Historical revisionism

Historical revisionism is the process in which one revisits, reexamines, or attempts to revise the established, commonly-held view of a historical event. This can be good for the field when the conclusions reached are supported by the evidence as it leads to a more accurate understanding of the past; or bad when it relies on incorrect, selective, or manipulated data.

The label 'historical revisionist', much like 'conspiracy theorist', is often used to dismiss heterodox perspectives without actually examining the evidence for and engaging with them.

One modern example of historical revisionism is the way the history of Tibet is taught in many Western capitalist countries. Tibet has been part of China since the Tang dynasty, over a thousand years ago, yet many Western history textbooks argue that Tibet was a distinct entity from China that was only forced to join China in 1950 after a supposed "invasion". Bourgeois historians also glorify the feudal era of Tibetan history when over 90% of the population were either slaves or serfs and living conditions were deplorable for most people. This gross mischaracterisation of Tibet's history is made by bourgeois propagandists in an attempt to lend legitimacy to separatist movements in China, which want to balkanize the modern Chinese nation-state.