Polish Underground State

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Polish Underground State
Polskie Państwo Podziemne
1939–1945[1][2]
Motto: "
Government in exile
Common languagesPolish
President of the Polish government-in-exile 
• 1939–1945
Władysław Raczkiewicz
Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile
 
• 1939–1940 (first)
Władysław Sikorski
• 1944-1945 (last)
Tomasz Arciszewski
Legislature
Historical eraWorld War II
23 April 1935
1 September 1939
28 June 1945[1][2]
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Second Polish Republic
Provisional Government of National Unity

The Polish Underground State (Polish: Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State)[a] was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile in London. The first elements of the Underground State were established in the final days of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, in late September 1939. The Underground State was perceived by supporters as a legal continuation of the pre-war Republic of Poland (and its institutions) that waged an armed struggle against the country's occupying powers: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The Underground State encompassed not only military resistance, one of the largest in the world,[b] but also civilian structures, such as justice, education, culture and social services.

Although the Underground State enjoyed broad support throughout much of the war, it was not supported or recognized by the far left (communists). The nationalists from the

National Radical Camp ABC opposed the German occupation of Poland and the two movements were quickly replaced by the Confederation of the Nation
, a part of the Polish Underground State which also included most members of the pre-war far-right. The influence of the communists eventually declined amid military reversals (most notably, the failure of the Warsaw Uprising) and the growing hostility of the USSR. The Soviet Union had created an alternative, puppet government in 1944 (the Polish Committee of National Liberation) and ensured it formed the basis of the post-war government in Poland. During the Soviet-backed communist takeover of Poland at the end of the war, many Underground State members were prosecuted as alleged traitors and died in captivity. Abandoned by the Western Allies, finding it impossible to negotiate with the Soviets, and wishing to avoid a civil war, the key institutions of the Underground State dissolved themselves in the first half of 1945.

Ultimately, hundreds of thousands of people were directly involved with various agencies of the Underground State (

Polish law. The scale of the Underground State was also inadvertently aided by the actions of the occupiers, whose attempts to destroy the Polish state, nation, and its culture, including most importantly genocidal policies
that targeted Polish citizens, fuelled popular support for the Polish resistance movement and its development.

During the

communist partisans
played in the anti-Nazi resistance. Hence, until recently, the bulk of research done on this topic was carried out by Polish scholars living in exile.

History

1939–1940: Formation

In many respects, the history of the Polish Underground State mirrors that of the Polish non-communist resistance in general. The Underground State traces its origins to the

Polish Government in Exile, envisioned itself not only as an armed resistance organization, but also as a vehicle through which the Polish state continued to administer its occupied territories.[7]

Following the

Sanacja regime who resided in France and had the support of the French government, would become the Polish Commander-in-Chief (on 28 September) and Poland's Prime Minister (on 30 September).[9][11][12] This government was quickly recognized by France and the United Kingdom.[13] Raczkiewicz, described as "weak and indecisive", held relatively little influence compared to charismatic Sikorski.[14]

Due to political differences among factions in the Polish exile government, and in particular, SZP ties to the Sanacja regime which dominated the Polish government since the mid-1920s, the SZP was reorganized into the Union of Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, ZWZ) on 13 November 1939.[13][15] Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski supported that move, aiming to include parties marginalized by the Sanacja regime, and supported the formation of the Main Political Council (Główna Rada Polityczna, GRP).[11] Sikorski named General Kazimierz Sosnkowski the head of the ZWZ and Colonel Stefan Rowecki was appointed the commander of the ZWZ German occupation zone. Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski became the commander of the ZWZ Soviet zone but was arrested in March 1940 by the Soviets when attempting to cross the new German-Soviet border.[13] In June Sikorski appointed Rowecki as the commander of both zones.[13]

Władysław Sikorski, Polish commander in chief and prime minister during World War II

