Editing History of Poland (section)

===Allied conferences, Polish governments===

From the time of the [[Tehran Conference]] in late 1943, there was broad agreement among the three Great Powers (the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[Soviet Union]]) that the locations of the borders between Germany and Poland and between Poland and the Soviet Union would be [[Territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II|fundamentally changed after the conclusion of World War II]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Davies|2001|pp=75, 104–105}}.</ref><ref name="Poland under Communism 1">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|p=1}}.</ref> Stalin's view that Poland should be moved far to the west was accepted by Polish communists, whose organizations included the [[Polish Workers' Party]] and the [[Union of Polish Patriots]]. The communist-led [[State National Council]], a quasi-parliamentary body, was in existence in Warsaw from the beginning of 1944.<ref>{{Harvnb|Snyder|2009}}.</ref> In July 1944, a communist-controlled [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]] was established in [[Lublin]], to nominally govern the areas liberated from German control. The move prompted protests from Prime Minister [[Stanisław Mikołajczyk]] and his Polish government-in-exile.<ref name="Buszko 394-395"/><ref name="Poland under Communism 4-5"/>

By the time of the [[Yalta Conference]] in February 1945, the communists had already established a [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland]]. The Soviet position at the conference was strong because of their decisive contribution to the war effort and as a result of their occupation of immense amounts of land in central and eastern Europe. The Great Powers gave assurances that the communist provisional government would be converted into an entity that would include democratic forces from within the country and active abroad, but the London-based [[Polish government-in-exile|government-in-exile]] was not mentioned. A [[Provisional Government of National Unity]] and subsequent democratic elections were the agreed stated goals.<ref>{{Harvnb|Buszko|1986|pp=398–401}}.</ref><ref name="Poland under Communism 6-7">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=6–7}}.</ref> The disappointing results of these plans and the failure of the Western powers to ensure a strong participation of non-communists in the immediate post-war Polish government were seen by many Poles as a manifestation of [[Western betrayal]].