Władysław Sikorski
General Władysław Sikorski | |
---|---|
Edward Śmigły-Rydz | |
Succeeded by | Kazimierz Sosnkowski |
Personal details | |
Born | Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski 20 May 1881 Tuszów Narodowy, Austria-Hungary (now Poland) |
Died | 4 July 1943 near Gibraltar | (aged 62)
Cause of death | Aircraft crash |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | |
Children | Zofia Leśniowska |
Profession | Soldier, statesman |
Awards | See list below |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Second Polish Republic |
Branch/service | |
Years of service |
|
Rank | Lieutenant general |
Commands | 9th Infantry Division |
Battles/wars |
|
Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (Polish pronunciation: [vwaˈdɨswaf ɕiˈkɔrskʲi] ⓘ; 20 May 1881 – 4 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader.
Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independence. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions during World War I, and later in the newly created Polish Army during the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. In the latter war, he played a prominent role in the decisive 1920 Battle of Warsaw.
In the early years of the
During
In July 1943 a plane carrying Sikorski plunged into the sea immediately on takeoff from Gibraltar, killing all on board except the pilot. The exact circumstances of Sikorski's death have been disputed and have given rise to various theories surrounding the crash. Sikorski had been the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles, and his death was a severe setback for the Polish cause.
Early life and World War I
Sikorski was born in
Sikorski attended the
During his studies at the Polytechnic, Sikorski became involved in the
Upon the outbreak of the
Eastern wars
Polish–Ukrainian war
In 1918 the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and German empires collapsed, and Poland once again became independent, but the borders of the
Polish–Soviet war
After his release from internment, from 1 May 1918 Sikorski worked for the Regency Council, organizing the new Polish Army.[6] He was soon at the frontlines again, this time in the Polish–Ukrainian War, where troops under his command secured and defended Przemyśl in October–November 1918.[4][6]
Polish independence came in November 1918 with the formation of the
As the Polish–Soviet War grew in intensity, in late April 1920 the
In government and in opposition
Despite their differences, Piłsudski praised Sikorski in his reports, recommending him for
From 30 September 1923 to 1924 he held the post of chief inspector of infantry (Generalny Inspektor Piechoty).
A democrat and supporter of the Sejm, Sikorski declared his opposition to Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 coup d'état;[11] he remained in Lwów, refused to dispatch his forces, and played no substantive role in the short struggle.[4][11] In 1928 he was relieved by Piłsudski of his command, and while he remained on active service, he received no other posting.[11] That year also saw the publication of his book on the Polish–Soviet War, Nad Wisłą i Wkrą. Studium do polsko–radzieckiej wojny 1920 roku (At the Vistula and Wkra Rivers: a Contribution to the Study of the Polish–Soviet War of 1920).[11] He would spend the following years publishing works on military theory, history, and foreign policy.[11] His most famous work was his 1934 book Przyszła wojna – jej możliwości i charakter oraz związane z nimi zagadnienia obrony kraju ("War in the Future: Its Possibilities and Character and Associated Questions of National Defense", published in English in 1943 as Modern Warfare: Its Character, Its Problems), in which he predicted the return of maneuver warfare.[11][12] He wrote several other books and many articles, foreseeing, among other things, the rapid militarization of Germany.[4]
In due course, soon after he was relieved of command, and as a semi-dictatorial
Prime Minister in exile
In the days before
During his years as prime minister in exile, Sikorski personified the hopes and dreams of millions of Poles, as reflected in the saying, "When the sun is higher, Sikorski is nearer" (Polish: "Gdy słoneczko wyżej, to Sikorski bliżej").[4][12] At the same time, from early on he had to work to reconcile the pro- and anti-Piłsudskiite factions.[4][12][14]
His government was recognized by the western Allies. Nonetheless, Sikorski's government struggled to get its point of view heard by France and the United Kingdom.
Poland, even with its territories occupied, still commanded substantial armed forces: the
In 1940 the
The
One of Sikorski's political goals was the creation of a
Following the
Initially, Sikorski supported the Polish–Soviet rapprochement, which reignited criticism of his person from some Polish factions.