Given that the ZWZ focused on military aspects of the struggle, its civilian dimension was less clearly defined and developed more slowly—a situation exacerbated by the complex political discussions that were then unfolding between politicians in occupied Poland and the

fall of France, in London).[11][16][17] Sikorski's government opted for a much more democratic procedure then the less democratic prewar Sanacja regime.[9][18][19] The National Council (Rada Narodowa) was formed by the government in exile in December 1939, including representatives from different Polish political factions.[9] Meanwhile, in occupied Poland, a major step toward the development of the organization's civilian structure was taken in late February 1940, when the ZWZ established its local version of the National Council, the Political Consultative Committee (Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy, PKP).[16][20] PKP was formed in 1940 pursuant to an agreement between several major political parties: the Socialist Party, People's Party, National Party and Labor Party. In 1943 it was renamed to Home Political Representation (Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna) and in 1944 to Council of National Unity (Rada Jedności Narodowej).[21]
: 235–236 

The structures in occupied Poland maintained close communication with the government in exile, through radio communications and "hundreds, if not thousands" of couriers, such as Jan Karski.[22][23][24] One of the most significant developments of 1940 was the creation of the office of Government Delegation for Poland (Delegatura Rządu na Kraj), with Cyryl Ratajski (nominated on 3 December) as the first Delegate; this event marked the official beginning of the Underground State (Ratajski would be followed by Jan Piekałkiewicz, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and Stefan Korboński).[25][1] The post of the Delegate could be seen as equivalent to that of a Deputy Prime Minister (particularly since the legislation of 1944).[1][26] Unlike the GRP and PKP, which operated alongside the military structures but had no influence over them, the Delegation had budgetary control over the military.[27] The Delegation was to oversee the military and recreate the civilian administration.[27]

As early as 1940, the Underground State's civilian arm was actively supporting

social security, information (propaganda) and justice networks.[28][29][30]

1941–1943: Growth

By 1942, most of the differences between politicians in occupied Poland and those in exile had been positively settled.

In August 1943 and March 1944, the Polish Underground State announced its long-term plan, which was partly designed to undercut the attractiveness of some of the communists' proposals.

income redistribution, aiming at a reduction of economic inequality.[33][40] The plan promised land reform, nationalization of the industrial base, demands for territorial compensation from Germany, and re-establishment of the country's pre-1939 eastern border.[36] According to the plan, the country's Eastern borders, as delineated by the 1921 Treaty of Riga, would be kept while in the north and west compensation would be sought from German territories.[39] Thus, the main differences between the Underground State and the communists, in terms of politics, were not rooted in radical economic and social reforms, which both sides advocated, but rather in their divergent positions on such issues as national sovereignty, borders, and Polish-Soviet relations.[36] The program was criticized by the nationalist factions, for being too socialist, and not "Christian" enough.[40]

The Underground State achieved its zenith of influence in early 1944.[36] In April, the Polish government in exile recognized the administrative structure of the Delegate's Office as the Temporary Governmental Administration.[41] This was when the Delegate officially became recognized as the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers at Home (Krajowa Rada Ministrów, KRM) was created.[26] The Underground State however declined sharply in the aftermath of the nationwide uprising, Operation Tempest, initiated in the spring of 1944.[42] In addition to the costly and eventually unsuccessful Warsaw Uprising part of the Operation Tempest, the hostile attitude of the Soviet Union and its puppet Polish government, the Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN) towards the non-communist resistance loyal to the Polish government in exile proved to be disastrous.[42] The Underground State assumed that the Polish resistance would aid the advancing Soviet forces, and AK commanders and representatives of the administrative authority would assume the role of legitimate hosts.[1] Instead, the Soviets commonly surrounded, disarmed and arrested the Underground's military authority members and its civilian representatives, instituting their own administrative structures instead.[43][44] In early July 1944, even as the AK resistance continued its struggle against the Germans, the Underground State was forced to order the AK and its administrative structure to remain in hiding from the Soviets, due to continued arrests and reprisals experienced by those who revealed themselves.[1]

