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{{Short description|Polish government in exile during World War II in German-occupied Poland}}
{{About|the resistance groups in Poland during World War II|the "secret state" in Poland during the 1860s|Polish National Government (January Uprising)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Polish Underground State
| native_name            = ''Polskie Państwo Podziemne''
| common_name            = Polskie Państwo Podziemne
| status                 = [[Government in exile]]
| p1                     = Second Polish Republic
| flag_p1                = Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
| s1                     = Provisional Government of National Unity
| flag_s1                = Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
| image_flag             = Flaga_PPP.svg
| flag                   = Flag of Poland
| image_coat             = Kotwica jako symbol Polski Walczącej (SVG).svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| symbol_type            = [[Kotwica|Emblem]]
| national_motto         = {{lang|pl|"[[Honor i Ojczyzna]]"}} <br /> ({{lang|en|"[[Honor and Fatherland]]"}})
| national_anthem        = "[[Mazurek Dąbrowskiego]]"<br />({{Langx|en|"Poland Is Not Yet Lost"}}) [[File:Mazurek Dąbrowskiego (1939; instrumental).ogg|center]]
| image_map              = 
| image_map_caption      = 
| common_languages       = [[Polish language|Polish]]
| title_leader           = [[List of heads of state of Poland|President]] of the [[Polish government-in-exile]]
| leader1                = {{nowrap|[[Władysław Raczkiewicz]]}}
| year_leader1           = 1939–1945
| title_deputy           = [[List of Prime Ministers of Poland|Prime Minister]] of the [[Polish government-in-exile]]
| deputy1                = [[Władysław Sikorski]]
| year_deputy1           = 1939–1940 (first)
| deputy2                = [[Tomasz Arciszewski]]
| year_deputy2           = 1944–1945 (last)
| era                    = [[World War II]]
| event_pre              = [[April Constitution of Poland|Constitution adopted]]
| date_pre               = 23 April 1935
| event_start            = [[Invasion of Poland]]
| date_start             = 1 September
| year_start             = 1939
| event_end              = [[Provisional Government of National Unity]] established
| date_end               = 28 June
| year_end               = 1945{{r|Ostasz|Garliński}}
| currency               = 
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
| today                  = 
| legislature            = {{plainlist| * [[Political Consultative Committee]]<br>(1940–1943)<br>[[Home Political Representation]]<br />(1943–1944)<br>[[Council of National Unity]]<br />(1944–1945)}}
}}
{{Polish Underground State sidebar}}

The '''Polish Underground State''' ({{langx|pl|Polskie Państwo Podziemne}}, also known as the '''Polish Secret State'''){{Efn|The more widely used term ''Polish Underground State'' was first used on 13 January 1944 by the official underground publication of the Polish underground authorities, the [[Biuletyn Informacyjny]].{{r|Wachowicz}} ''Polish Secret State'' (Polish: ''Tajne państwo'') was a term used by [[Jan Karski]] in his book ''[[Story of a Secret State]]'', written and first published in the second half of 1944 in the United States.}} was a single political and military entity formed by the [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland]] that were loyal to the [[Polish government-in-exile|Government of the Republic of Poland in exile]] in London. The [[Service for Poland's Victory|first elements]] of the Underground State were established in the final days of the [[Invasion of Poland|German and Soviet invasion of Poland]], in late September 1939. The Underground State was perceived by supporters as a legal continuation of the pre-war [[Second Polish Republic|Republic of Poland]] (and its institutions) that waged an armed struggle against the country's occupying powers: [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. The Underground State encompassed not only military resistance, one of the largest in the world,{{Efn|name=size|Several sources note that the [[Armia Krajowa]] was the largest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. For example, [[Norman Davies]] wrote "Armia Krajowa (Home Army), the AK, which could fairly claim to be the largest of European resistance";<ref name="davies"/> [[Gregor Dallas]] wrote "Home Army (Armia Krajowa or AK) in late 1943 numbered around 400,000, making it the largest resistance organization in Europe";<ref name="dallas"/> [[Mark Wyman]] wrote "Armia Krajowa was considered the largest underground resistance unit in wartime Europe".<ref name="Wyman"/> Certainly, the Polish resistance was the largest resistance movement until the German [[invasion of Yugoslavia]] and [[invasion of the Soviet Union|the Soviet Union]] in 1941; in the last years of the war those two resistances would rival AK in its strength (see [[Resistance during World War II]] for a more detailed analysis). Compared to them, the size of the [[French resistance]] was smaller, numbering around 10,000 people in 1942, and swelling to 200,000 by 1944.<ref name="NadeauBarlow2003"/>}} but also civilian structures, such as justice, education, culture and social services.

Although the Underground State enjoyed broad support throughout much of the war, it was not supported or recognized by the [[Communism|communists]] and some of the [[Far-right politics|right-wing extremists]]. The influence of the communists eventually declined amid military reversals (most notably, the failure of the [[Warsaw Uprising]]) and the growing hostility of the USSR. The Soviet Union had created an alternative, puppet government in 1944 (the [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]]) and ensured it formed the basis of [[Provisional Government of National Unity|the post-war government in Poland]]. During the Soviet-backed communist takeover of Poland at the end of the war, many Underground State members were prosecuted [[Trial of the Sixteen|as alleged traitors]] and died in captivity. [[Western betrayal|Abandoned]] by the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]], finding it impossible to negotiate with the Soviets, and wishing to avoid a civil war, the key institutions of the Underground State dissolved themselves in the first half of 1945.

