Great Britain, The Soviet Union and the Polish Government in Exile (1939–1945)

Great Britain, The Soviet Union and the Polish Government in Exile (1939–1945)
Author: G.V. Kacewicz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 9400992726

In this book I have attempted to analyze the dilemmas confronting the Polish government-in-exile in London during the Second World War. My main objective has beeen to investigate the actual operation of the Polish govern ment and the overall policies of the British government vis-a-vis the Soviet Union insofar as they had a direct bearing on Anglo-Polish relations. Since the outstanding conflicts over territorial claims, and, ultimately, sovereignty, were between Poland and the Soviet Union, considerable attention has been devoted to the relationship between the Polish and Soviet governments during a most trying and difficult period of inter-Allied diplomacy. This work covers the period of operation of the Polish government on British soil until the resignation of Prime Minister Stanislaw Mikolajczyk in November 1944. Although Great Britain did not withdraw diplomatic recognition from the Polish government until July 1945, the Arciszewski government, formed after Mikolajczyk's resignation, was generally ignored by Great Britain. As with all subsequent governments, including that which exists today, Arciszewski's government functioned primarily as the voice of Poland in the West - a government of protest.

The Polish Government in Exile, 1939-45

The Polish Government in Exile, 1939-45
Author: Bernadeta Tendyra
Publisher:
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2018-10-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780415454698

The "Polish Question" was both the immediate cause of the Second World War, and because of Stalin’s imposition of Soviet rule on Poland at the end of the war a cause of the Cold War which followed. How to resolve the "Polish Question" was a theme which affected international relations and planning for the post-war world throughout the war, and complicating the picture hugely was the Polish government-in-exile, which was led until 1943 by General Sikorski based in London, which had its own very strong views on the future for Poland, but which was divided by intense factional in-fighting. This book examines the Polish government-in-exile, discusses its internal factions and why they existed, and assesses the government-in-exile’s wider impact. It shows how Polish exile diplomacy was more important than hitherto recognised in shaping Allied wartime policy, how the Polish exiles’ tenacious clinging to ideals of Polish nationhood shaped their policies, though not in a united way, and how Sikorski struggled, controversially in the teeth of opposition from some of his colleagues, and ultimately unsuccessfully, to establish a Polish military presence in the east alongside the Red Army, with the aim of establishing a future Poland which would be independent, but an ally, though not a subordinate, of the Soviet Union. Overall, the book demonstrates the importance of the Polish exiles in maintaining the Polish sense of nationhood, with its attendant obsession with history, martyrdom and defining insecure borders.

Illusion and Necessity

Illusion and Necessity
Author: John L. Snell
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin
Total Pages: 252
Release: 1963
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN:

Britain and Poland 1939-1943

Britain and Poland 1939-1943
Author: Anita Prazmowska
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 1995-03-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521483858

Poland was a problematic issue for the Big Powers throughout the Second World War. For Britain, Poland was a major stumbling block in British-Soviet relations as Polish-Soviet territorial disputes clashed with the needs of the British-Soviet-United States alliance. As the Polish government-in-exile attempted to obtain a guarantee of British support, and many thousands of Polish troops fought for the British cause, the perception grew that the Churchill government had a debt to pay. Ultimately, however, it was a debt which Britain could not discharge because of its dependence on Soviet participation in the war. In this book Anita Prazmowska looks at British policies from the point of view of wartime strategy, relating this to Polish government expectations and policies. She describes a tragic situation where Polish soldiers were trapped between the grandiose and unrealistic plans of their government and the harsh realities of a war which they fought with no prospect of a satisfactory outcome for them or their country.

The Great Powers and Poland

The Great Powers and Poland
Author: Jan Karski
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 541
Release: 2014-01-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 144222665X

This definitive study provides a comprehensive diplomatic history of Poland during the most seminal period in its existence, when its destiny lay in the hands of France, Great Britain, and the United States. Although sovereign in principle, Poland was little more than an object of the Great Powers’ politics and rapidly changing relationships from the end of WWI to the end of WWII. Focusing on the shifting policies of the Great Powers toward Poland from the Treaty of Versailles to Yalta, the book ends with Poland’s tragic abandonment by the West into the hands of the Soviet Union. Enriched by unique anecdotal and archival material, this book will be essential reading for all those seeking to understand Poland’s role in twentieth-century history.

Yalta

Yalta
Author: S. M. Plokhy
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 587
Release: 2010-02-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1101189924

A major new history of the eight days in February 1945 when FDR, Churchill, and Stalin decided the fate of the world Imagine you could eavesdrop on a dinner party with three of the most fascinating historical figures of all time. In this landmark book, a gifted Harvard historian puts you in the room with Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt as they meet at a climactic turning point in the war to hash out the terms of the peace. The ink wasn't dry when the recriminations began. The conservatives who hated Roosevelt's New Deal accused him of selling out. Was he too sick? Did he give too much in exchange for Stalin's promise to join the war against Japan? Could he have done better in Eastern Europe? Both Left and Right would blame Yalta for beginning the Cold War. Plokhy's conclusions, based on unprecedented archival research, are surprising. He goes against conventional wisdom-cemented during the Cold War- and argues that an ailing Roosevelt did better than we think. Much has been made of FDR's handling of the Depression; here we see him as wartime chief. Yalta is authoritative, original, vividly- written narrative history, and is sure to appeal to fans of Margaret MacMillan's bestseller Paris 1919.