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Register of the Poland. Ambasada (Great Britain) Records, 1918-1945
45013
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Title: Poland. Ambasada (Great Britain) Records,
Date (inclusive): 1918-1945
Collection Number: 45013
Creator:
Poland. Ambasada (Great Britain)
Collection Size:
134 manuscript boxes
(55.8 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, reports, financial records, studies, conference proceedings,
printed matter, and photographs, relating to Anglo-Polish relations, especially relations between
Great Britain and the Polish government-in-exile in London during World War II;
Anglo-Polish trade; Polish foreign policy and participation in the League of Nations
during the interwar period; conditions in Poland during World War II; and wartime
activities of the Polish government-in-exile. A digital copy of this entire collection is available at
http://szukajwarchiwach.pl/800/33/0/-/ .
Language:
Polish.
Collection open for research.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Poland. Ambasada (Great Britain) Records, [Box no.], Hoover
Institution Archives.
Also available on microfilm (163 reels).
Digital copy in Poland's National Digital Archive at
http://szukajwarchiwach.pl/800/33/0/-/ . It was digitized from microfilm by the Polish State Archives.
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945--Diplomatic history
World War, 1939-1945--Governments in exile
World War, 1939-1945--Poland
Great Britain
Great Britain--Foreign relations--Poland
Poland
Poland--Foreign relations--Great Britain
Great Britain--Commerce--Poland
Poland--Commerce--Great Britain
Poland--Foreign relations--1918-1945
League of Nations
Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945
Poland and Great Britain established formal diplomatic relations in February 1919. During
the decade that followed Poland was represented in London by an envoy in the rank of
minister and, since November 1929, by an ambassador. The following diplomats were the
Second Polish Republic's chief representatives in Great Britain:
- Eustachy Sapieha: 1919-1920
- Jan Ciechanowski: 1920-1921
- Wladyslaw Wroblewski: 1921-1922
- Konstanty Skirmunt: 1922-1929
- Edward Raczynski: 1934-1945
The archives of the Polish embassy in Great Britain shared the turbulent history of
Poland. A large portion of the embassy's archives was tranferred to Warsaw during the
1930's. Part of this documentation was destroyed during the war. The surviving 22 linear
meters are now held in the Contemporary Records Archives (Archiwum Akt Nowych) in Warsaw,
and are described in a detailed published inventory. Most of the embassy archives
remaining in London were evacuated to Canada and the United States during the early years
of the war on orders of Count Edward Raczynski who, during 1941-1943, was both Minister
of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador in London. In July 1945 the United States and Great
Britain abandoned their Polish ally, withdrawing recognition from the London-based Polish
government in exile. To protect the archives from falling into the hands of the
representatives of the Soviet-dominated government in Warsaw, Poland's Ambassador in
Washington, Jan Ciechanowski, transferred all of the archival collections held in
Washington to the Hoover Institution. The Ciechanowski deposit included the archives of
the Polish embassies in Washington, Moscow-Kuibyshev, and London. The Hoover part of the
archives of the Polish embassy in Great Britain occupies 133 manuscript boxes or about 17
linear meters. What remained in London, about 6 linear meters, has been preserved in the
Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum. The Polish Institute's holdings also include the
papers of Edward Raczynski and Jan Ciechanowski.
by Maciej Siekierski
June 1998
June 1998