 At the end of the World War , two governments claimed to be the legitimate governments of Poland : Dmowski 's in Paris and Piłsudski 's in Warsaw . To put an end to the rival claims of Piłsudski and Dmowski , the composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski met with both men and persuaded them to reluctantly join forces . Both men had something that the other needed . Piłsudski was in possession of Poland after the war , but as the Pole who had fought with the Austrians for the Central Powers against the Russians , he was distrusted by the Allies . Piłsudski 's newly reborn Polish Army , formed from his Polish Legions , needed arms from the Allies , something that Dmowski was much better suited to persuade the Allies to deliver upon . Beyond that , the French were planning to send the Blue Army of General Józef Haller — loyal to Dmowski – back to Poland . The fear was that if Piłsudski and Dmowski did not put aside their differences , a civil war might break out between their partisans . Paderewski was successful in working out a compromise in which Dmowski and himself were to represent Poland at the Paris Peace Conference while Piłsudski was to serve as provisional president of Poland . Not all of Dmowski 's supporters accepted this compromise , and on 5 January 1919 , Dmowski 's partisans ( led by Marian Januszajtis @-@ Żegota and Eustachy Sapieha ) attempted a failed coup against Piłsudski . 