Katyn revelation and death
In 1943 the fragile relations between the Soviet Union and the Polish government-in-exile finally reached their breaking point when, on 13 April, the Germans announced via the Katyn Commission the discovery of the bodies of 20,000 Polish officers who had been murdered by the Soviets and buried in Katyn Forest, near Smolensk, Russia.[4] Stalin claimed that the atrocity had been carried out by the Germans,[24] while Nazi propaganda orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels successfully exploited the Katyn massacre to drive a wedge between Poland, the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.[25] Moscow did not acknowledge responsibility for this and similar massacres of Polish officers until 1989.[26]
When Sikorski refused to accept the Soviet explanation and requested an investigation by the
Beginning in late May 1943, Sikorski began visiting Polish forces stationed in the Middle East.[5] In addition to inspecting the forces and raising morale, Sikorski was also occupied with political matters; around that time, a conflict was growing between him and General Władysław Anders, as Sikorski was still open to some normalization of Polish–Soviet relations, to which Anders was vehemently opposed.[5]
On 4 July 1943, while Sikorski was returning from an inspection of Polish forces in the Middle East, he was killed, together with his daughter, his
Sikorski was buried in a brick-lined grave at the Polish War Cemetery in
Aftermath
Immediately after the crash, a Polish officer who had witnessed the event from the airstrip began sobbing quietly and repeating: "Now Poland is lost! Now Poland is lost!" ("To Polska stracona!")[4] General Sikorski's death marked a turning point for Polish influence amongst the Anglo-American allies. No Pole after him would have much sway with the Allied politicians.[30] Sikorski had been the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles and his death was a severe setback for the Polish cause.[30]
After the Soviets had broken off diplomatic relations with Sikorski's government in April 1943, in May and June Stalin had recalled several Soviet ambassadors for "consultations":
While Churchill had been publicly supportive of Sikorski's government, reminding Stalin of his pact with Nazi Germany in 1939 and of their joint attack on Poland, in secret consultations with Roosevelt he admitted that Poland would have to make some concessions to appease the powerful Soviets. The Polish–Soviet crisis was beginning to threaten cooperation between the western Allies and the Soviets at a time when the Poles' importance to the western Allies, essential in the first years of the war, was beginning to fade with the entry, into the conflict, of the military and industrial giants, the Soviet Union and the United States.[30]
The Allies had no intention of letting Sikorski's successor, Stanisław Mikołajczyk, jeopardize the alliance with the Soviets. No representative of the Polish government-in-exile was invited to attend the Tehran Conference (28 November – 1 December 1943) or the Yalta Conference (4–11 February 1945), the two crucial events in which the Western Allies and the Soviets discussed the shape of the postwar world and decided Poland's fate.[31][32]
Only four months after Sikorski's death, in November 1943, at Tehran, Churchill and Roosevelt agreed with Stalin that the whole of Poland east of the Curzon Line would be ceded to the Soviets.[31] In Teheran, neither Churchill nor Roosevelt objected to Stalin's suggestion that the Polish government-in-exile in London did not represent Polish interests; as historian Anita Prażmowska notes, "this spelled the end of that government's tenuous influence and raison d'être."[33]
After the Teheran Conference, Stalin decided to create his own
Stalin soon began a campaign for recognition by the Western Allies of a Soviet-backed Polish government led by
Remembrance
A number of poems dedicated to Sikorski were written by Polish authors during the war.
Memory of General Sikorski was also preserved both in Poland and abroad, by organizations like the
Death controversy
A British Court of Inquiry convened on 7 July 1943, investigated the crash of Sikorski's
The political context of the event, coupled with a variety of curious circumstances (for instance, the Soviet agent Kim Philby was head of counter-intelligence for MI6 in Gibraltar at the time), immediately gave rise to numerous speculation that Sikorski's death had been no accident, and may have been the direct result of a Soviet, British, or even Polish conspiracy.[5][30][45][46][47] Some modern sources note that the accident is not fully explained.[35] However, as Roman Wapiński noted in his biographical entry on Sikorski in the Polish Biographical Dictionary in 1997, no conclusive evidence of any wrongdoing has been found, and Sikorski's official cause of death is listed as an accident.[5]
In 2008 Sikorski was exhumed and his remains were examined by Polish scientists, who in 2009 concluded that he died due to injuries consistent with an air crash and that there was no evidence that Sikorski was murdered, ruling out theories that he was shot or strangled before the incident; however they did not rule out the possibility of sabotage, which was investigated by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance.[48][49][50] In 2013, the investigation ended, with the Institute of National Remembrance concluding that deliberate tampering to the aircraft could be neither confirmed nor ruled out.[51]
Honours and awards
- Poland:
- Order of the White Eagle (posthumously in 1943)[5]
- Commander of the Virtuti Militari (1923)[5]
- Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (1921)[5]
- Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1923)
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1921)
- Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (posthumously in 1946 by the State National Council)[52]
- Cross of Valour, four times[5]
- Gold Cross of Merit
- Cross of Independence
- Cross of Merit of the Central Lithuanian Army
- Commemorative Medal for the War of 1918–1921
- Medal of the Decade of Regained Independence
- Other countries:
- Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary)
- Commemorative Cross of Mobilization 1912–1913 (Austria-Hungary)
- Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
- Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia)
- Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia)
- Czechoslovak War Cross 1918 (Czechoslovakia)
- Cross of Liberty for Military Leadership (Estonia)
- Cross of Liberty for Personal Courage (Estonia)
- Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
- Commander of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy (Italy)
- Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star (Japan)
- Grand Officer of the Order of the Three Stars (Latvia)
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico)
- War Cross with Sword (Norway)
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania (Romania)
- Order of the Crown(Romania)
- Commander of the Order of St. Sava (Yugoslavia)
- Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle (Yugoslavia)
Works
General Sikorski was also an active writer on the subjects of military tactics and describing his personal war experiences.[4] His works include:
- Regulamin musztry Związku Strzeleckiego i elementarna taktyka piechoty (Drill Regulations of the Riflemen's Association and Basic Infantry Tactics), 1911.
