The emergence of nation states in the 19th century, the institutionalization of school systems and the corresponding teacher training led to the development of national education systems in the following centuries. These systems were shaped by various factors, including economic conditions, military activities, ideological paradigms, and cultural traditions. In the history of education, the internationalization of mathematics education is largely assumed progressive, which requires a critical examination. As we will show, these narratives can be questioned by investigating historical examples and the study of tensions between universal global trends and cultural-historical traditions.