Series
The road to Yalta
1941–1945 · 15 articles · about 155 min of reading
Britain went to war in Poland’s defence, but Poland’s post-war fate was decided by the Big Three. The series shows how, from the Atlantic Charter and the Sikorski–Stalin declaration onwards, the Polish question lost its place in Allied policy: the break with the USSR after the Katyn crime came to light, Sikorski’s death, the Curzon Line border provisionally agreed at Tehran, the conferences in Moscow and Yalta, the trial of the sixteen leaders of the Polish Underground and the recognition of the Provisional Government of National Unity.
1941
- 019 August 1941EventKey moment13 minThe Atlantic CharterThe starting point of the series: the principle that borders must not change against the will of peoples, which the Poles invoked in vain in 1943–1945 in defence of Lwów and Wilno.On 9–12 August 1941 Roosevelt and Churchill met aboard warships in Placentia Bay. On 14 August they announced eight common principles, the Atlantic Charter.
- 024 December 1941Event11 minThe Sikorski–Stalin declarationPolish–Soviet rapprochement in which Sikorski politely turns aside Stalin’s offer to discuss the border, so the dispute is merely postponed.On 4 December 1941 General Sikorski and Stalin signed a declaration of friendship and mutual aid at the Kremlin. Anders's army was to grow and move south.
1942
1943
- 0413 April 1943EventKey moment9 minThe Germans announce the Katyn massacreThe government’s appeal to the Red Cross gives Stalin a pretext to break off relations and leaves London without its only channel to Moscow.On 13 April 1943 Berlin radio announced the discovery of Polish officers’ graves near Smolensk. The dispute let Stalin break with the Polish government.
- 054 July 1943EventKey moment11 minThe death of General SikorskiTwo months after the break with Moscow, the government loses the only Polish politician whom Churchill and Roosevelt really listened to.On 4 July 1943 a Liberator carrying General Władysław Sikorski crashed into the sea just after take-off from Gibraltar. Sixteen died; only the pilot survived.
- 0618 October 1943EventKey moment12 minThe Moscow Conference of Foreign MinistersEden raises the Polish question, but Molotov rebuffs him and the West will not risk a quarrel with the USSR over the London government – a warning before Tehran.On 18 October 1943 Hull and Eden reached Moscow. Talks with Molotov yielded a pledge of the UN, the European Advisory Commission and a war crimes statement.
- 0728 November 1943EventKey moment12 minThe Tehran ConferenceThe Big Three discuss Poland without her government and agree verbally to take the Curzon Line as the basis of her eastern border.On 28 November 1943 Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met in Tehran. They decided to invade France in May 1944 and discussed Poland without its government.
1944
- 084 January 1944EventKey moment9 minThe Red Army crosses the pre-war Polish borderSoviet troops reach the Riga border and Moscow publicly announces its programme for the first time: the Curzon Line and a partner other than the government in London.On the night of 3–4 January 1944 troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the pre-war Polish border near Rokitno in Volhynia.
- 099 October 1944EventKey moment11 minThe Moscow Conference of 1944Molotov tells Mikołajczyk that the border was settled at Tehran, and Stalin sets his terms: the Curzon Line and a government based on the Lublin Committee.On 9 October 1944 Churchill flew to Moscow. Talks with Stalin brought the percentages agreement on the Balkans, a clash over Poland and a pledge on Japan.
1945
- 104 February 1945EventKey moment13 minThe Yalta ConferenceWith no Pole at the table, the powers adopt the Curzon Line and the “reorganisation” of the government on a broader basis – what had been settled informally is now agreed.On 4–11 February 1945 at Yalta Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed on the occupation of Germany, Poland’s borders and government, UN rules and war on Japan.
- 1118 June 1945Event11 minThe Trial of the SixteenWhile the government is being negotiated in Moscow, the leaders of the Polish Underground State are put on trial there, and the Western powers react with restraint.On 18–21 June 1945 a Soviet military court in Moscow tried the leaders of the Polish Underground State, seized by deceit, including Okulicki and Jankowski.
- 1228 June 1945Event9 minThe Provisional Government of National UnityThe Yalta provision on the government is carried out: Mikołajczyk’s presence is enough for the West to count the condition as met.On 28 June 1945 the Provisional Government of National Unity was formed in Warsaw under Osóbka-Morawski, with Gomułka and Mikołajczyk as deputies.
- 135 July 1945Event6 minThe powers recognise the Provisional Government of National UnityIt closes the dispute over who represents Poland: Washington and London recognise Warsaw and withdraw recognition from the government in London.On 5 July 1945 the US and Britain recognised the new Polish government in Warsaw and withdrew recognition from the government-in-exile in London.
- 1417 July 1945EventKey moment11 minThe Potsdam Conference beginsWith the Warsaw government already recognised, the Big Three argue over the consequences and over the western border, which they move to the Oder and Neisse.On 17 July 1945 Truman, Churchill and Stalin opened the last Big Three conference at Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam, devoted to Germany and Poland.
- 1516 August 1945Event7 minThe Polish–Soviet border agreementOnce the Provisional Government is recognised, nothing prevents the Yalta decisions being written into an agreement: the Curzon Line border, with Lwów and Wilno left in the USSR.On 16 August 1945 Poland’s Provisional Government and the USSR signed a Curzon Line border deal, leaving Lwów and Wilno in the USSR, and a reparations pact.