1944–1945: Decline and dissolution

Events taking place in 1943 significantly weakened the Polish government in exile. A rift developed between Poland and the Soviet Union, an increasingly important ally for the West, particularly after the revelation of the

puppet government for Poland, and the PKWN was proclaimed in 1944.[51] PKWN was recognized by the Soviet Government as the only legitimate authority in Poland, while Mikołajczyk's Government in London, was termed by the Soviets an "illegal and self-styled authority."[52] Mikołajczyk would serve in the Prime Minister's role until 24 November 1944, when, realizing the increasing powerlessness of the government in exile, he resigned and was succeeded by Tomasz Arciszewski, "whose obscurity", in the words of historian Mieczysław B. Biskupski, "signaled the arrival of the government in exile at total inconsequentiality."[49][51]

Stefan Korboński, the last delegate

The communists refused to deal with the Underground State just like they refused to deal with the government in exile; its leaders and soldiers in "liberated" Polish territories were persecuted.[43] A number of prominent leaders of the Underground State, including the Government Delegate, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and the last AK Commander-in-Chief, General Leopold Okulicki, who decided to reveal themselves and upon the Soviet invitation begun open negotiations with the communist authorities, were arrested and sentenced by the Soviets in Moscow in the infamous Trial of the Sixteen (arrests were carried out in March 1945, and the trial itself took place in June that year).[1][43][53][54][55] On 27 June 1945 the Council of National Unity held its last session, issuing a 12-point declaration demanding that the Soviet army leave Poland and the repression of the non-communist political parties cease.[1][2] The Government Delegate's Office at Home, restructured after the arrests of its leadership and headed by the last Delegate, Stefan Korboński, disbanded on 1 July, after the creation in Moscow of the Provisional Government of National Unity (Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej, TRJN) on 28 June 1945.[56][57] The disbanding of those structures marked the end of the Underground State.[1][2]

The TRJN was composed primarily of communist representatives from the PKWN, with a token representation of the opposition as a gesture towards the Western Allies.

Polish legislative election of 1947, the few independent politicians like Mikołajczyk who attempted to form an opposition were threatened with arrests, retired or emigrated.[59]

The Underground State's military arm, Armia Krajowa, officially disbanded on 19 January 1945 to avoid armed conflict with the Soviets and civil war.

Freedom and Independence) that refused to lay down their weapons and surrender to the communist regime continued to hold out for several years as the cursed soldiers, fighting the Soviet-backed communist forces until eradicated.[43][56][64]

Political representation

The Underground State represented most, though not all, political factions of the

The most important groups that lacked representation in the Underground State included the communist (

Group Szaniec and its military arm, the Military Organization Lizard Union).[69] Both the extreme left (the communists) and the extreme right (the nationalists) saw themselves in opposition to the Underground State.[66] Only the PPR, however, opposed to Polish independence and supporting full inclusion of Poland in the Soviet Union, was seen as completely outside the framework of the State; the other groups were seen as a legitimate opposition.[70] In 1944 PPR would become part of the PKWN Soviet puppet government.[70]

Structure

Civilian

Polish Underground State's underground Information Bulletin, 15 July 1943, reporting the death of Gen. Sikorski and ordering a national day of mourning

The government in exile, located first in France and later in the United Kingdom, with the

Polish Army was the top military and civilian authority, recognized by the authorities of the Underground State as their commanders.[9][71] The government in exile was represented in the occupied Poland by the Government Delegation for Poland, headed by the Government Delegate for Poland.[1]

The main role of the civilian branch of the Underground State was to preserve the continuity of the Polish state as a whole, including its institutions. These institutions included

police), secondary and higher-level education, and supported various cultural activities such as the publishing of newspapers and books, underground theatres, lectures, exhibitions, concerts and safeguarded various works of art.[11][1][73] It also dealt with providing social services, including to the destitute Jewish population (through the council to Aid Jews, or Żegota).[1] Through the Directorate of Civil Resistance (1941–1943) the civil arm was also involved in lesser acts of resistance, such as minor sabotage, although in 1943 this department was merged with the Directorate of Covert Resistance, forming the Directorate of Underground Resistance, subordinate to AK.[13]

