Sentiments of Europe: History Education and European Identity in Germany, Poland, and Sweden

Across Europe, democratic politics are challenged by declining citizen engagement, weakened democratic identification, and increasing international pressures on democratic norms (Foley & Korkut 2022). These challenges are particularly pronounced in the Baltic Sea Region, where diverse historical experiences of democracy, authoritarianism, and European integration continue to shape political cultures. While earlier visions of European integration were shaped by cultural and national distinctions (Andrén 2020), shared democratic values gained prominence as markers of European identity after the end of the Cold War (Dahl 2025). History education plays a pivotal role in integration and identity formation by providing shared frames of reference (Carretero et al. 2012). This explains the interest of the Council of Europe to strengthen a shared European cultural framework through history education that promotes democratic values such as gender equality and cultural diversity (Cajani 2023). At the same time, interpretations of Europe’s past are contested, as memories of war, dictatorship, and postwar transformation remain politically salient (Dahl 2023). Against this backdrop, history

education is also a key arena for identity conflicts in Europe (Colla & Michele et al. 2023), as European identity is negotiated through divergent and often conflicting historical experiences.

The purpose of this project is to show how notions of European identity are constructed, contested, and emotionally framed in upper secondary history education (gymnasium) in Germany, Poland, and Sweden – three interconnected countries in the Baltic Sea Region with distinct historical trajectories. By doing so, the project generates insight into how history education contributes to European identity in the Baltic Sea Region. It combines textbook and

curriculum analysis with interviews with history teachers, examined in relation to the Council of Europe’s guidelines for European values in history education. The project advances knowledge of European identity in the Baltic Sea Region by extending history education research through transcultural perspectives and emotional dimensions of historical meaningmaking. It traces changes in history education from the end of the Cold War with a focus on the present.