The Council of Three (, ) was a collegial body created by the Polish Government in Exile in 1954 with prerogatives of the President of Poland. It consisted of three members of the government chosen by the Council of National Unity (Rada Jednoà Âci Narodowej), a rump parliament in exile.
It was created in 1954, after President August Zaleski declined to leave his office after his seven-year term ended. According to the Polish April 1935 constitution, the legal basis for the existence of the government in exile, the president was allowed to choose his successor "during a war, in case his office falls vacant before the peace treaty is signed". The post-war Akt Zjednoczenia Narodowego (National Unity Act) was an agreement among all the major political parties that assumed that presidents were to choose their successors every seven years, but that was rejected by Zaleski.
Initially, the Rada Trzech was a self-proclaimed committee of opposition to Zaleski, but on 21 July 1956, the Rada Jednoà Âci Narodowej granted it the powers of the Polish head of state. It was dissolved in July 1972, following Zaleski's death on 7 April that year. The Rada Trzech ceded its powers to Zaleski's successor, Stanisà Âaw Ostrowski.
The members of the Rada Trzech were:
Tomasz Arciszewski died in 1955. His place was taken by:
Wà Âadysà Âaw Anders died in 1970. His place was taken by:
As part of its opposition to August Zaleski's continuation, the Council of Three refused to recognized the governments appointed by him, and appointed its own government, the Executive for National Unity. The Chairmen (Prime Ministers) of this executive were:
Following the Council of Three's reintegration with the mainstream Polish Government in Exile, the new president, Stanisà Âaw Ostrowski, stepped down after seven years and appointed Edward Bernard Raczyà Âski (the Council's longest serving member) as his successor in 1979.
Another member of the Council of Three, Alfred Urbaà Âski, became prime minister immediately after the reintegration, and served for four years; his successor in the premiership of the "mainstream" government-in-exile was Kazimierz Sabbat, the last prime minister appointed by the Council of Three. Sabbat himself later succeeded Raczyà Âski as president in 1986.