Sikorski, Wladyslaw

Sikorski, Władysław (vlädĭ`swäf shēkôr`skē), 1881–1943, Polish general and politician. He fought in World War I and later (1922–25) held various cabinet posts. Premier Piłsudski dismissed him from public service in 1928, but after the German conquest of Poland, Sikorski became (1939) premier of the Polish government in exile. He also was commander in chief of the Polish forces that continued to fight alongside the Allies in World War II. Sikorski restored (1941) diplomatic relations with the USSR, but after he requested International Red Cross investigation of the Katyn incident, relations were again broken off (Apr., 1943). Sikorski died in an airplane crash near Gibraltar.

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Sikorski, Wladyslaw (Eugeniusz)

(born May 20, 1881, Tuszów Narodowy, Pol., Austria-Hungary—died July 4, 1943, Gibraltar) Polish general and politician. He served in the Austrian army and in World War I was head of the Polish Legion, which joined with Austria against Russia. He served as prime minister of Poland (1923–24) and as minister of military affairs (1924–25). From 1928 he joined the opposition to the government controlled by Józef Pilsudski. After the German invasion of Poland (1939), he became prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile. When he asked Joseph Stalin to allow the Red Cross to investigate the Katyn Massacre, Stalin broke off Soviet-Polish diplomatic contact. Sikorski died in an airplane crash several months later.

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Sikorski, Władysław 

Born May 20, 1881, in Tuszów Narodowy, near the city of Sandomierz; died July 4, 1943. Polish military and political figure; general.

Sikorski was educated as an engineer. From 1914 he was a member of the Supreme National Committee, which had been organized in Galicia. As a member of the committee, he advocated the restoration of the Polish state under the aegis of Austria-Hungary; in 1916 he was named head of the committee’s war department. From 1914 to 1917 he was a colonel in the Polish legions and an opponent of J. Piłeudski. In the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, Sikorski was commander of the Fifth Army and, later, of the Third Army. He was chief of the General Staff in 1921 and 1922, prime minister and war minister in 1922 and 1923, and war minister in 1924 and 1925. From 1925 to 1928 he was the commander of a military district; he was removed from this post in 1928 as a result of Piłsudski’s military coup of May 1926.

From 1939 to 1943, Sikorski was prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, war minister, and supreme commander in chief of the Polish armed forces. On July 30, 1941 he signed a treaty with the USSR on the resumption of diplomatic relations. Sikorski died in an airplane crash near Gibraltar.