A Military Government in Exile: The Polish Government in Exile 1939-1945, A Study of Discontent
Author(s): Evan McGilvray (Author)
Publisher: Helion and Company
Publication Date: 15 Mar. 2013
Language: English
Print length: 200 pages
ISBN-10: 9781908916976
ISBN-13: 1908916974
Book Description
This work examines the nature of the relationship between the British Government and the Polish Government in Exile, 1939-1945. The relationship was extremely difficult owing to the extremity of the time and the situations of the two governments.
Before 1939 there had been little contact between Poland and Britain. However between 1939 and 1945 the two countries were joined in a common desire for the military defeat of Germany: this was virtually the only common goal that the two governments shared; Polish ambitions to see Poland restored to its pre-war frontiers were not shared with the major allies (Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union) after 1941. The question of differing objectives caused friction between the Western allies, the Soviet Union and the Polish Government in Exile. As hosts the British Government was able to control the Polish Government-in-Exile but frequently found that the demands of the Soviet Government on the latter difficult to justify, although the British did so in order to maintain the unity of the alliance against Germany. However, the Polish Government-in-Exile failed to recognise its true position in the alliance: it was very much a junior partner – just another minor European power and irritant.
Making full use of unpublished material and Polish sources, this is a detailed and lucid contribution to modern Polish and European history, including much information concerning the creation of the Polish Army following the end of the First World War, and the politics of the Army during the 1920s and 1930s, besides detailed coverage of its political role during the Second World War.
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
Evan McGilvray has written a number of books on Poland as well as biographies. He is well versed in Poland and Polish society and away from the usual Krakow and Warsaw ‘hothouses’ of middle-class elites who actually know little about their compatriots. Evan McGilvray is now in the process of following up this work with another provisionally entitled ‘How to Explain Stupid – or Western Democracy Today’. Evan McGilvray was born in Winchester in 1961 and is a graduate of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at UCL. He lived in Poland between 1991 and 1994 and visits often.
About the Author
Evan McGilvray was born in August 1961 in Winchester, Hampshire. He is a graduate of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London (UCL). Following this he undertook post-graduate studies at the University of Bradford and the University of Leeds, where he researched the politics of the Polish Army from 1918 to date. He also taught at the two universities. Evan is quite happy to challenge the myths that Poles have created around the Polish Army and the role of Poland during the Second World War. He also has an interest in other militaries and their role in society – quite simply civil-military relations – Poland being one of the most interesting European examples. To relax he has learnt to ignore the rest of the world, and notes, “Despite what Poles think, I am not a Scot, only in name!”
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