History as Politics: Mythologization of the Past and Contemporary Memory Strategies in Poland

Abstract

The article explores political mythology and contemporary memory policy in Poland as key instruments for shaping collective identity, legitimizing power, and implementing foreign policy strategy. The aim of the study is to analyze Poland’s political mythology and memory policy through the lens of contemporary mnemonic regimes, to identify how historical narratives function within national identity structures, and to examine the institutional mechanisms of memory politics in both domestic and international contexts. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the concepts of cultural memory (J. Assmann), political myth (C. Bottici, Ch. Flood), symbolic politics (E. Langenohl), and the mnemonic regimes approach (M. Bernhard, J. Kubik). The article identifies four major types of Polish political myths: the founding myth (the baptism of Poland and state-building), the heroism myth (victories at Grunwald and Vienna), the victimhood myth (partitions, uprisings, the Holocaust, Katyn), and the struggle myth (the fight for independence, the Intermarium doctrine). It examines how these myths are structured in public discourse and the symbolic space. Special attention is given to the concepts of Greater and Lesser Poland, as well as the Three Seas Initiative as modern forms of projecting Poland’s historical mission at the regional level. The article analyzes institutional (Institute of National Remembrance), legal, educational, and cultural tools of implementing memory policy, as well as their impact on memory conflicts with Ukraine, Russia, and Germany. It is argued that Poland’s memory policy constitutes a complex and strategically oriented system that combines political mythology, historical narratives, and institutional mechanisms to shape national identity, legitimize the state’s political course, and assert geopolitical subjectivity. By employing mnemonic regimes, symbolic practices, legal instruments, and foreign policy communication, the past is transformed into a resource of contemporary politics.