- Nad Wisłą i Wkrą. Studium do polsko–radzieckiej wojny 1920 roku (At the Vistula and the Wkra Rivers: a Contribution to the Study of the Polish–Soviet War of 1920), 1923; latest edition, Warsaw, 1991.
- O polską politykę państwową. Umowy i deklaracje z okresu pełnienia urzędu prezesa Rady Ministrów 18 XII 1922–26 V 1923 (Polish National Policies: Agreements and Declarations from My Tenure as Prime Minister, 18 December 1922 to 26 May 1923), 1923.
- Podstawy organizacji naczelnych władz wojskowych w Polsce (Basic Organization of the Supreme Military Authorities in Poland), 1923.
- Polesie jako węzeł strategiczny wschodniego frontu (Polesie as a Strategic Node of the Eastern Front), 1924.
- La campagne polono-russe de 1920 (French: The Polish-Russian Campaign of 1920), 1928.
- Polska i Francja w przeszłości i w dobie współczesnej (Poland and France in the Past and in the Present Day), 1931.
- Przyszła wojna – jej możliwości i charakter oraz związane z nimi zagadnienia obrony kraju (War in the Future: Its Capacities and Character and Associated Questions of National Defense), 1934; translated into French in 1934, and into English. 1943.in 1943; latest edition Warsaw, MON, 1972.
Some of his works have been collected in:
- Generał Władysław Sikorski: Publicystyka generała Władysława Sikorskiego na łamach Kuriera Warszawskiego w latach 1928–1939 (General Władysław Sikorski: Articles by General Władysław Sikorski in the Warsaw Courier, 1928–1939), Oficyna Wydawnicza Aspra, 1999, ISBN 83-908937-3-8.
See also
Notes
a
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 468
- ^ Olgierd Terlecki (1976). Generał ostatniej legendy: rzecz o gen. Władysławie Sikorskim. Polonia Bookstore and Publishers Co. p. 7. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 469
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae (in Polish) Adam Dobroński. Biogram Archived 4 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Biuletyn "Kombatant" nr specjalny (148) czerwiec 2003. (Biography. Special Edition of Kombatant Bulletin No.148 6/2003 on the occasion of the Year of General Sikorski. Official publication of the Polish government Agency of Combatants and Repressed)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 475
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 470
- ISBN 978-0-7864-2913-4. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-7190-5428-0. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-7923-9100-5. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 471
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 472
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 473
- ^ Stanislaw Mikolajczyk The Pattern of Soviet Domination Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948 Page 7
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Roman Wapiński, Władysław Sikorski, Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3, 1997, p. 474
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7818-1004-3. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-85532-726-9. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-300-10980-1. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-365-0. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-85045-417-8. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-3-11-009724-5. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-674-92685-1. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-10851-4. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ Sarah Meiklejohn Terry. Poland's Place in Europe: General Sikorski and the Origin of the Oder-Neisse Line, 1939–1943. Princeton University Press. p. 260.
- ISBN 0-268-00849-3. Archived from the originalon 5 June 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Goebbels, Joseph. The Goebbels Diaries (1942–1943). Translated by Louis P. Lochner. Doubleday & Company. 1948
- ^ Russia to release massacre files. BBC News, 16 December 2004. Retrieved on 27 October 2007.
