General Władysław sikorski And his influence on Europe during World war ii

1. General Władysław sikorski And his influence on Europe during World war ii Made by: Katarzyna Lasek, kl. III a

2. World WAR ii After the outbreak of World War II Sikorski tried unsuccessfully to get to Marshall Rydz-Śmigły to get a particular job in the Polish Army. He travelled throughout Poland only for a chance to meet with the commander in chief and after crossing the border by the Marshall, he didn't give up with the chase. Finally on September 22 he resigned from further travel. He decided to go to Paris to continue the struggle for the independence of their homeland. On September 28 he was entrusted with the command of Polish forces, which being formed in France. The French were happy with this outcome, suspecting that they will have peace of mind from the Polish state. They miscalculated, because the President Ignacy Mościcki appointedWładysław Raczkiewicz as his successor. Two days later, Polish activists debated on the position of Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile. Raczkiewicz suggested August Zaleski, but he had to give up this idea, because Stroński and Sikorski objected to that. Another time Raczkiewicz suggested Sikorski, who refused, and finally Stroński, who has decided to accept this position.

3. Later, after conversation with Sikorski, he resigned from his position of prime minister in favor of general Sikorski. Władysław Sikorski, although in a little bit weird way, became the head of the Polish government and proceeded to form his cabinet. The next day there was an adjuration. A newly formed government was quickly approved by the allies, and then by a majority of the world. Sikorski thought perspectively, leaving the place for himself asa Minister of Military Affairs. He knew that he should create Polish Armed Forces personally. In October, Sikorski easily completed shortages in his government. General Sikorski in France in 1940.

4. A lot of Polish politicians and soldiers began to arrive in France. They travelled almost through half of Europe only to participate in the formation of a new Polish Army. Sikorski predicted that a month later, on November 7, he will be appointed commander in chief. That’s how a great international career of Polebegan. In November, Sikorski and Zaleski (foreign minister) went to the United Kingdom - this visit had two objectives: to show that Polish country still exists and everyone has to count with it and to talk with the British, who had a tendencyto capitulation in recent years. By the way, Sikorski talked with Eduard Benes, who was the president of the Czech Republic and who was in a similar situation, as the Poles.

5. All the time, conversations with the French were conducted. We wanted to create Polish Armed Forces in France, but our allies were reluctant to look at the reconstruction of the Polish Army, considering them as weak and demoralized after losing the September campaign. Delays in the formation of Polish units were quite large but finally on January 4, 1940 we signedamilitary contract and an aviation agreement with the French government. On April 9, 1940 Germans began another offensive, this time attacking Denmark and Norway. A day later, Sikorski gave the banner to Polish Independent Highland Brigade.Their task was to fight in Scandinavia. The Poles were sent to Norway, where they fought in a long battle of Narvik. This time two Polish divisions participated in the defense of France against Germans, while a motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were formed. Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade was formed in Syria, where Poles who were able to leave Romania, arrived. At that time, Poland was the third most powerful ally, with more than 84 thousand soldiers only in France. Sikorski was extremely popular in the occupied country when he was the head of the government in exile. He personified the hopes and dreams of millions of Poles.

6. Inspection in the trenches at Tobruk

7. General Sikorski among the sailors on board of ORP Piorun

8. With the soldiers on the Near East

9. They returned to France only in June, and then movedfrom France to Britain, where the Norwegian campaign was already lost. At that time in France there were bloody fights. Unfortunately, the French succumbed to the power of the Third Reich. Troops of Hitler easily coped with an opponent, who didn't believe in victory and who wasn't also prepared for modern warfare. Polish units fought furiously, but they weren’t able to change the fate of the campaign in France because of the small number of soldiers. On June 16, Polish government was evacuated from Angers and stayed in Bordeaux for some time. Sikorski travelled throughout France chasing Maxime Weygand, who took command of the French forces. Unfortunately, he failed to contact with the general, who, by the way, was his friend.

