Should Governments Enforce Historical Orthodoxy?

I try and avoid contemporary politics on this blog, but I felt a recent article by Timothy Garton Ash was sufficiently thought provoking to include. The article in question concerns attempts by governments to make certain historical “facts” enshrined in law, and challenges to them illegal. On the one hand you have the Holocaust denial laws in Germany, serving a purpose I’m sure few would dispute, but on the other you have laws in Turkey which prohibit certain historical positions with regard to Armenians. Garton Ash argues that these laws aren’t needed – indeed, he sees them as a restriction of free speech – and that our understanding of history should be created by debating the evidence and arguing down rivals, rather than locking them up. The article is far from perfect, but I hope it starts people thinking about the debate, even if you end up disagreeing.