The departments can be seen as loosely corresponding to ministries. Three departments were dedicated to war-related issues: the Department for Elimination of the Consequences of War, the Department for Public Works and Reconstruction, and the Department for Information and the Press; the other departments mirrored pre-war Polish ministries (e.g., Department of Post Offices and Telegraphs, or Department of the Treasury).[74] The Delegate's Office was divided into departments,[75] 14 of which existed toward the end of the war; the full list included: the Presidential Department, the Department of Internal Affairs, Justice Department, Employment and Social Welfare Department, Agriculture Department, Treasury Department, Trade and Industry Department, Postal and Telegraph Services Department, the Department for Elimination of the Consequences of War, Transport Department, Information and the Press, Department of Public Works and Reconstruction, Department of Education and Culture and the Department of National Defence.[1]

On the geographical division level, the Delegation had local offices, dividing Polish territories into 16

voivodeships, each under an underground voivode, further divided into powiats headed by starostas, and with separate municipal bodies.[1] In early 1944, the Delegation employed some 15,000 people in its administration; those were primarily older people, as the younger ones were recruited for the military side of the operations.[1]

Military

See caption
Regional organization of Armia Krajowa in 1944

The military arm of the Polish Underground State consisted primarily of various branches of the Armia Krajowa (AK) and, until 1942, the

Union of Armed Struggle. This arm of the state was designed to prepare the Polish society for a future fight for the country's liberation. Apart from armed resistance, sabotage, intelligence, training, and propaganda, the state's military arm was responsible for maintaining communication with the London-based government in exile, and for protecting the civilian arm of the state.[76][77]

The Armia Krajowa's primary resistance operations were the sabotage of German activities, including transports headed for the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union.[63] The sabotage of German rail and road transports to the Eastern Front was so extensive it is estimated that one-eighth of all German transports to the Eastern Front were destroyed or significantly delayed due to AK's activities.[78]

The AK also fought several full-scale

British secret services from continental Europe in 1939–45 came from Polish sources.[81][82] At its height, AK numbered over 400,000 and was recognized as one of the three largest, or even the largest,[b] resistance movement of the war.[83][84][85] Axis fatalities due to the actions of the Polish underground, of which AK formed the bulk, are estimated at up to 150,000.[86]

Definition, historiography and remembrance

The Polish Underground State Monument in Poznań

For decades, research on the Polish Underground State was restricted, largely because the communist

Armia Ludowa) was emphasized as being of primary importance; in fact, the opposite was true.[91] The absence of research by Polish scholars, along with obstacles presented to foreign scholars seeking access to source material in communist Poland, contributed to a situation in which there was virtually no discussion by Western scholars of one of Europe's largest resistance movements—the non-communist Polish resistance movement. The bulk of Western research centred on the much smaller[b] French Resistance (la Résistance).[92][93]

With the

fall of communism, Poland regained full independence and Polish scholars could begin unrestricted research into all aspects of Polish history.[94] Scholars who chose to investigate the Underground State were also confronted with the issue of its uniqueness (no country or nation has ever created a similar institution), and hence, the problem of defining it.[89] Polish historian Stanisław Salmonowicz, discussing the historiography of the Polish Underground State, defined it as a "collection of state-legal, organizational and citizenship structures, which were to ensure the constitutional continuation of Polish statehood on its own territory".[95] Salmonowicz concluded that "This constitutional continuity, real performance of the state's functions on its past territory and the loyalty of a great majority of Polish society were the most significant elements of its existence."[95]

The Underground State also became officially recognized by the Polish government, local authorities and the community, with most major cities in Poland erecting various memorials to the Underground State-affiliated resistance.