Ultimately, hundreds of thousands of people were directly involved with various agencies of the Underground State ([[Armia Krajowa#Membership|the estimates for membership in Armia Krajowa]] alone are often given at approaching half a million people), and they were quietly supported by millions of Polish citizens. The rationale behind the creation of the secret civilian authority drew on the fact that the German and Soviet occupation of Poland was illegal. Hence, all institutions created by the occupying powers were considered illegal, and parallel Polish underground institutions were set up in accordance with [[Polish law]]. The scale of the Underground State was also inadvertently aided by the actions of the occupiers, whose attempts to destroy the Polish state, nation, and its culture, including most importantly [[genocide|genocidal policies]] that targeted Polish citizens, fuelled popular support for the Polish resistance movement and its development.

During the [[Cold War]] era, research on the Underground State was curtailed by Polish communist officials, who instead emphasized the role that [[Armia Ludowa|communist partisans]] played in the anti-Nazi resistance. Hence, until recently, the bulk of research done on this topic was carried out by Polish scholars living in exile.

==History==
===1939–1940: Formation===
In many respects, the history of the Polish Underground State mirrors that of the Polish non-communist resistance in general. The Underground State traces its origins to the [[Service for Poland's Victory]] (Służba Zwycięstwu Polski, SZP) organization, which was founded on 27 September 1939, one day before the [[siege of Warsaw (1939)|surrender of the Polish capital of Warsaw]], at a time when the Polish defeat in the [[German invasion of Poland]] (accompanied by the [[Soviet invasion of Poland|Soviet one]]) appeared inevitable.{{r|Salmonowicz}}{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=221}} SZP founder General [[Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski]] received orders from Polish [[Commander-in-Chief]] Marshal [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły]] to organize and carry out the struggle in occupied Poland.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=221}}{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=26–27}} Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski decided that the organization he was creating needed to move beyond a strictly military format; and in line with the traditions of the underground [[Polish National Government (January Uprising)|19th-century Polish National Government]] and [[World War I]]-era [[Polish Military Organization]], it would need to encompass various aspects of civilian life.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=27}} Hence, the SZP, in contact with (and subordinate to) the [[Polish Government in Exile]], envisioned itself not only as an armed resistance organization, but also as a vehicle through which the Polish state continued to administer its occupied territories.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=30–31}}

Following the [[April Constitution of Poland|Polish Constitution]], President [[Ignacy Mościcki]], interned in [[Romania]] after the Polish government evacuated itself from Poland on 17 September, resigned and appointed General [[Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski]] as his successor; unpopular with the French government, Wieniawa-Długoszowski was replaced by [[Władysław Raczkiewicz]] on 29 September.<ref name="Stachura2004"/><ref name="Biskupski-Pula-Wróbel"/><ref name="Lerski"/> General [[Władysław Sikorski]], a long-term opponent of the [[Sanacja]] regime who resided in France and had the support of the French government, would become the Polish Commander-in-Chief (on 28 September) and Poland's [[Prime Minister of Poland|Prime Minister]] (on 30 September).<ref name="Biskupski-Pula-Wróbel"/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=222}}<ref name="Keegan2002"/> This government was quickly recognized by France and the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=223}} Raczkiewicz, described as "weak and indecisive", held relatively little influence compared to charismatic Sikorski.<ref>{{cite book|author=Anita Prażmowska|title=Britain and Poland, 1939–1943: the betrayed ally|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4J2c4jEhjYC&pg=PA10|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-48385-8|pages=10–11}}</ref>

Due to political differences among factions in the Polish exile government, and in particular, SZP ties to the Sanacja regime which dominated the Polish government since the mid-1920s, the SZP was reorganized into the [[Union of Armed Struggle]] (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, ZWZ) on 13 November 1939.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=223}}{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=31–33}} Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski supported that move, aiming to include parties marginalized by the Sanacja regime, and supported the formation of the [[Main Political Council]] (Główna Rada Polityczna, GRP).{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=222}} Sikorski named General [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]] the head of the ZWZ and Colonel [[Stefan Rowecki]] was appointed the commander of the ZWZ German occupation zone. Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski became the commander of the ZWZ Soviet zone but was arrested in March 1940 by the Soviets when attempting to cross the new German-Soviet border.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=223}} In June Sikorski appointed [[Stefan Rowecki|Rowecki]] as the commander of both zones.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=223}}

[[File:Wladyslaw Sikorski 2.jpg|thumb|[[Władysław Sikorski]], Polish commander in chief and prime minister during World War II]]
Given that the ZWZ focused on military aspects of the struggle, its civilian dimension was less clearly defined and developed more slowly—a situation exacerbated by the complex political discussions that were then unfolding between politicians in occupied Poland and the [[government in exile]] (first located in Paris, and after the [[fall of France]], in London).{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=222}}{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=33–36, 39}} Sikorski's government opted for a much more democratic procedure then the less democratic prewar Sanacja regime.{{sfn|Biskupski|Pula|Wróbel|2010|pp=15, 141–142}} The [[National Council of Poland|National Council]] (Rada Narodowa) was formed by the government in exile in December 1939, including representatives from different Polish political factions.<ref name="Biskupski-Pula-Wróbel"/> Meanwhile, in occupied Poland, a major step toward the development of the organization's civilian structure was taken in late February 1940, when the ZWZ established its local version of the National Council, the [[Political Consultative Committee]] (Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy, PKP).{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=33–36}}{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=224}} PKP was formed in 1940 pursuant to an agreement between several major political parties: the [[Polish Socialist Party|Socialist Party]], [[People's Party (Poland)|People's Party]], [[National Party (Poland)|National Party]] and [[Labour Faction (1937)|Labor Party]]. In 1943 it was renamed to [[Home Political Representation]] (''Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna'') and in 1944 to [[Council of National Unity]] (''Rada Jedności Narodowej'').<ref name=Leslie>{{cite book|author=Roy Francis Leslie|title=The History of Poland Since 1863|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tYVKUsnw9IC|year=1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-27501-9}}</ref>{{rp|235–236}}

