Editing Operation Tempest (section)

==="Allies of our allies"===
In early 1943, after the German [[Battle of Stalingrad|defeat at Stalingrad]], it became clear that the Soviets would be the force the Home Army would most likely have to deal with, and that the planned Polish uprising would face a still-powerful German army, rather than units retreating to an already defeated homeland.

In February 1943, the [[Home Army]] chief, General [[Stefan Rowecki]], amended the plan. The Uprising would take place in three stages. The first stage would be an armed uprising in the east (with main centers of resistance at [[Lviv|Lwów]] and [[Vilnius]]) in advance of the approaching [[Red Army]]. In preparation, the "[[Wachlarz]]" organization was formed. The second stage would be an armed struggle in the zone between the [[Curzon Line]] and the [[Vistula]] River; and the third stage would be a national uprising throughout the rest of Poland.

On April 25, 1943, Polish-Soviet diplomatic relations were broken off by [[Joseph Stalin]] due to Polish inquiries about the [[Katyn massacre]]s, and it became clear that the advancing Red Army might not come to Poland as a liberator but rather, as General Rowecki put it, "our allies' ally." On November 26, 1943, the Polish government-in-exile issued instructions that, if diplomatic relations did not resume with the Soviet Union before the Soviets entered Poland, Home Army forces were to remain underground pending further decisions.

The Home Army's commander on the ground, however, took a different approach, and on November 30, 1943, a final version of the plan was drafted.