A general who defended Polish sovereignty between exile and return
After Sikorski's government requested an investigation into Katyn in 1943, the Soviet Union broke diplomatic relations with the government-in-exile.
Władysław Sikorski was a Polish soldier and politician who sought an independent course amid the conflict between interwar democracy and military authoritarianism. During the Second World War, as prime minister of the government-in-exile in London and commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces, he pressed the Allied powers to recognize Poland's national claims. Through the 1941 Sikorski–Mayski agreement, he restored diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and opened the way for the release of Polish prisoners and the formation of a Polish army, but relations broke down again after his government requested an investigation into the Katyn massacre. His death in a 1943 aircraft crash at Gibraltar dealt a severe blow to the diplomatic influence of the government-in-exile.
Career Timeline
- 1908Co-founded the secret Union for Active Struggle
- 1914–1916Head of the Military Department of the Supreme National Committee and commander of a Polish Legions officers' school
- 1920Commander of the 5th Army during the Battle of Warsaw in the Polish–Soviet War
- 1922–1923Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Poland
- 1924–1925Minister of Military Affairs; advanced modernization of the Polish Army
- 1939–1943Prime Minister of the government-in-exile in London and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces
- 1941Signed the Sikorski–Mayski agreement, restoring relations with the Soviet Union
- 1943Died in the Gibraltar air crash after seeking an international investigation into Katyn