Poland's Changing Borders

Poland's borders were radically adjusted in 1945, leaving Polish communists with a daunting task of explaining these changes. The examination of press coverage demonstrates that the Lublin Government and its later incarnations strategically employed historical narrative, framing the territorial alterations as a form of “historical justice.” Countless articles and reports consistently insisted on the Western aspirations of the Piast dynasty and the subsequent mismanagement of the national boundaries by the Jagiellonian kings. By proclaiming the fulfillment of the Piast original intend and its triumph over the East-centered Jagiellonians, Polish communists intentionally reframed the relationship between East and West and Poland’s position within that framework.