The difficult situation in the international field (ie the absence of diplomatic relations with the USSR) is reflected in Polish politics also in the domestic field. In Poland, forces are developing against the political attitude of the emigrant government and its political instruments (Political Committee of Understanding) and military (National Army). In opposition to this, the left-wing military organization People’s Guard develops “(Gwardia Ludowa), founded on May 15, 1942, which then becomes (April 7, 1943) into the” People’s Army “(Armia Ludowa, AL). Political Committee of Understanding on New Year’s Eve between 1943 and 1944 was created in Warsaw, on the initiative of the left political forces led by the Marxist parties (communists and left socialists), a ” Soviet army fighting the Polish soldiers of the “1st Infantry Division Tadeusz Košciuszko” established in Russia in May 1943 and later transformed into “1st Army of the Polish Army”. The differences between the two opposing sectors of the Polish resistance became more serious when, in July 1944, the Soviet army, pursuing the retreating Germans, entered Polish territory. On 22 July, the 1st Army of the Polish Army enters Chełm. In this city the “Polish National Liberation Committee” was established, which assumed power in the liberated territories in the name of the National Council, which was reconfirmed as “the only source of power in the state”. Head of the liberation committee (which, after moving to Lublin after a few days, will later be commonly referred to as ” The USSR and the Polish authorities of the National Liberation Committee are defined in a treaty signed on 25 July 1944. The need for an understanding between the “Lublin Committee” and the “Polish Government of London” for the formation of a unified Polish government is well felt. soon both in the Polish and international fields. Prime Minister Mikołajczyk, accompanied by ministers Romer and Grabski, went from London to Moscow on 1 August 1944 to begin negotiations with the representatives of the “Lublin Committee”. On 10 August, however, Mikolajczyk left for London without having concluded any agreement.
The Soviet offensive of summer-autumn 1944 brought the war back to Polish territory. Armies I, II and III of White Russia, having conquered the Vitebsk-Orsa-Mohilev-Gomel line, with rapid advance occupied Minsk, Bobrujsk and Baranowicze on 7 and 8 July; they crossed the ancient frontier, pursuing the retreating German armies and, at the end of the month, lined up on the Grodno-Białystok-Brest-Litovsk front. South of the Rokitno Marshes, the offensive moved from the Korosten′-Žitomir-Proskurov line and in perfect synchrony with the armies of White Russia, the armies of Ukraine, in the third decade of July, had also crossed the Polish border and attested at the Łuck-Dubno-Tarnopol front. Lviv fell on July 27. A further sudden rush led, at the end of July,
As Soviet forces approached the Polish capital, a major insurrection against the Germans erupted in the city. The Warsaw Uprising, ordered by the commander of “Armia Krajowa”, gen. Komorowski (pseudonym “Bor”), who took the place of gen. Rowecki arrested by the Germans on June 26, 1943, constitutes one of the most tragic and most discussed chapters in Polish history during the Second World War. The insurgents occupied the center of the city, without however having contact with the Soviet army which in the meantime had occupied the suburb of Praga, separated from Warsaw by the Vistula. The Germans, having withdrawn from the center, encircled the city in an iron circle. The Polish soldiers of the “1 aarmy “who had come to the suburb of Praga alongside Russian soldiers, tried to cross the river to help the insurgents, but their attacks were repulsed. The struggle continued for two months. On 1 November, the center of Warsaw surrendered to the Germans who deported the survivors and systematically destroyed the entire city.
With the resumption of the winter offensive, Poland formed the basis of the vast maneuver that the Soviet Supreme Command was embarking on to overwhelm the last German resistance covering the national territory, more exposed, given the nature of the theater of operations, to offenses from the east, than to those coming from the west. The German general staff intended to resist on the Oder line, the only serious natural obstacle that stood between the advancing Soviet armies and the heart of Germany. The defensive action to be carried out in East Prussia, which could also have been transformed into a possible base for counter-offensive operations from the north on the right flank of the Soviet mass proceeding towards the west, would have constituted the suitable element to arrest or at least slow down the enemy offensive.
The three armies operating in Poland advanced on divergent lines: the Second White Russia – Marshal Rokosovskij – headed north-west and entered East Prussia from the south on the Mława-Danzig route; I – Marshal Žukov – advanced on the main route Warsaw-Poznań-Berlin; the Ukrainian I – Marshal Konev – advanced towards the SW, in the direction of Kielce-Częstochowa-Breslau. The march west was very swift. The Germanic frontier was crossed by the two armies of the center and the left 17 days just after the start of the offensive: February 2, 1945. At this date, the line of contact took the form of a profound salient that encompassed the whole of Poland. central and western, whose base was on the Katowice-Grudziąrd line and the summit west of Poznań. The major German fortresses had been blocked and passed: Poznań, which capitulated on 2 March; Bydgoszcz (January 22), Grudziądz (March 6), Gdansk (March 30).
The end of the war is now near. The Polish question (ie the dispute between the Polish government in London and the “Lublin Committee”) is on the agenda of the Conference of the Great in Yalta (February 12, 1945). The great powers affirm in this conference the need to create a government of national unity in Poland. In London, Prime Minister Mikolajczyk had long since taken a favorable attitude towards the establishment of a single government, in collaboration with the Lublin Committee. Failing to convince his entire government to enter into negotiations in this regard, Mikolajczyk resigned on November 24. On November 30, 1944, a new Polish government intransigent towards the Lublin Committee was formed in London by Tomasz Arciszewski.
