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It was created in 1954, after president August Zaleski declined to leave his office after his 7-year term ended. According to the Polish April 1935 constitution, which was the legal basis for the existence of the government in exile, the president was allowed to chose his successor "during a war, in case his office is emptied before the peace treaty is signed". The post-war Akt Zjednoczenia Narodowego (National Unity Act) agreement between all the major political parties assumed that the presidents are to chose their successors every seven years, this however was rejected by Zaleski.
Initially the Rada Trzech was a self-proclaimed committee of opposition against Zaleski, but on July 21, 1956 the Rada Jednosci Narodowej granted it with powers of the Polish head of state. It was dissolved in July 1972, after August Zaleski died on April 7 of the same year. It ceded its powers to his successor, Stanislaw Ostrowski .
The members of the Rada Trzech were:
The seat of the latter was taken by:
| [ }|action=edit}} Edit }] | Presidents of Poland | ||
| Republic of Poland (1918 - 1939) | Józef Pilsudski | Gabriel Narutowicz | Maciej Rataj | Stanislaw Wojciechowski | Ignacy Moscicki | ||
| Government in Exile (1939 - 1990) | Boleslaw Wieniawa-Dlugoszowski | Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz | August Zaleski | Rada Trzech - collective head of state | Stanislaw Ostrowski | Edward Raczynski | Kazimierz Sabbat | Ryszard Kaczorowski | ||
| People's Republic of Poland (1944 - 1989) | Boleslaw Bierut | since 1947 replaced by Polish Council of State | ||
| Republic of Poland (since 1989) | Wojciech Jaruzelski | Lech Walesa | Aleksander Kwasniewski | ||