The Polish Armed Forces and Society

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Polish society has long held favourable perceptions of the Polish armed forces. The nineteenth century laid the foundations of the high prestige enjoyed by the armed forces in Poland that continues to the present day. This prestige, however, was built around the legitimacy ascribed to the National Security role of the armed forces as the defender of nation and state. Although the armed forces have acted as Nation Builder and in Regime Defence in the last century, these roles were not seen as being fully legitimate from the perspective of Polish society. Indeed, as a consequence of the legacy of Regime Defence in the twentieth century, the Domestic Military Assistance role can be seen as being tainted, certainly with regard to dealing with civil disorder as compared to less controversial activity such as disaster relief. Since 1989 and the demise of communist Poland, the National Security role remains central but has undergone considerable reinterpretation in the light of the new security environment and national policy goals. There has been a gradual shift away from its more traditional guise of territorial defence of the Polish state towards a role that would see the needs of national security met by armed forces more readily employed on power projection operations in the context of NATO or in other forms of military coalition. Poland’s membership of NATO is undoubtedly a major external factor in this reorientation of the National Security role.