Wizerunek Polski (II RP, PRL i III RP) we współczesnych ukraińskich podręcznikach historii
Image of Poland (Second Polish Republic, Polish People’s Republic and Third Polish Republic) in Modern Ukrainian History Textbooks

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses which image of Poland is present in modern Ukrainian textbooks of history for pupils of 10th and 11th forms (regarding the period since 1918 till present) that were written after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014 and were published during 2018-2019. The study is based on content analysis of 30 textbooks on The History of Ukraine, World History and the integrated course “History: Ukraine and the World” for pupils of 10th and 11th forms. In order to determine how positive or negative is the image of Poland that is formed in the mind of the reader, the 4th year students of the History Department of Mykhaylo Kotsiubynsky Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University were asked to determine the number of mentions of the words Poland, Polish, the Poles etc. with positive, neutral and negative connotation in every textbook. The obtained results were then subject to quality analysis. We may observe the ambiguous reflection of the image of Poland in Ukrainian history schoolbooks, which is a logical reflection of long-lasting and complex historical relations between the Poles and the Ukrainians. In general, the image of Poland in The History of Ukraine textbooks is worse than the one presented in the World History textbooks as the authors were forced to show different sides of Polish-Ukrainian interaction in the 20th century. However, real historical conditions for Polish-Ukrainian friendship and cooperation at the current stage and the results of the work of the Joint International Committee of Experts on Improving the Content of School Textbooks have undoubtedly influenced the situation – in spite of highlighting truly difficult relations between the two peoples, the “enemy image” of Poland is not formed; attention is mostly focused on broad political, social, cultural and other circumstances that have led to ambiguous situations in Polish-Ukrainian relations. At the world history level authors mostly focused on presenting Poland as a victim of totalitarian regimes and a symbol of the fight for freedom.

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