The structures in occupied Poland maintained close communication with the government in exile, through radio communications and "hundreds, if not thousands" of couriers, such as [[Jan Karski]].<ref name="Koskodan2009"/><ref name="Struk2011"/><ref name="Struk2004"/> One of the most significant developments of 1940 was the creation of the office of [[Government Delegation for Poland]] (Delegatura Rządu na Kraj), with [[Cyryl Ratajski]] (nominated on 3 December) as the first [[List of Government Delegates for Poland|Delegate]]; this event marked the official beginning of the Underground State (Ratajski would be followed by [[Jan Piekałkiewicz]], [[Jan Stanisław Jankowski]] and [[Stefan Korboński]]).<ref name=Ostasz/>{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=37}} The post of the Delegate could be seen as equivalent to that of a Deputy Prime Minister (particularly since the legislation of 1944).<ref name=Ostasz/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=234}} Unlike the GRP and PKP, which operated alongside the military structures but had no influence over them, the Delegation had budgetary control over the military.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|pp=225–226}} The Delegation was to oversee the military and recreate the civilian administration.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|pp=225–226}}

As early as 1940, the Underground State's civilian arm was actively supporting [[Education in Poland during World War II|underground education]];{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=37}} it then set out to develop [[social security]], information (propaganda) and [[Directorate of Civil Resistance|justice]] networks.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=42, 44, 46}}

===1941–1943: Growth===
By 1942, most of the differences between politicians in occupied Poland and those in exile had been positively settled.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=45–46}} By 1943, the PKP had evolved into the [[Home Political Representation]] (Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna, KRP), which served as the basis of the [[Council of National Unity]] (Rada Jedności Narodowej, RJN), created on 9 January 1944.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=44–45}} The council, headed by [[Kazimierz Pużak]], was seen as the Underground State's parliament.<ref name="Kersten"/> Meanwhile, the military arm of the Underground State expanded dramatically, and the ZWZ was transformed into [[Armia Krajowa]] (AK, or the Home Army) in 1942.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=45}} ZWZ-AK commanders included Stefan Rowecki, [[Tadeusz Komorowski]] and [[Leopold Okulicki]].<ref name="MNK"/>
{{Polish statehood}}

In August 1943 and March 1944, the Polish Underground State announced its long-term plan, which was partly designed to undercut the attractiveness of some of the communists' proposals.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=47}} The communists, in their increasingly radical ''What We Fight For'' declarations (from March and November 1943), were proposing the creation of a heavily socialist or even [[communist state]], denouncing capitalism, which they equated to slavery.<ref name="Korboński1981"/> They demanded [[nationalization]] of most if not all of the economy, introduction of [[central planning]],<ref name="Korboński1981"/><ref name="Buszko1983"/> The Underground State's declaration ''What the Polish Nation is Fighting For'' declared the reconstruction of Poland as a democratic parliamentary state as its goal, guaranteeing full equality to the minorities, as well as full [[freedom of speech]], [[freedom of religion]], and freedom of political activity.<ref name="Kersten"/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=246}} The plan also called for the creation of a Central European federal union, without domination by any single state.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=246}} In the economic sector, [[planned economy]] would be endorsed, by embracing the socialist and [[Christian Democrat]] principles, such as [[redistribution of wealth|income redistribution]], aiming at a reduction of [[economic inequality]].<ref name="Kersten"/>{{sfn|Kersten|1991|pp=51–52}} The plan promised [[land reform]], nationalization of the industrial base, demands for territorial compensation from Germany, and re-establishment of the country's pre-1939 eastern border.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=47}} According to the plan, the country's Eastern borders, as delineated by the 1921 Treaty of Riga, would be kept while in the north and west compensation would be sought from German territories.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=246}} Thus, the main differences between the Underground State and the communists, in terms of politics, were not rooted in radical economic and social reforms, which both sides advocated, but rather in their divergent positions on such issues as national sovereignty, borders, and Polish-Soviet relations.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=47}} The program was criticized by the nationalist factions, for being too socialist, and not "Christian" enough.{{sfn|Kersten|1991|pp=51–52}}

The Underground State achieved its zenith of influence in early 1944.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=47}} In April, the Polish government in exile recognized the administrative structure of the Delegate's Office as the Temporary Governmental Administration.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=48}} This was when the Delegate officially became recognized as the Deputy Prime Minister, and the [[Council of Ministers at Home]] (Krajowa Rada Ministrów, KRM) was created.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=234}} The Underground State however declined sharply in the aftermath of the nationwide uprising, [[Operation Tempest]], initiated in the spring of 1944.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=48–49}} In addition to the costly and eventually unsuccessful [[Warsaw Uprising]] part of the Operation Tempest, the hostile attitude of the [[Soviet Union]] and its puppet Polish government, the [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]] (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN) towards the non-communist resistance loyal to the Polish government in exile proved to be disastrous.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=48–49}} The Underground State assumed that the Polish resistance would aid the advancing Soviet forces, and AK commanders and representatives of the administrative authority would assume the role of legitimate hosts.<ref name=Ostasz/> Instead, the Soviets commonly surrounded, disarmed and arrested the Underground's military authority members and its civilian representatives, instituting their own administrative structures instead.<ref name="Rzecz"/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=245}} In early July 1944, even as the AK resistance continued its struggle against the Germans, the Underground State was forced to order the AK and its administrative structure to remain in hiding from the Soviets, due to continued arrests and reprisals experienced by those who revealed themselves.<ref name=Ostasz/>

