This article presents the image of the Polish People’s Army (LWP, 1943–1989) in contemporary history textbooks for secondary schools in Poland. In the narratives of the analysed textbooks, the issue of LWP is often an element of broader depictions concerning key historical phenomena and processes (e.g. the Sovietisation of Poland after 1945 or internal crises in the Polish People’s Republic, PRL). The present study covers five topics of varying scope as well as different approaches taken by the authors of the textbooks in their presentation: the formation of LWP and its combat path, LWP’s involvement in consolidating communist power, Sovietisation of the army, LWP’s participation in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the role of LWP in the internal crises in PRL.
The analysis makes it possible to conclude that, for instance, the texts objectively present the formation of the Polish army in the USSR in 1943 under the political leadership of the communist left and Soviet patronage. However, the portrayal of the LWP’s involvement in consolidating communist power in post‑war Poland is not entirely satisfactory. The textbooks present different approaches to the informal terminology used to describe the Polish army established in the USSR, which later existed as an ideological‑political continuation during the PRL period. In terms of the use of non‑ textual materials, there are significant differences between the textbooks. The narratives presented focus primarily on the political and repressive aspects of the army’s activities. The analysed texts practically omit the social and cultural role of the army in the everyday life of the Polish People’s Republic.