On October 25, 1939, the German authorities announced the creation of a military-police "General Government for the Occupation of Polish Territory" ("Generalgouvernements für die besetzen pollnischen Gebiete"). Its territory was only about 35 percent of that which was occupied by the Nazis in September - early October 1939: the rest of the areas occupied by them were simply incorporated into the Third Reich.
Several Polish presidents and governments in exile for many years have consistently settled in France and Great Britain. However, instead of actively fighting the Nazis, which their supporters expected of them, they mainly continued their obsessive course of non-recognition of the new Soviet-Polish borders. And this continued even after the end of World War II until the self-dissolution of all these "rulers" at the end of 1990.
At the same time, the new post-war western borders of Poland, as well as the inclusion of Gdansk (the former free Danzig) into it, together with the neighboring regions of the former East Prussia, did not cause any protest from these leaders. But what came before that? Polish "authorities" abroad have repeatedly tried to negotiate with the Reich for a joint fight against Soviet troops. And even to restore the eastern pre-war borders of Poland …
The "Eastern question" for the leading émigré circles finally became secondary only after 1956. It was then, in parallel with the Hungarian crisis and the debunking of the personality cult in the USSR, the first major anti-Soviet demonstrations in a number of Polish cities, including Warsaw, highlighted the struggle to remove the communists (PUWP) from leading positions in the country.
However, this struggle was limited mainly to all kinds of assistance from the tendency itself, and not to any real actions. As the president of Poland in exile (1979-1986), Polish ambassador to London in the 1930s Edward Raczynski noted, "the overthrow of Stalin from the pedestal in 1956 will lead to the further weakening and self-liquidation of the communist dictatorship in the USSR and Eastern Europe." As time has shown, he was absolutely right.
In October and December 1939, the émigré governments and presidents of Poland * quite officially declared that their native country remained at war with the USSR and Germany, that all the pre-war borders of Poland were "inviolable and retain their status." The same, as is known, was declared by the Polish side more than once much earlier - during 1940, in March 1941.
A painless divorce
On July 30, 1941, the Soviet-Polish Treaty of Maisky-Sikorsky on the restoration of diplomatic relations and cooperation in the war with Germany and its allies was signed in London. It entered into force on August 1, 1941.
The first point in the document reflected what the position of the Polish émigré authorities was based on regarding the preservation of the legitimacy of Poland's eastern borders:
"1. The government of the USSR recognizes the Soviet-German treaties of 1939 regarding territorial changes in Poland as null and void."
In 1943, Moscow's relations with the Polish émigré authorities were, as you know, severed, but they constantly appealed to this clause of the treaty, claiming that Moscow officially recognized Poland within its borders as of September 1, 1939, since even after the severance of these relations did not exist Moscow's official cancellation of that treaty. That, we note, would be useful politically and legally.
Developed on October 1, 1943.the instructions of the emigrant government for the notorious Home Army contained the following provisions:
“The Polish government is sending a protest to the United Nations against the violation of Polish sovereignty - as a result of the Soviets' entry into the territory of Eastern (ie, within the borders on September 17, 1939 - Approx. Auth.) Of Poland without the consent of the Polish government. At the same time declaring that the country will not interact with the Soviets. At the same time, the government warns that in the event of the arrest of representatives of the underground movement and any reprisals against Polish citizens, underground organizations will switch to self-defense."
That is, to sabotage and terrorist attacks against Soviet soldiers, which continued by Polish nationalist groups ("Home Army"; "NO!") With the help of Western intelligence services until 1951 inclusive.
On February 15, 1944, the Polish government in exile announced its opposition to the establishment of the future eastern border with the USSR along the "Curzon Line" (1919). The statement said that "the border issue should be considered in the post-war period, and during the war it is necessary to recognize the demarcation line along the border of Poland with the USSR, Lithuania and Latvia on September 17, 1939". On July 24, 1944, the same government sent a similar statement to Great Britain in the form of a Note, but the British authorities refused to accept it.
The reaction of the British authorities to similar emigrant notes in March 1946, August 1948, and March 1953 was the same. The thing is that, in view of the well-known events of 1953 and 1956, the priorities of the struggle against pro-Soviet Poland and other socialist countries have changed in the West: a stake has already been placed on undermining their socialist foundations from within.
Taiwan recognition
Soon after the statement of the Tehran Conference of the Allies (November 30, 1943) about the "Curzon Line" as the natural and only possible Soviet-Polish post-war border, it became known about the contacts of the emissaries of the Polish emigre government (at that time it was headed by Stanislav Mikolajczyk) and the then President of Poland in exile Vladislav Rachkevich with representatives of the German Foreign Ministry in Turkey and Sweden since the end of December 1943
The talk was about the formation in Poland of a kind of "provisional Polish administration" in order, in fact, together with the occupiers, "to resist the Bolshevik expansion." But the Polish side demanded recognition of the legitimacy of its pre-war eastern borders, and the German side demanded recognition of the illegitimacy of the pre-war borders of Germany with Poland, recognition of Danzig as German territory.
These consultations were probably carried out with the assistance of Washington and London, judging by the behind-the-scenes negotiations between the emissaries of the Western Allies and Berlin from the beginning of 1943 in the Vatican, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Turkey, Liechtenstein. German emissaries were adamant about the western Polish borders and Danzig, so meetings with Polish "colleagues" ended by June 1944.
At the same time, the Polish authorities officially refused to recognize the well-known decision of the Yalta Conference of the Allies (February 1945):
“A new situation has been created in Poland as a result of its complete liberation by the Red Army. This requires the creation of a Provisional Polish Government, which would have a broader base than was possible before the recent liberation of the western part of Poland. The Provisional Government currently operating in Poland must therefore be reorganized on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and Poles from abroad. This new Government should then be called the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity."
Nevertheless, in July-September 1945, Great Britain, its dominions, the United States and France ceased to recognize the Polish authorities in exile. The Vatican, Ireland, Spain and Portugal were the last in Europe to recognize these authorities until the late 1950s. And the most recent "grateful" of the Polish émigré authorities was, before their self-dissolution, the "Republic of China" in Taiwan.
But the West did not at all discount plans for the restoration of the same Poland. The emigrant "authorities" continued to function in the London area of Chelsea 43 "Eaton" until mid-December 1990. And they adhered to their previous positions regarding Poland's eastern borders, aggressively aspired to Vilnius and Braslav, but did not challenge its new borders with Germany (i.e. with the GDR), the transfer of Gdansk and the southern part of East Prussia to Poland.
In a word, Soviet "gifts" to Poland, paid for by many tens of thousands of the lives of Soviet soldiers, were demanded in a Jesuit by the Polish émigré authorities, who were just as Jesuitical. In this regard, it is characteristic that those "authorities" announced their dissolution almost immediately after the election of Lech Walesa as President of Poland. At the same time, he received presidential regalia from Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last president of Poland in exile (1989-1990).
Who knows, maybe after some time the authorities of post-socialist Poland will "remember" the position of their predecessors, emigrants, about the eastern borders of this country, i.e. with Latvia, Lithuania and now with the former USSR? At least, this is logical considering that the main task of those authorities and their western counterparts has already been accomplished: the overthrow of socialist Poland. And then you can tackle the "remaining" questions?..