===1944–1945: Decline and dissolution===
Events taking place in 1943 significantly weakened the Polish government in exile. A rift developed between Poland and the Soviet Union, an increasingly important ally for the West, particularly after the revelation of the [[Katyn massacre]] in 1943 (on 13 April), followed by the breaking-off of diplomatic relations with Poland by the Soviets (on 21 April). The subsequent death (on 4 July) of the charismatic General Sikorski, succeeded by less influential [[Stanisław Mikołajczyk]] as the Prime Minister, and General Sosnkowski as the Commander-in-Chief, contributed to the decline.<ref name="Prażmowska1995">{{cite book|author=Anita Prażmowska|title=Britain and Poland, 1939–1943: the betrayed ally|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4J2c4jEhjYC&pg=PA184|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-48385-8|page=184}}</ref>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=243}}<ref name="Alterman2005"/><ref name="Dallas2006"/>{{sfn|Lerski|1996|p=172}}<ref name="Prażmowska1995-3">{{cite book|author=Anita Prażmowska|title=Britain and Poland, 1939–1943: the betrayed ally|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4J2c4jEhjYC&pg=PA191|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-48385-8|page=191}}</ref> No representative of the Polish government was invited to the [[Tehran Conference]] (28 November – 1 December 1943) or the [[Yalta Conference]] (4–11 February 1945), the two crucial events in which the Western Allies and the Soviet Union discussed the shape of the post-war world and decided on the fate of Poland, assigning it to the Soviet [[sphere of influence]].<ref name=Ostasz/><ref name="Biskupski2000"/> In Tehran, neither [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] nor [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] objected to [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s suggestion that the Polish government in exile in London was not representing Polish interests; as historian [[Anita J. Prazmowska|Anita Prażmowska]] noted, "this spelled the end of that government's tenuous influence and raison d'être."<ref name="Prażmowska1995-3"/> After the Tehran Conference, Stalin decided to create his own [[puppet government]] for Poland, and the PKWN was proclaimed in 1944.<ref name="Biskupski2000"/> PKWN was recognized by the Soviet Government as the only legitimate authority in Poland, while Mikołajczyk's Government in London, was termed by the Soviets an "illegal and self-styled authority."<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter D. Stachura|title=Poland, 1918–1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CLT6gxMj8d8C&pg=PA177|year=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-34358-9|page=177}}</ref> Mikołajczyk would serve in the Prime Minister's role until 24 November 1944, when, realizing the increasing powerlessness of the government in exile, he resigned and was succeeded by [[Tomasz Arciszewski]], "whose obscurity", in the words of historian [[Mieczysław B. Biskupski]], "signaled the arrival of the government in exile at total inconsequentiality."{{sfn|Lerski|1996|p=172}}<ref name="Biskupski2000"/>

[[File:Stefan Korboński.jpg|thumb|right|[[Stefan Korboński]], the last delegate]]
The communists refused to deal with the Underground State just like they refused to deal with the government in exile; its leaders and soldiers in "liberated" Polish territories were persecuted.<ref name="Rzecz"/> A number of prominent leaders of the Underground State, including the Government Delegate, [[Jan Stanisław Jankowski]] and the last AK Commander-in-Chief, General [[Leopold Okulicki]], who decided to reveal themselves and upon the Soviet invitation begun open negotiations with the communist authorities, were arrested and sentenced by the Soviets in Moscow in the infamous [[Trial of the Sixteen]] (arrests were carried out in March 1945, and the trial itself took place in June that year).<ref name=Ostasz/><ref name="Rzecz"/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|pp=251–252}}<ref name="CloudOlson2004"/> On 27 June 1945 the Council of National Unity held its last session, issuing a 12-point declaration demanding that the Soviet army leave Poland and the repression of the non-communist political parties cease.{{r|Ostasz|Garliński}} The Government Delegate's Office at Home, restructured after the arrests of its leadership and headed by the last Delegate, [[Stefan Korboński]], disbanded on 1 July, after the creation in Moscow of the [[Provisional Government of National Unity]] (Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej, TRJN) on 28 June 1945.<ref name="pwn"/><ref name="pwn2"/> The disbanding of those structures marked the end of the Underground State.{{r|Ostasz|Garliński}}

The TRJN was composed primarily of communist representatives from the PKWN, with a token representation of the opposition as a gesture towards the Western Allies.<ref name="Biskupski2000"/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=251}} With the establishment of the TRJN, the government in exile stopped being recognized by the Western Allies (France withdrew its recognition on 29 June, followed by United Kingdom and the United States on 5 July), who decided to support the Soviet-backed and increasingly communist TRJN body.<ref name="Stachura2004"/>{{sfn|Biskupski|Pula|Wróbel|2010|pp=15, 199}}{{sfn|Lerski|1996|pp=172, 357}} Seeing this as a "[[Western betrayal]]",<ref name="Judt2006"/> the government in exile protested that decision and continued to operate till the [[fall of communism]] in 1989, when it recognized the post-communist Polish government.{{sfn|Biskupski|Pula|Wróbel|2010|p=15}}<ref name="Cook2001"/> Following the rigged [[1947 Polish legislative election|Polish legislative election]] of 1947, the few independent politicians like Mikołajczyk who attempted to form an opposition were threatened with arrests, retired or emigrated.{{sfn|Lerski|1996|p=357}}

The Underground State's military arm, Armia Krajowa, officially disbanded on 19 January 1945 to avoid armed conflict with the Soviets and civil war.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=250}}<ref name="MNKcited"/> Over the next few years the communists solidified their hold on Poland, falsifying elections, persecuting the opposition and eliminating it as a political power.<ref name="Frucht2005"/> Remnants of the armed resistance ([[NIE (resistance)|NIE]], [[Armed Forces Delegation for Poland]], [[Freedom and Independence]]) that refused to lay down their weapons and surrender to the communist regime continued to hold out for several years as the [[cursed soldiers]], fighting the Soviet-backed communist forces until eradicated.<ref name="Rzecz"/><ref name=pwn/><ref name="Frucht2005"/>

