The year 2022 marked a significant centennial in Greek history—the one hundredth anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, a pivotal event that reshaped Greek identity and left a lasting imprint on collective memory. The Asia Minor Catastrophe has a significant impact on the collective memory and historical consciousness of modern Greece. This historical perception influences citizens' attitudes towards contemporary Greek–Turkish relations. Our recent study delves into how 18-year-old adolescents in Athens perceive this historic event and its relevance to contemporary Greek-Turkish relations. Through semi-structured interviews, we explored whether adolescents' views on the Asia Minor Catastrophe influence their attitudes toward current Greek-Turkish issues and vice versa. This research not only sheds light on the historical consciousness of young Greeks but also bridges the gap between past events and present-day foreign policy perceptions.

Our findings reveal that Greek adolescents tend to view history through a traditional and paradigmatic lens, heavily influenced by national narratives and collective memory. This perspective often portrays the Greek nation as a victim, a theme that resonates deeply with their historical consciousness. Interestingly, this perception is not solely based on ancestral connections but is also shaped by modern political contexts and familial influences. Adolescents often interpret historical events like the Asia Minor Catastrophe as a continuum, linking past Turkish aggressions with contemporary geopolitical tensions. These insights underscore the profound impact of historical narratives on shaping national identity and attitudes towards foreign relations. We believe that by understanding these dynamics, we can better appreciate the intricate interplay between history and current affairs in shaping the worldviews of future generations.

We chose to publish this research in response to a call for papers in historical perspectives in history education. Publishing in an open-access journal, like History Education Research Journal, was an opportunity of many benefits. Firstly, our research becomes accessible to everyone, not just those with subscriptions to certain journals. This means more people can read, benefit from, and cite our work. This can help spread our ideas and findings more broadly, potentially influencing a wider range of readers and researchers. Moreover, our work gets published and available faster compared to traditional journals. Finally, publishing in History Education Research Journal our work can reach researchers in different fields and countries, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and new perspectives.

Greek adolescents on the Asia Minor Catastrophe: perceptions of the past, views on the present, expectations for the future by Maria Repoussi (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) and Georgia Kouseri (Greek Ministry of Education, Greece) is part of the HERJ Special Series, History education in historical perspective and published in History Education Research Journal, volume 22.

Μaria Repoussi is a historian, Professor of History and History Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Her research interests mainly concern history didactics in many of its aspects such as teaching and learning in history, contents and methods, textbooks, the gender of school history, new challenges such as digital culture, as well as recent epistemological currents or symbolic wars that concern it. She has numerous international publications, she co-edited The Palgrave Handbook of Conflict and History Education in the Post-Cold War Era (2019) and she has contributed to many international volumes on History Education

Georgia Kouseri is a history teacher in secondary education. She has been working also as an academic fellow in Higher Education at the Department of Pre-School Education of the University of Thessaly (academic years 2019-2021) and at the Department of Primary Education of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the field of History teaching (academic years 2022-2023). Her scientific interests include history teaching and the use of the past in formal and informal education settings, oral and local history. She has authored a book as well as articles in journals and edited volumes in Greek and English.

HERJ historical consciousness national identity History Education Research Journal Asia Minor Catastrophe adolescents historical perceptions