10 - The years of Tempest, May 1943–December 1944

Summary

Changes in London and Warsaw

In 1943 the war entered a new phase. The Soviet forces held the last serious German offensive in the battle at Kursk on 12–15 July and themselves went over to the offensive, liberating large areas of the Soviet Union. North Africa was cleared of the Axis forces and for practical purposes fascist Italy was knocked out of the war by the Allied landings at Salerno in September 1943. In the Far East the American forces were to go over to the offensive and drive back the Japanese. It was no longer a question of whether the war would be won, but when it would be won. As the end approached, the situation of the Polish government-in-exile was difficult. Neither Britain nor the USA cared to look after its affairs in the USSR. In the end it was Australia who undertook to represent Polish interests. The London government continued to take its stand upon the frontiers of 1 September 1939, but Stalin expressed his view that a strong and independent Poland might be created at the end of the war. This gave Sikorski to hope that diplomatic relations might be resumed shortly. He continued to believe that the Western Allies would sooner or later bring the weight of their influence to bear upon the side of Poland. His tour of the Near and Middle East in June 1943 had the purpose of reassuring diplomatic representatives and military commanders and requesting them to preserve a stoic calm for the meantime.