==Political representation==
The Underground State represented most, though not all, political factions of the [[Second Polish Republic]]. The [[Political Consultative Committee]] (PKP) represented four major Polish parties: the [[Polish Socialist Party|Socialist Party]] (PPS-WRN), the [[People's Party (Poland)|People's Party]] (SL), the [[National Party (Poland)|SN]], and the [[Labour Faction (1937)|Labor Party]] (SP).{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=234}} The SP joined the PKP in June 1940, four months after the PKP was created; and the PPS-WRN withdrew from the PKP between October 1941 and March 1943.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=51–53}} Those parties, known as the ''Big Four'', were also represented in the [[Home Political Representation]] (KRP).{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=234}} Compared to PKP and KRP, the [[Council of National Unity]] was much more representative, and included representatives of several smaller political groupings.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=245}} Several other groups lacked significant representation in PKP and KRP, but nonetheless had supported the Underground State.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=235}} For example, the nationalists from the [[National Radical Camp Falanga]] formed the [[Confederation of the Nation]], which included most members of the pre-war far-right, partially merging with the ZWZ around 1941 and finally joining the AK around fall 1943. Non-Polish [[ethnic minority|ethnic minorities]], primarily the [[Ukrainian minority in Poland|Ukrainians]] and the [[Belarusian minority in Poland|Belarusians]], were not represented in the Underground State; however the [[Polish Jews|Jews]] were.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=55–56}}{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=238}}

The most important groups that refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State included the communists ([[Polish Workers Party]] (PPR) and its military arm, the [[People's Guard (1942–1944)|People's Guard]], later transformed into the [[People's Army (Poland)|People's Army]]), and the far-right extremists from the [[National Radical Camp ABC]] ([[Group Szaniec]] and its military arm, the [[Military Organization Lizard Union]]).{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=64}} Both the extreme left (the communists) and the extreme right (the nationalists) did not recognize the Underground State and in some cases actively persecuted people connected with it.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=235}} Only the PPR, however, opposed to Polish independence and supporting full inclusion of Poland in the Soviet Union, was seen as completely outside the framework of the State; the other groups were seen as a justifiable opposition.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=236}} In 1944 PPR would become part of the [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]] (PKWN), a Soviet puppet government.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=236}}

==Structure==
===Civilian===
{{Further|Government Delegate's Office at Home|Polish Government in Exile}}
[[File:Biuletyn informacyjny sikorski.jpg|thumb|Polish Underground State's underground ''[[Biuletyn Informacyjny|Information Bulletin]]'', 15 July 1943, reporting the death of Gen. Sikorski and ordering a [[national day of mourning]]]]
The government in exile, located first in France and later in the United Kingdom, with the [[President of Poland|President]], [[Prime Minister of Poland|Prime Minister]] and the [[General Inspector of the Armed Forces|Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[Polish Army]] was the top military and civilian authority, recognized by the authorities of the Underground State as their commanders.<ref name="Biskupski-Pula-Wróbel"/>{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=17–18}} The government in exile was represented in the occupied Poland by the Government Delegation for Poland, headed by the [[List of Government Delegates for Poland|Government Delegate for Poland]].<ref name="Ostasz"/>

The main role of the civilian branch of the Underground State was to preserve the continuity of the Polish state as a whole, including its institutions. These institutions included [[Directorate of Civil Resistance|the police, the courts]], and [[Education in Poland during World War II|schools]].{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=37, 42, 44, 46}} This branch of the state was intended to prepare cadres and institutions to resume power after the German defeat in World War II.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=76}} By the final years of the war, the civilian structure of the Underground State included an underground parliament, administration, judiciary ([[Underground court|courts]] and [[Panstwowy Korpus Bezpieczenstwa|police]]), [[Education in Poland during World War II|secondary and higher-level education]], and supported [[Polish culture during World War II|various cultural activities]] such as the publishing of newspapers and books, underground theatres, lectures, exhibitions, concerts and safeguarded various works of art.<ref name=Ostasz/>{{sfn|Garliński|1975|pp=220, 222}} It also dealt with providing [[social services]], including to the destitute Jewish population (through the council to Aid Jews, or [[Żegota]]).<ref name=Ostasz/> Through the [[Directorate of Civil Resistance]] (1941–1943) the civil arm was also involved in lesser acts of resistance, such as [[minor sabotage]], although in 1943 this department was merged with the [[Directorate of Covert Resistance]], forming the [[Directorate of Underground Resistance]], subordinate to AK.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=223}}

The departments can be seen as loosely corresponding to [[ministry (collective executive)|ministries]]. Three departments were dedicated to war-related issues: the Department for Elimination of the Consequences of War, the Department for Public Works and Reconstruction, and the Department for Information and the Press; the other departments mirrored pre-war Polish ministries (e.g., Department of Post Offices and Telegraphs, or Department of the Treasury).{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=75}} The Delegate's Office was divided into departments,{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=226}}<!--initially 20,--> 14 of which existed toward the end of the war; the full list included: the Presidential Department, the Department of Internal Affairs, Justice Department, Employment and Social Welfare Department, Agriculture Department, Treasury Department, Trade and Industry Department, Postal and Telegraph Services Department, the Department for Elimination of the Consequences of War, Transport Department, Information and the Press, Department of Public Works and Reconstruction, Department of Education and Culture and the Department of National Defence.<ref name=Ostasz/>

On the geographical division level, the Delegation had local offices, dividing Polish territories into 16 [[voivodeships]], each under an underground [[voivode]], further divided into [[powiat]]s headed by [[starosta]]s, and with separate municipal bodies.<ref name=Ostasz/> In early 1944, the Delegation employed some 15,000 people in its administration; those were primarily older people, as the younger ones were recruited for the military side of the operations.<ref name=Ostasz/>

===Military===
{{Further|Związek Walki Zbrojnej|Armia Krajowa}}
[[File:Armia krajowa 1 en.png|thumb|right|100px|alt=See caption|Regional organization of Armia Krajowa in 1944]]
The military arm of the Polish Underground State consisted primarily of various branches of the Armia Krajowa (AK) and, until 1942, the [[Związek Walki Zbrojnej|Union of Armed Struggle]]. This arm of the state was designed to prepare the Polish society for a future fight for the country's liberation. Apart from armed resistance, sabotage, intelligence, training, and propaganda, the state's military arm was responsible for maintaining communication with the London-based government in exile, and for protecting the civilian arm of the state.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=91, 96}}

The Armia Krajowa's primary resistance operations were the [[sabotage]] of German activities, including transports headed for the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] in the Soviet Union.<ref name="MNKcited"/> The sabotage of German rail and road transports to the Eastern Front was so extensive it is estimated that one-eighth of all German transports to the Eastern Front were destroyed or significantly delayed due to AK's activities.<ref name="RJC"/>

The AK also fought several full-scale [[battle]]s against the Germans, particularly in 1943 and 1944 during [[Operation Tempest]].<ref name="MNKcited"/> They tied down significant German forces, worth at least several divisions (upper estimates suggest about 930,000 troops), diverting much-needed supplies, while trying to support the Soviet military.<ref name="MNKcited"/><ref name="Cienc-lect"/><ref name="Pogonowski"/> Polish intelligence operatives supplied valuable [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] information to the Allies; 43 percent of all reports received by [[British secret services]] from continental Europe in 1939–45 came from Polish sources.<ref name="FT06"/><ref name="Tismaneanu2010"/> At its height, AK numbered over 400,000 and was recognized as one of the three largest, or even the largest,{{Efn|name=size}} resistance movement of the war.<ref name=davies/><ref name=dallas/><ref name=Wyman/> Axis fatalities due to the actions of the Polish underground, of which AK formed the bulk, are estimated at up to 150,000.<ref name="Taras"/>

==Definition, historiography and remembrance==
[[File:Undergrund State Mon.Poznan.JPG|thumb|The Polish Underground State Monument in [[Poznań]]]]

For decades, research on the Polish Underground State was restricted, largely because the communist [[People's Republic of Poland]] did not wish to fully acknowledge the role of the non-communist resistance.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=6–7}} During the first postwar [[Stalinist]] years, efforts to explore this topic were regarded as dangerous, bordering on illegal.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=6–7}} Research into the events occurring in the [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|Soviet-annexed territories]] in the 1939–1941 period was particularly difficult.{{sfn|Garliński|1975|p=220}}<ref name="Kultur2007"/> The limited research devoted to the Underground State that did take place was done mainly by Polish ''[[émigré]]'' historians living in the West.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=8, 10–11}} The communist state downplayed the importance of the non-communist resistance movements, while the communist movement ([[Armia Ludowa]]) was emphasized as being of primary importance; in fact, the opposite was true.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=10}} The absence of research by Polish scholars, along with obstacles presented to foreign scholars seeking access to source material in communist Poland, contributed to a situation in which there was virtually no discussion by Western scholars of one of Europe's largest resistance movements—the non-communist Polish resistance movement. The bulk of Western research centred on the much smaller{{Efn|name=size}} [[French Resistance]] (''la Résistance'').{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=9–10}}{{sfn|Garliński|1975|pp=219–220}}

With the [[fall of communism]], Poland regained full independence and Polish scholars could begin unrestricted research into all aspects of Polish history.<ref name="HayesDiefendorf2004"/> Scholars who chose to investigate the Underground State were also confronted with the issue of its uniqueness (no country or nation has ever created a similar institution), and hence, the problem of defining it.{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|p=8}} Polish historian [[Stanisław Salmonowicz]], discussing the [[historiography]] of the Polish Underground State, defined it as a "collection of state-legal, organizational and citizenship structures, which were to ensure the constitutional continuation of Polish statehood on its own territory".{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=18–19}} Salmonowicz concluded that "This constitutional continuity, real performance of the state's functions on its past territory and the loyalty of a great majority of Polish society were the most significant elements of its existence."{{sfn|Salmonowicz|1994|pp=18–19}}

The Underground State also became officially recognized by the Polish government, local authorities and the community, with most major cities in Poland erecting various memorials to the Underground State-affiliated resistance.<ref name=w24/> In [[Poznań]], there is a dedicated Polish Underground State Monument erected in 2007.<ref name="w24"/> On 11 September 1998 the [[Sejm]] (parliament) of Poland declared the day of 27 September (anniversary of the founding of the [[Service for Poland's Victory]] organization) to be the [[Day of the Polish Underground State]].<ref name="sejm"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Poland}}
{{div col}}
* [[History of Poland (1939–1945)]]
* [[History of Poland (1945–1989)]]
* [[Home Army]]
* [[Kotwica]]
* [[Minor sabotage]]
* [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)]]
* [[Polish contribution to World War II]]
* [[Polish resistance movement in World War II]]
* [[Polish Resettlement Corps]]
{{end div col}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name="Ostasz">{{cite web |last1=Ostasz |first1=Grzegorz |title=The Polish-Government-in-Exile's Home Delegature |url=http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/17%20Article.htm |website=polishresistance-ak.org |publisher=London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association |access-date=16 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713005853/http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/17%20Article.htm |archive-date=13 July 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Garliński">{{cite journal |last1=Garliński |first1=Józef |date=1975 |title=The Polish Underground State (1939–45) |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=219–259 [253] |jstor=260146 |doi=10.1177/002200947501000202 |s2cid=159844616}}</ref>

<ref name="Wachowicz">{{cite book |last1=Wachowicz |first1=Barbara |title=Kamyk na szańcu: gawęda o druhu Aleksandrze Kamińskim w stulecie urodzin |date=2002 |publisher=Oficyna Wydawnicza Rytm |isbn=978-83-88794-68-1 |page=222}}</ref>

<ref name="Korboński1981">{{cite book|author=Stefan Korboński|title=The Polish underground state: a guide to the underground, 1939–1945|url=https://archive.org/details/polishundergroun0000korb|url-access=registration|access-date=3 January 2012|date=June 1981|publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=978-0-88254-517-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/polishundergroun0000korb/page/112 112]}}</ref>

<ref name="Kultur2007">{{cite book|author=Simon-Dubnow-Institut für Jüdische Geschichte und Kultur|title=Shared history, divided memory: Jews and others in Soviet-occupied Poland, 1939–1941|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BbvQbiaqAEC&pg=PA54|year=2007|publisher=Leipziger Universitätsverlag|isbn=978-3-86583-240-5|page=54}}</ref>

<ref name="Buszko1983">{{cite book|author=Józef Buszko|title=Historia Polski: 1864–1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fI7DygAACAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Państwowe Wydawn. Nauk.|isbn=978-83-01-03732-1|pages=459–460}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="HayesDiefendorf2004">{{cite book|author1=Peter Hayes|author2=Jeffry M. Diefendorf|author3=Holocaust Educational Foundation (United States)|title=Lessons and Legacies: New currents in Holocaust research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJEFmQB05HUC&pg=PA267|year=2004|publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=978-0-8101-2001-3|page=267}}</ref>

<ref name="Koskodan2009">{{cite book|author=Kenneth K. Koskodan|title=No greater ally: the untold story of Poland's forces in World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdtDaQ4DNTMC&pg=PA63|year=2009|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-365-0|page=63}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="Struk2004">{{cite book|author=Janina Struk|title=Photographing the Holocaust: interpretations of the evidence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P0CnKQpDIL8C&pg=PA37|year=2004|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-546-4|page=37}}</ref>

<ref name="Struk2011">{{cite book|author=Janina Struk|title=Private Pictures: Soldiers' Inside View of War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JsACYdM7VA0C&pg=PA78|year=2011|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84885-443-7|page=78}}</ref>

<ref name="Tismaneanu2010">{{cite book|author=Vladimir Tismaneanu|title=Stalinism revisited: the establishment of communist regimes in East-Central Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQ1_G3NgPS8C&pg=PA206|year=2010|publisher=Central European University Press|isbn=978-963-9776-63-0|page=206}}</ref>

<ref name="sejm">{{cite web|title=M.P. 1998 nr 30 poz. 414|url=http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WMP19980300414|publisher=Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych|access-date=20 December 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="w24">{{cite news|last=Cichocka|first=Agnieszka|title=Poznański pomnik Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego|url=http://www.wiadomosci24.pl/artykul/poznanski_pomnik_polskiego_panstwa_podziemnego_43938.html|access-date=20 December 2011|newspaper=Wiadomosci24.pl|date=26 September 2007}}</ref>

<ref name="Alterman2005">{{cite book|author=Eric Alterman|title=When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndpYYUsv2u4C&pg=PA30|year=2005|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-303604-3|pages=29–30}}</ref>

<ref name="Biskupski2000">{{cite book|author=Mieczysław B. Biskupski|title=The history of Poland|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpoland00bisk|url-access=registration|access-date=8 April 2011|year=2000|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30571-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofpoland00bisk/page/117 117]}}</ref>

<ref name="Biskupski-Pula-Wróbel">{{cite book |last1=Biskupski |first1=M. B. B. |last2=Pula |first2=James S. |last3=Wróbel |first3=Piotr J. |title=The Origins of Modern Polish Democracy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-ySkJHOQsIC |date=2010 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-1892-5 |page=141}}</ref>

<ref name="Cienc-lect">[http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect16.htm Eastern Europe in World War II: October 1939 – May 1945]. Lecture notes of prof Anna M. Cienciala. Retrieved 21 December 2006.</ref>

<ref name="CloudOlson2004">{{cite book|author1=Stanley Cloud|author2=Lynne Olson|author2-link=Lynne Olson|title=A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXxVXWZOsnUC&pg=PT362|year=2004|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-0-375-72625-5|page=362}}</ref>

<ref name="Cook2001">{{cite book|author=Bernard A. Cook|title=Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hafLHZgZtt4C&pg=PA1022|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8153-4058-4|page=1022}}</ref>

<ref name="Dallas2006">{{cite book|author=Gregor Dallas|title=1945: The War That Never Ended|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTEV0CPuhRcC&pg=PA663|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-11988-6|page=663}}</ref>

<ref name="FT06">Kwan Yuk Pan, [https://www.ft.com/content/0d441dfa-ecf1-11d9-9d20-00000e2511c8 "Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade"], ''[[Financial Times]]'', 5 July 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2006.</ref>

<ref name="Frucht2005">{{cite book|author=Richard C. Frucht|title=Eastern Europe: an introduction to the people, lands, and culture / edited by Richard Frucht|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C&pg=PA32|year=2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-800-6|page=32}}</ref>

<ref name="Judt2006">{{cite book|author=Tony Judt|title=Postwar: a history of Europe since 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xE1hBBF37kwC&pg=PT124|year=2006|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-303775-0|page=124}}</ref>

<ref name="Keegan2002">{{cite book|author=John Keegan|title=Who's who in World War Two|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8sC4o7hODoC&pg=PA140|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-26033-6|page=140}}</ref>

<ref name="Kersten">{{cite book |last1=Kersten |first1=Krystyna |title=The establishment of Communist rule in Poland, 1943–1948 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RD3-e7Zx-rEC |date=1991 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06219-1 |page=50}}</ref>

<ref name="Lerski">{{cite book |last1=Lerski |first1=Jerzy Jan |title=Historical dictionary of Poland, 966–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QTUTqE2difgC&pg=PA368 |date=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-26007-0 |page=368}}</ref>

