Rada Jedności Narodowej (''Council of National Unity'', RJN) was the quasi-parliament of the Polish Underground State during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was created by the Government Delegate on 9 January 1944.

History

Originally the political arm of the

Polish Secret State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...

was Political Consultative Committee (''Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy'', ''PKP''), a council composed of 4 main political parties. On 21 March 1943 it was renamed to Home Political Representation (''Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna'', ''KRP'') and became an underground coalition parliament, composed of members of

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

, National Party, People's Party and Labor Party. It became the controlling body of both the Delegate's Office and the Headquarters of the Armia Krajowa. On 9 January 1944 it was turned into Council of National Unity, the underground parliament of Poland. Initially only the rump council was chosen, composed mostly of members of the former KRP. On 12 March of the same year the Council was extended to include more members. RJN was opposed to the communist-controlled quasi-parliament,

State National Council Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish (translated as State National Council or Homeland National Council, abbreviated to KRN) was a parliament-like political body created during the later stages of World War II in German-occupied Warsaw, Poland. It wa ...

. On 15 March 1944, the RJN declared its manifesto named '' O co walczy naród polski'' (''What does the Polish nation fight for''). According to the document, the main aims of Poland in the Second World War were: * restoration of free, independent, strong and safe Poland * reaching an international peace * cooperation of all nations * defeating

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, its dismemberment and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as ...

* forcing Germany to rebuild the countries it destroyed * organisation of a trial of war criminals * alliance with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

* restoration of diplomatic relations with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Regarding the post-war Poland, the RJN declared that its borders were to be based on the borders as of 1938, with East Prussia, Opole Silesia and part of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

incorporated as

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. ...

. The Polish political system was to be based on parliamentary democracy, with strong self-government. The RJN also declared the will to develop the Polish industry and base the economy on

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

principles of planned economy and

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

. During the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

the RJN issued several appeals and open letters to the western powers asking to help Warsaw and the Polish struggle for independence. On 22 February 1945, protested against the outcome of the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

and the fact that no representatives of Poland were informed of the meeting. At the same time the RJN proposed to accept communist into the provisional government. After the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

conquered Poland, the members of the RJN remained underground. In March 1945 large part of them were arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

and brought to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. After 3 months of interrogations, the members of the Polish government were sentenced in the

Trial of the Sixteen The Trial of the Sixteen ( pl, Proces szesnastu) was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service and falsely accused of var ...

. Until May 1945 the RJN was reconstructed from the remaining members. However, the Soviet occupation of Poland and the end of World War II made the further existence of RJN pointless. On 1 July 1945, the RJN issued the ''Do Narodu Polskiego i Narodów Zjednoczonych'' (''To the Polish Nation and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

'') manifesto and the so-called ''Testament of the Fighting Poland'', in which it underlined the basic Polish aims of the war and the principles of Polish-Soviet relations. The latter document also demanded that the Red Army be withdrawn from Poland, the communists stopped reprisals and terror against the soldiers of the

and the civilians, democracy be introduced and the social reforms be started. After issuing the documents, the RJN was dissolved.

Composition

Since Poland was still under enemy occupation and no elections could be held, it was decided that the RJN would include representatives of all major political parties of Poland. Initially it included representatives of

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, People's Party, Labor Party and National Party and the Catholic clergy (three representatives each). In July 1944 the RJN was extended to include also representatives of Chłopska Organizacja Wolności, Ojczyzna, ZD and representatives of co-operative movement. The RJN was headed by the Main Commission. Its head was Kazimierz Pużak ('' nom de guerre'' Bazyli). After he was arrested and sentenced in a staged

, the Main Commission was headed by various politicians, chosen from among the remainder of the council for a 1-month term.

References

Testament of Fighting Poland: The Final Message of the Polish Underground State
the last manifesto issued by the Council of National Unity, 1 July 1945 (pdf)

, Encyklopedia WIEM {{Sejms Defunct political party alliances in Poland Poland in World War II Polish Underground State

History

Composition

See also

References