ABSTRACT
General Wladyslaw Sikorski played a prominent role in Poland's politics since the beginning of World War I. In 1917, during the crisis caused by the Pilsudskiists' refusal to take the oath of loyalty to the emperors of Germany and Austria, Pilsudski's and Sikorski's policies went in different, even opposite, directions. Sikorski's political convictions also made him an ideal successor to the compromised sanacja regime. The formation of General Sikorski's government-in-exile took place in the immediate aftermath of the September defeat. The French government, however, informed Moscicki that the choice was unacceptable for France and that, as a consequence, no government appointed by General Wieniawa-Dlugoszowski would be recognized by France. The main task undertaken by the government-in-exile was to rebuild Poland's fighting capacities. The aide-memoire, sent without the consent of the president, was then used against Sikorski by his enemies within the emigre government.