- ISBN 978-83-7301-767-2. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ^ Beevor, Antony (2012). The Second World War. United Kingdom: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 472.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7864-2009-4. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d (in Polish) Stanczyk, Zbigniew L. p "Tajemnica gen. Sikorskiego" Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, "Przegląd Polski Online", 7 December 2002. Retrieved on 2 August 2005
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-30571-9. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ Grzegorz Ostasz, The Polish Government-in-Exile's Home Delegature Archived 10 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-521-48385-8. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-415-34358-9. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-691-00273-6. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-226-00937-7. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "What Lech Walesa did". Economist.com. 22 September 1990. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ISBN 978-83-11-08871-9. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
Sikorski posiadał m.in. odznaczenia: Order Orła Białego (pośmiertnie), Order Virtuti Militari II i V kl., Order Polonia Restituta I i III kl., Krzyż Walecznych (czterokrotnie), Złoty Krzyż Zasługi. Minister Obrony Narodowej decyzją nr 62 'MON z dnia 19 maja 7.9.9.5 roku polecił 9 Podlaskiej Brygadzie Zmechanizowanej Odznaka i oznaka 9 w Siedlcach przyjąć imię gen. broni Władysława Sikorskiego
- ISBN 978-0-7864-2009-4. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "Time to lay the hero's ghost". Telegraph. 24 September 2000. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "Dedication of the new memorial to General Sikorski at Europa Point". Gibnews. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-2009-4. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-84340-381-4. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-8922-4. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-14-311409-3. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- ^ "No evidence Polish hero murdered". BBC News. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "IPN ujawnił jak zginął Sikorski". Tvn24.pl. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- ^ "Śledztwo ws. śmierci gen. Sikorskiego przeniesione z Katowic do Warszawy". Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- ^ "Śledztwo ws. śmierci gen. Władysława Sikorskiego umorzone". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 30 December 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ M.P. z 1946 r. Nr 145, poz. 286
Further reading
- Baluk, Stefan and Terry A. Tegnazian. Sikorski: No Simple Soldier: A Visual History of World War II's Unsung Allied Leader (2014)
- Coutouvidis, John and Jaime Reynolds. Poland, 1939–1947 (1986) 424 pages online Archived 1 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- Gelli, Frank Julian. The Dark Side of England (2014) ASIN B00QJ19TXI, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-England-Frank-Julian-Gelli-ebook/dp/B00QJ19TXI
- Korpalska, Walentyna. Wadysaw Eugeniusz Sikorski: Biografia polityczna (2nd ed. 1988), the standard biography in Google
- Peszke, Michael Alfred, The Polish Underground Army, the Western Allies, and the Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II, foreword by Piotr S. Wandycz, (Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Company, 2005)
- Ponichtera, R.M. "The Military Thought of Wladyslaw Sikorski," Journal of Military History (1995) 59#2 pp. 279–301; wide-ranging overview with survey of the historiography on pp. 280–82
- Rozek, Edward J. Allied Wartime Diplomacy: A Pattern in Poland (1958) online Archived 8 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Sword, Keith, ed. Sikorski: Soldier and Statesman (1990) important essays by scholars in Google
- Terry, Sarah Meiklejohn, Poland's Place in Europe: General Sikorski and the Origin of the Oder-Neisse Line, 1939–1943, (Princeton University Press, 1983), online at ACLS e-books
- Waszak, Leon, and P. Lang, "Agreement in Principle: the Wartime Partnership of General Wladyslaw Sikorski and Winston Churchill," Studies in Modern European History, vol. 20, April 1996, ISBN 0-8204-2849-3
- Whiteley, Justin, Smierc Generala Sikorskiego, Bellona, 2007, ISBN 978-83-11-10921-6
- Woodward, Llewellyn. British Foreign Policy in the Second World War (1971) vol 2 pp. 612–662
Other sources
- Dead Men's Secrets the Mysterious Death of General Sikorski, The History Channel DVD, ASIN B0007V0YCQ
- Generał Sikorski, premier, naczelny wodz (General Sikorski: Prime Minister, Commander in Chief), London, Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, 1981, ISBN 0-902508-09-1.
External links
- Polish Radio podcast on the subject of Sikorski's death. (in Polish)
- Polish forces in the west during World War II
- "Was General Sikorski a victim of the Katyn massacre?" by Jozef Kazimierz Kubit, Polish News Monthly, Part I, Part II, and Part III
- Captain Kazimierz DUDA – 1st Polish Armoured Division – C.K.M. Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Sikorski: Was It Murder? The Times, 4 July 2003
- Sanacja regime, Katyn and the Polish gold
- Newspaper clippings about Władysław Sikorski in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW