DISINFO: Membership in NATO shapes Polish historical policy
SUMMARY
Poland occupies an important position in NATO as the Polish Army is one of the largest in this organisation – that is why Warsaw is forced to promote a specific type of historical policy (presentation of Poland as a defender from the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and modern “hybrid” Russia).
RESPONSE
This message distorts the nature of NATO membership – this organisation is a political and military union; it does not “force” its members to promote certain messages in their historical policies. See other disinformation narratives about NATO here. The Polish historians pay careful attention to the study of conflicts with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union not because of “an important position of Poland in NATO”, but because of the high historical meaning of these wars for Poland. In total, there were about 18 major Polish-Russian wars and military conflicts between the XV and XX centuries. See other examples of disinformation on the Russia-Poland relations here and here.