Subtitle:

Guests or Intruders? Polish Government-in-Exile. September 1939 -July 1943

Contributor:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Publisher:

Instytut Historii PAN

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Description:

334, [2] p. ; 21 cm ; Bibliography p. 308-321. Index ; Summary in English.

Abstract:

The book deals with the nature of the Polish Government-in -Exile covering the period from September 1939 to July 1943. Attention is drawn not to the political problems of this period , which are already well known from other works, butt o the exceptional conditions of functioning in exile, far from the occupied country , on alien though allied soil. Those aspects of the story seemed important in order to better understand the Allied policy toward Poland and the policy of the Polish Government itself. The aim of this study was to describe these conditions and their influence on the Polish Government’s position in France and Great Britain. A starting point for the period discussed here was provided by the formationo of the Polish Government in Paris on September 30, 1939 when President Władysław Raczkiewicz formally received resignation from the former premier Gen. Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski and appointed General Władysław Sikorski as Prime Minister. After the collapse of France the Government was evacuated to the British Isles, where until July 1945 it was recognized by the Allied Powers. The period discussed closes with the death of General Sikorski on July 4, 1943 in the air crash at Gibraltar. This tragic event led to serious conflicts in the Polish Government and to a decline in mutual Polish -British relations. It also coincided with other turning points in Poland’s history. In April 1943, Soviet-Polish diplomatic relations were suspended, following the discovery of the Katyń graves. This break in relations with one of the Big Three started the process of isolating the Polish Government on the arena of international politics. In addition it was also a time of increased misgivings about forming or supporting, by the Soviet Government, political groups and organizations laying claim to represent Polish nation. It was also the time when the distance between the occupied country and the exiled government began increasing. These circumstances changed the standing of the Polish Government-in -Exile.

Detailed Resource Type:

Book

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

oai:rcin.org.pl:63788 ; 83-86301-20-1

Source:

IH PAN, call no. I.7732 ; IH PAN, call no. I.7733 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

pol

Language of abstract:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of History PAS

Access:

Open