10. A new British Prime Minister - Winston Churchill, reacted quickly in response to dramatic events in France and invited Poles to the United Kingdom. Sikorski arrived in London in the evening and immediately began to act. The next day Sikorski met Churchill. The Briton announced that he won't leave Poles until the victorious end of the war. Sikorski expected words like this and he was very pleased with the hastily organized meeting. On June 20, Sikorski flew for one day to Libourne, to make sure that the evacuation proceeded according to plan. One day later, he left France and returned to London. Unfortunately, a group of Polish politicians prepared a nasty surprise and in the middle of July they organized a coup. President Raczkiewicz wanted to overthrow the government of Sikorski and institute a new government. Fortunately, the vigilant soldiers destroyed his plans. On August 5, there was another historic event in the history of Polish-British cooperation during World War II. A military agreement, which guaranteed the creation of Polish Armed Forces in the United Kingdom, was signed. Polish units that played a key role in the Battle of Britain quickly began to create .

11. Signing, London July 30, 1941. From left: Sikorski, Eden, Churchill and Majski.

12. Winston Churchill visits in the company of Sikorski, a unit the Polish Armed Forces in the West

13. Let us return for a moment to the Polish-Czechoslovak relations. In November Sikorski once again talked with Benes, this time the conversation was a bit more detailed. They planned post-war alliance between these countries and a creation of a specific block of Central European countries. On December 24, 1940 Sikorski was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. Next month, Prime Minister and also Supreme Commander, opened the Staff College course, which educated the Polish and Czechoslovak officers. In March, he went to the United States. He first met the Prime Minister of Canada. They signed an agreement on the establishment of Polish Armed Forces in Canada. On April 7, he came to Washington. He met with the press and then with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Conversations with the American head of state brought a desired effect. When he was in the United States, he met Polish people who lived there, giving a passionate, patriotic speeches. When he returned to Londondifficult days, and even more difficult decisions awaited him. First, he participated in the meeting of the council, which brought together prime ministers of the coalition. But the most important event in June was the start of the German-Soviet war, on the 22nd of this month. Sikorski wasn’t surprised, and spoke optimistically about the chances of a Soviet defense. He believed that the Red Army can easily survive the pressure of Wehrmacht. Time showed that the prime minister didn’t make a mistake and once again demonstrated a good sense when it comes to military craft.

14. Polish Government in Exile decided to establish relations with the Soviet government. Therefore, on July 30, Sikorski and the Ambassador of the USSR in the United Kingdom signed a union. Unfortunately, Sikorski this time made ​​a mistake signing the agreement, which didn't provide territories lost as a result of Soviet aggression on September 17, 1939, a return to Poland. There was a split in the government and in protest the ministers Sosnkowski, Zaleski and Seyda left their places. Despite this, Sikorski tried to do his duty and he quickly set to work in the new situation. General Anders became a commander of Polish Armed Forces in USSR. In autumn, Sikorski once again went on a long journey. On November 14, he was in besieged Tobruk, where he talked with the soldiers from Carpathian Brigade. On November 30, he was in Kujbyszew, from where he flew by a fighter jet to Moscow to talk with Joseph Stalin. He managed to negotiate a way out of the USSR for 25 thousand Polish soldiers, but didn’t receive assurance of restoring the entire pre-war Polish territory. After visiting the center of forming Polish Armed Forces Sikorski began a return trip.

15. TRAGIC FINAL 1943 was a very hard time for Polish people. In April, after disclosure of Katyń massacre, Polish-Soviet relations were severed. Sikorski had more opponents, so he decided to fly to the Middle East to talk with Polish soldiers. On May 25, he set off on his last trip around the world. On June 1, he was in Iraq, where he inspected the army. The results were satisfactory. On July 3, the same year, Władysław Sikorski, while returning from a trip to the Middle East, landed at the airport on Gibraltar where he had to change the plane, to the one which he could take him to the United Kingdom. Next day, on July 4, 1943 B -24 Liberator plane, piloted by Czech captain - Edward Pchrala, with the commander in chief and Polish Prime Minister general Władysław Sikorski on board, crashed shortly after the start. All passengers and almost the entire crew died, only the captain survived. Soviet authorities, Churchill and others were accused of the accident, without providing any evidence. The circumstances of the crash were the subject of many expertises, which have recently been disclosed. It's possible that the accident was not accidental.

