Unification of the Historical Memory of Youth as a Socio-political Problem

The aim of the article is to analyze the features and orientation of the process of unification of the historical memory of Nizhny Novgorod youth. The research methodology is based on the principle of the integrity and consistency of public policy in this area. The results of our research in 2005–2025 allow us to conclude that the identification of the features of the process of preserving and reproducing the historical memory of young generations is still relevant, and that there is a unity of opinion among Nizhny Novgorod youth on the fundamental issues of the history of the Great Patriotic War, indicating the continuity of historical consciousness. On the other hand, the data obtained in the process of identifying and analyzing the sequence, conditionality and effectiveness of state historical policy indicate the prevalence of historical unconsciousness among some young people, which poses a threat of significant distortion of the historical consciousness of future generations. The discussion of the problem shows that government influence on the process of forming and changing the historical memory of youth is accompanied by insufficiently substantiated attempts to unify it, which has little effect on deepening the consolidation of society. The results of the research indicate that the increased attention of society and the state to the content of school history textbooks is not only extremely necessary, but also noticeably late. In conclusion, the authors emphasize that the collective historical memory of various generations, which is a condition for the stability of modern Russian society, cannot be preserved in the minds of young people without special efforts by society and the state. It should focus on forming a historical consciousness based on the inseparable history of Russia, on approaches that reflect the combination of diversity and unification as fully as possible, and on historical events related to the personality of a young man.