The Sikorski–Mayski Agreement was a treaty between the Soviet Union and Poland signed in London on 30 July 1941.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Its name was coined after the two most notable signatories: Polish Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski and Soviet Ambassador to the United Kingdom Ivan Mayski.
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After signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Treaty in 1939,[11] the Soviet Union took part in the invasion of Poland[12][13] and its subsequent dismemberment. The Soviet authorities declared Poland non-existent and all former Polish citizens from the areas annexed by USSR were treated as if they were Soviet citizens. This resulted in approximately 2 million Polish citizens (including a quarter of a Millions POWs and 1.5 million deportees[6]) being arrested and imprisoned by the NKVD and other Soviet authorities.
However, with the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in 1941, the international situation of Soviet Union changed and Joseph Stalin started to seek help from other countries opposing Germany. Strongly encouraged by British Foreign Office diplomat Anthony Eden, Sikorski, on 5 July 1941,[8][9] opened negotiations with the Soviet ambassador to London, Ivan Mayski, to re-establish diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union. Sikorski was the architect of the agreement reached by the two governments, finally signed on 30 July 1941. A further military alliance was signed in Moscow on 14 August 1941.[14][15] Later that year, Sikorski went to Moscow with a diplomatic mission[16] (including the future Polish ambassador to Moscow, Stanisław Kot, and chief of the Polish Military Mission in the Soviet Union, General Zygmunt Szyszko-Bohusz).
Joseph Stalin agreed to declare all previous pacts he had with Nazi Germany null and void, to invalidate the September 1939 Soviet-German partition of Poland and to release tens of thousands of Polish prisoners-of-war held in Soviet camps. Pursuant to an agreement between the Polish government-in-exile and Stalin, the Soviets granted "amnesty" to many Polish citizens on 12 August 1941,[17][18] from whom a 40,000-strong army (Anders Army, later known as the Polish II Corps) was formed under General Władysław Anders. The whereabouts of thousands more Polish officers, however, would remain unknown for two more years, which would weigh heavily on Polish-Soviet relations.