16. General Sikorski on Gibraltar

17. The battles of montecassino

18. THREE UNSUCCESSFUL BATTLES OF MONTE CASSINO The First Battle of Monte Cassino lasted from 17 January to 11 February 1944. Among commanders of the allies there was a growing misconception that the Benedictine abbey on Monte Cassino is used by Germans as an observation point so they made ​​a decision about bombing it. In fact, beside the monks, in the monastery there were only refugees from neighboring towns. February 15, 1944 230 American bombers dropped a total of 1150 tons of bombs on the monastery at Monte Cassino, destroying it completely. That and the next day the ruins were additionally bombarded by artillery. But only when surviving monks and refugees left the ruins of a monastery, German paratroopers started to occupy the place. Paradoxically, the monastery was a much better position to defend as a ruin than as a whole, making ita fortress extremely difficult to obtain.

19. Bombing of the Benedictine Abbey began the second battle of Monte Cassino (15-18 February 1944 year). A three-day Corps of New Zealandassault (operation "Avenger") ended in failure despite some local successes, like getting a railway bridge over the Rapido River.

21. THE THIRD BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO Over the next month there was a break in combat operations. Just like the previous one, the third battle of Monte Cassino (Operation "Dickens", 15-23 March 1944) began with an intensive aerial bombardment and artillery fire of the monastery and the neighboring town - Cassino. The Attack of New Zealand (which was reinforced British division) brought some gains – they managed to master the railroad station in Cassino and the Gurkha battalion for some time to reach the distance of only 230 meters from the ruins of the monastery. Ultimately, however, Allied troops were repulsed, and both sides suffered very heavy losses.

23. THE FOURTH BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO After previous failures, commander of Allied forces in Italy, General Harold Alexander, decided that the next attempt to break the Gustav Line will be conducted on a much larger scale. For this purpose, the main forces of both armies subordinate to him focused on approximately 30 kilometer stretch of the Tyrrhenian Sea to Monte Cassino. American II Corps and French Expeditionary Corps were supposed to execute a strike in the south. British XIII Corps was to attack along the road Naples-Rome, and the key task of seizing Monte Cassino was a responsibility of the Second Polish Corps of General Władysław Anders. The first attack of the Second Polish Corps began on the night of 11 to 12 May 1944. In contrast to the troops previously fighting for Monte Cassino, the Second Polish Corps did not attack from the side of Cassino. Germans, based on the mountainous terrain, had well-prepared positions and minefields which effectively stopped Polish attack. Leading Polish battalions, when suffered losses of 40-70% of manpower and consumed the whole possessed ammunition, were ordered to return to the starting positions, which happened on the night of 12 to 13 May. Although the first attack of the Second Polish Corps failed, it tied up a considerable German forces and enabled the British cross through Garigliano and Rapido rivers in the south of Monte Cassino.

24. THE FOURTH BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO – THE SECOND ATTACK Between 13 and 16 May 1944 the troops of Polish Second Corps conducted reconnaissance and prepared to re-attack. Another attack on Monte Cassino began on 17 May 1944. Fightswere very difficult, and the Second Polish Corps was sent to fight all the possible reinforcements, including drivers, cooks, maintenance workshops, etc. The transport of ammunition to the front line was also attended by Wojtek - a bear taken in Iran, which became the mascot of the Second Polish Corps. In the South of Monte Cassino French Expeditionary Force went to the back of the Gustav Line and lead to a successful attack of the British XIII Corps along the road to Rome. Albert Kesselring ordered a retreat to the Hitler Line, situated about 20 km further in the west. On the night of 17 to 18 May troops of the 1st Parachute Division withdrew from their positions at Monte Cassino towards the west. In the morning of 18 May 1944 the 12th Cavalry Regiment Podolian patrol entered the deserted ruins of the monastery, and planted the regimental pennant and then the Polish flag there. On the same day at the ruins of Monte Cassino the heynal was played, which proclaimed Polish victory.