Britain and Poland 1939–1943
The Betrayed Ally

Anita Prazmowska looks at British policies from the point of view of wartime strategy and relates this to Polish government expectations and policies.

Anita J. Prazmowska (Author)

9780521483858, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 March 1995

252 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 2 cm, 0.492 kg

'Prazmowska charts the war-time vicissitudes of the Poles with remarkable objectivity. She set out not to allocate blame but to achieve an understanding of the issues. That she has successfully accomplished … she has made a valuable contribution to the study of British relations with Central and Eastern Europe.' Paul Vysny, University of St Andrews

Poland was a problematic issue for the Big Powers throughout the Second World War. For Britain, Poland was a major stumbling block in British-Soviet relations as Polish-Soviet territorial disputes clashed with the needs of the British-Soviet-United States alliance. As the Polish government-in-exile attempted to obtain a guarantee of British support, and many thousands of Polish troops fought for the British cause, the perception grew that the Churchill government had a debt to pay. Ultimately, however, it was a debt which Britain could not discharge because of its dependence on Soviet participation in the war. In this book Anita Prazmowska looks at British policies from the point of view of wartime strategy, relating this to Polish government expectations and policies. She describes a tragic situation where Polish soldiers were trapped between the grandiose and unrealistic plans of their government and the harsh realities of a war which they fought with no prospect of a satisfactory outcome for them or their country.

Preface
Map
1. The formation of the Polish government-in-exile: ideology and war plans
2. Britain and German expansion in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
3. Britain's only fighting ally
4. Britain, Poland and the Soviet Union, June - December 1941
5. 1942, year of disappointments
6. The illusion of an alliance ends
7. 1943, the end of Polish-Soviet co-operation
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Second World War [HBWQ], European history [HBJD]