<ref name="MNK">Marek Ney-Krwawicz, ''[http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/2%20Article.htm The Polish Underground State and The Home Army (1939–45)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824034513/http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/2%20Article.htm |date=24 August 2016 }}''. Translated from Polish by Antoni Bohdanowicz. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 14 March 2008.</ref>

<ref name="MNKcited">Bohdan Kwiatkowski, Sabotaż i dywersja, Bellona, London 1949, vol.1, p.21; as cited by Marek Ney-Krwawicz, [http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/2%20Article.htm The Polish Underground State and The Home Army (1939–45)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824034513/http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/2%20Article.htm |date=24 August 2016 }}. Translated from Polish by Antoni Bohdanowicz. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 14 March 2008.</ref>

<ref name="NadeauBarlow2003">{{cite book|author1=Jean-Benoît Nadeau|author2=Julie Barlow|title=Sixty million Frenchmen can't be wrong: why we love France but not the French|url=https://archive.org/details/sixtymillionfren00nade_0|url-access=registration|access-date=6 March 2011|year=2003|publisher=Sourcebooks, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4022-0045-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/sixtymillionfren00nade_0/page/89 89]}}</ref>

<ref name="Pogonowski">Based on Campaigns of Polish Armed Forces 1940–1945 Map (p.204) from [[Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski]], ''Poland: A Historical Atlas'', Hippocrene Books, 1987, {{ISBN|0-88029-394-2}}.</ref>

<ref name="RJC">[[R. J. Crampton]], ''Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century'', Routledge, 1994, {{ISBN|0-415-05346-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ro-AAAAIAAJ&dq=Armia+Krajowa+fatalities&pg=PA198 Google Print, p.198]</ref>

<ref name="Rzecz">[[Rzeczpospolita (newspaper)|Rzeczpospolita]], 02.10.04 Nr 232, ''[http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl/specjal_041002/specjal_a_6.html Wielkie polowanie: Prześladowania akowców w Polsce Ludowej] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106180531/http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl/specjal_041002/specjal_a_6.html |date=6 November 2011 }}'' (Great hunt: the persecutions of AK soldiers in the People's Republic of Poland). Retrieved 7 June 2006.</ref>

<ref name="Salmonowicz">{{cite book |last1=Salmonowicz |first1=Stanisław |title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne: z dziejów walki cywilnej, 1939–45 |date=1994 |publisher=Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne |isbn=978-83-02-05500-3 |page=25}}</ref>

<ref name="Stachura2004">Jeffrey Bines, ''The Establishment of the Polish Section of the SOE'', in {{cite book|author=Peter D. Stachura|title=The Poles in Britain, 1940–2000: from betrayal to assimilation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjPjUBnucDcC&pg=PA27|year=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=London|isbn=978-0-7146-8444-4|page=27<!--The "Establishment" chapter is pages 17-26, according to the Google Books preview of the table of contents-->}}</ref>

<ref name="Taras">{{cite book|author1=Marjorie Castle|author2=Ray Taras|author-link2=Ray Taras|title=Democracy in Poland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZlphcFv-LwC&pg=PA26|year=2002|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=978-0-8133-3935-1|page=26}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="Wyman">{{cite book|author=Mark Wyman|title=DPs: Europe's displaced persons, 1945–1951|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHNw7MnsmlYC&pg=PA34|date=April 1998|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-8542-8|page=34}}</ref>

<ref name="dallas">{{cite book|author=Gregor Dallas|title=1945: the war that never ended|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXdVF6LmTa8C&pg=PA79|year=2005|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-10980-1|page=79}}</ref>

<ref name="davies">{{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=God's Playground: 1795 to the present|url=https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0|url-access=registration|access-date=8 April 2011|date=May 2005|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-12819-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0/page/344 344]}}</ref>

<ref name="pwn">{{cite web|title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne|url=http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3959896|publisher=Encyklopedia PWN|access-date=3 January 2012|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503145144/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3959896|archive-date=3 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="pwn2">{{cite web|title=Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraje|url=http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3891523|publisher=Encyklopedia PWN|access-date=3 January 2012|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305073711/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/;3891523|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|author=Jan Karski|title=Story of a Secret State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=atAhAQAAIAAJ|year = 2001|publisher=Simon Publications|isbn=978-1-931541-39-8}}
*{{cite book|author=Halik Kochanski|title=The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EJ5vIyDBpLcC|year=2012|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-06816-2}}
*{{cite book|author1=Stefan Korboński|author2=Francis Bauer Czarnomski|author3=Zofia Korbonski|title=Fighting Warsaw: The Story of the Polish Underground State, 1939–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KwIDAAAACAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=978-0-7818-1035-7}}
*{{cite book|author1=[[Richard C. Lukas]]|title=The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1945|year=2012 |publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=978-0-7818-1302-0}}
*{{cite book|author1=Richard C. Lukas|title=Forgotten Survivors: Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation|year=2004|publisher=University Press of Kansas|isbn=978-0-7818-0242-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/didchildrencryhi0000luka}}
*{{cite book|author=Jan Nowak|title=Courier from Warsaw|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y48gaHndlg8C|year=1982|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0-8143-1725-9}}
*{{cite book|author=Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski|title=The Secret Army: The Memoirs of General Bór-Komorowski|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeNOcAAACAAJ|year = 2011|publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited|isbn=978-1-84832-595-1}}

==External links==
* [http://www.warsawuprising.com/state.htm Warsaw Uprising and The Polish Underground State] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315112325/http://www.warsawuprising.com/state.htm |date=15 March 2021 }}

{{Armia Krajowa}}

{{coord missing|Poland}}

[[Category:Polish Underground State| ]]
[[Category:1939 establishments in Poland]]
[[Category:1945 disestablishments in Poland]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1939]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1945]]