Antemurale Christianitatis as a Realist Strategy: Serbia, Poland, and Croatia in the Ottoman Frontier

This article interrogates the historical narrative of Antemurale Christianitatis through the theoretical prism of classical realism in international relations. Focusing on Serbia, Croatia, and Poland during their encounters with Ottoman expansion, it contends that the rhetoric of Christian bulwark functioned less as a reflection of theological conviction than as a strategic device aimed at extracting security guarantees, military aid, and diplomatic recognition from external powers. Rather than viewing this discursive tradition as an expression of collective religious identity, the analysis demonstrates how frontier states instrumentalised it in pursuit of material interests and regime survival. By situating the antemurale motif within the logic of security maximisation and asymmetrical alliance formation, the article contributes to a reconceptualisation of historical mythmaking as a form of geopolitical rationality. The findings offer broader insight into the mechanisms through which weak states narrate existential threat in order to shape external patronage within hierarchically structured international systems.