In 1994, the historian Eric Hobsbawm described the twentieth century as being “without doubt the most murderous century of which we have record,... by the scale, frequency and length of the warfare which filled it.” 1 Wars, violent uprisings, ethnic cleansing, and genocides have been among the dominant features of this particularly deadly age, the brutality of which appears ever-present at the time of writing this volume in 2014 and 2015. The year 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I and the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The year 2015 witnessed the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide; the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, and the liberation of Auschwitz; the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge’s “killing fields” in Cambodia; and the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War. In the twenty-first century, experiences of mass violence have remained an ongoing reality for many. Around the world, countless lives continue to be shattered as a result of enduring violent conflicts.

The tragic legacy left by the violence experienced in the last decades has resulted in oft-voiced calls to remember and understand traumatic historical events, their causes and dynamics, and the circumstances that led to, or conversely hindered, their resolution. Education has been a main channel through which both local and external stakeholders have sought to promote understandings of and lessons from the past, with a view to preventing future wars and advancing peace and reconciliation. Today, addressing the topics of war and peace in the classroom is recognized as being critical to sensitizing young generations to the motto,“Never again.”