Many Eastern European nations face an odd predicament. They possess a surplus of history, but a deficit of useful narratives. That is, plenty of things have happened to them, but not enough has been done by them to establish a deeply rooted sense of shared destiny. In much of the region, national sovereignty has tended to be brief, partial, or intermittent. Empire, and the struggle against it, has tended to be the leading story, while opportunities to develop national mythologies independent of their influence have tended to be rather sparse.

—Jacob Mikanowski, Goodbye Eastern Europe, (Great Britain: Oneworld Publications Ltd, 2023), 309-310.