bad light as compared to one’s own society (Lowenthal, 1998). Another aspect of the past is its role in determining the self-image of a human individual or society.