We need you, Uncle Sam: Images of the USA Entry into World War I in Polish School History Textbooks During the First Two Decades of the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the content of Polish school textbooks for teaching history in the context of the USA’s entry into World War I in 1917. School textbooks have been chosen as the dominant source of student history knowledge. Fourteen textbooks were analysed: seven for the third stage of education (lower secondary schools) and seven for the fourth stage (upper secondary schools, technical schools). These were used between 2001 and 2017. The USA’s entry into the Great War undoubtedly had a decisive impact on the outcome of the global conflict. The article shows the way in which this subject was presented to students in schools. We analyse the information contained in the textbooks on the circumstances of this historical event and the conclusions and assessments formulated. Special attention is also paid to the didactic solutions applied.