See also

Notes

a ^ The more widely used term Polish Underground State was first used on 13 January 1944 by the official underground publication of the Polish underground authorities, the Biuletyn Informacyjny.[98] Polish Secret State (Polish: Tajne państwo) was a term used by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State, written and first published in the second half of 1944 in the United States.
b
French resistance was smaller, numbering around 10,000 people in 1942, and swelling to 200,000 by 1944.[99]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Grzegorz Ostasz, The Polish Government-in-Exile's Home Delegature. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Garliński, p. 253
  3. ., p. 25.
  4. ^ ., p.221
  5. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 26–27.
  6. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 27.
  7. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 30–31.
  8. ^ .
  9. ^ .
  10. .
  11. ^ a b c d Garliński, p. 222
  12. .
  13. ^ a b c d e Garliński, p. 223
  14. .
  15. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 30–33.
  16. ^ a b Salmonowicz, pp. 33–36.
  17. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 39.
  18. .
  19. ^ .
  20. ^ Garliński, p. 224
  21. .
  22. .
  23. .
  24. .
  25. ^ a b c Salmonowicz, p. 37.
  26. ^ a b c d Garliński, p. 234
  27. ^ a b Garliński, pp. 225–226
  28. ^ a b Salmonowicz, p. 42.
  29. ^ a b Salmonowicz, p. 44.
  30. ^ a b Salmonowicz, p. 46.
  31. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 45–46.
  32. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 44–45.
  33. ^ .
  34. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 45
  35. ^ Marek Ney-Krwawicz, The Polish Underground State and The Home Army (1939–45). Translated from Polish by Antoni Bohdanowicz. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  36. ^ a b c d Salmonowicz, p. 47.
  37. ^ . Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  38. .
  39. ^ a b c Garliński, p. 246
  40. ^ .
  41. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 48.
  42. ^ a b Salmonowicz, p. 48–49.
  43. ^ a b c d Rzeczpospolita, 02.10.04 Nr 232, Wielkie polowanie: Prześladowania akowców w Polsce Ludowej Archived 6 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Great hunt: the persecutions of AK soldiers in the People's Republic of Poland). Retrieved 7 June 2006.
  44. ^ a b Garliński, p. 245
  45. .
  46. ^ Garliński, p. 243
  47. .
  48. .
  49. ^ .
  50. ^ .
  51. ^ . Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  52. .
  53. ^ a b Garliński, p. 251
  54. ^ Garliński, p. 252
  55. .
  56. ^ a b "Polskie Państwo Podziemne" (in Polish). Encyklopedia PWN. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  57. ^ "Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraje" (in Polish). Encyklopedia PWN. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  58. .
  59. ^ .
  60. .
  61. .
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  63. ^ a b c d Bohdan Kwiatkowski, Sabotaż i dywersja, Bellona, London 1949, vol.1, p.21; as cited by Marek Ney-Krwawicz, The Polish Underground State and The Home Army (1939–45). Translated from Polish by Antoni Bohdanowicz. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  64. ^ .
  65. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 51–53.
  66. ^ a b Garliński, p. 235
  67. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 55–56.
  68. ^ Garliński, p. 238
  69. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 64.
  70. ^ a b Garliński, p. 236
  71. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 17–18.
  72. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 76.
  73. ^ a b Garliński, p. 220
  74. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 75.
  75. ^ Garliński, p. 226
  76. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 91.
  77. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 96.
  78. ^ Eastern Europe in World War II: October 1939 – May 1945. Lecture notes of prof Anna M. Cienciala. Retrieved 21 December 2006.
  79. .
  80. ^ Kwan Yuk Pan, "Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade", Financial Times, 5 July 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2006.
  81. .
  82. ^ . Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  83. ^ .
  84. ^ .
  85. .
  86. ^ a b Salmonowicz, pp.6–7.
  87. .
  88. ^ a b Salmonowicz, p. 8.
  89. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 10–11.
  90. ^ Salmonowicz, p. 10.
  91. ^ Salmonowicz, pp. 9–10.
  92. ^ Garliński, pp. 219–220
  93. .
  94. ^ a b Salmonowicz, pp. 18–19.
  95. ^ a b Cichocka, Agnieszka (26 September 2007). "Poznański pomnik Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego". Wiadomosci24.pl. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  96. ^ "M.P. 1998 nr 30 poz. 414". Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  97. .
  98. . Retrieved 6 March 2011.

Further reading

External links