Polish government-in-exile

Interned in Romania, President Ignacy Mościcki used the April Constitution to name Władysław Raczkiewicz his successor; Raczkiewicz was sworn in in Paris on 30 September 1939 and entrusted the government to General Władysław Sikorski, preserving the continuity of the state. The government, also called the London government, commanded the Polish Armed Forces in the West and, in occupied Poland, the Government Delegation and the Home Army. After Sikorski's death in 1943 Stanisław Mikołajczyk became prime minister, followed in November 1944 by Tomasz Arciszewski.

The USSR broke off relations in April 1943 after the Katyn massacre came to light and backed the communist PKWN. On 5 July 1945 Britain and the United States recognised the Provisional Government of National Unity in Warsaw and withdrew recognition from the authorities in London. These carried on in exile; in December 1990 the last president-in-exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, handed the insignia of office to Lech Wałęsa.