The Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) was an autonomous Baltic port and city-state established on January 10, 1920, in accordance with the terms of Part III Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, which split it off from Germany along with other German territories. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. It was placed under League of Nations protection, with special economic-related rights reserved for Poland. The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920 [1] The Free City ceased to exist after 1939 when it was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers After Germany's defeat in 1945, Danzig became part of Poland under the Polish name, Gdańsk. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Gdańsk ( Polish pronunciation; 'Danzig', Gduńsk Gedania Dantiscum is the City at the centre of the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in Poland
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Establishment
Territory
The Free City of Danzig included the major city of Danzig (Gdańsk) as well as Zoppot (Sopot), Tiegenhof (Nowy Dwór Gdański), Neuteich (Nowy Staw) and some 252 villages and 63 hamlets. A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is The name Papiermark (paper mark is applied to the German currency from the point in 1914 when the link between the Mark and gold was abandoned due to the outbreak The Gulden was the currency of Danzig ( Gdańsk) between 1923 and 1939 Gdańsk ( Polish pronunciation; 'Danzig', Gduńsk Gedania Dantiscum is the City at the centre of the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in Poland Gdańsk ( Polish pronunciation; 'Danzig', Gduńsk Gedania Dantiscum is the City at the centre of the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in Poland Sopot (Zoppot Kashubian: Sopòt) is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland Nowy Dwór Gdański (Tiegenhof is a Town in Poland, capital of Nowy Dwór Gdański County, located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with 10123 Nowy Staw (Neuteich is a small town in northern Poland on the Święta river in the Żuławy region with 3 896 inhabitants (2004 A hamlet is (usually&mdashsee below a Rural community — that is a small settlement — which is too small to be considered a Village. Covering a total area of 1,966 square kilometers (754 sq mi), the territory was roughly twice the size of the Napoleonic statelet. The Free City of Danzig, sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent state established by Napoleon on September 9,
Polish rights
The Free City was to be represented abroad by Poland and forced to be in a customs union with it. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland A customs union is a Free trade area with a Common external tariff. The railway line that connected the Free City with newly created Poland was administered by Poland. Similarly, the Westerplatte (until then a city beach), was also given to Poland, which created a military post within the city's harbour. Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the There was also a separate Polish post-office established besides the existing municipal one.
League of Nations High Commissioners
Unlike mandated territories, which were entrusted to member countries, Danzig like the Territory of the Saar Basin remained under the authority of the League of Nations itself, with representatives of various countries taking on the role of High Commissioner:[2]
| Name | Period | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reginald Thomas Tower | 1919-1920 |  UK |
| 2 | Edward Lisle Strutt | 1920 | UK |
| 3 | Bernardo Attolico | 1920 | _crowned.svg/22px-Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned.svg.png){kind=small} Italy |
| 4 | Richard Cyril Byrne Haking | 1921-1923 | UK |
| 5 | Mervyn Sorley McDonnell | 1923-1925 | UK |
| 6 | Joost Adriaan van Hamel | 1925-1929 |  Netherlands |
| 7 | Manfredi di Gravina | 1929-1932 | Italy |
| 8 | Helmer Rosting | 1932-1934 |  Denmark |
| 9 | Seán Lester | 1934-1936 |  Irish Free State |
| 10 | Carl Jakob Burckhardt | 1937-1939 |  Switzerland |
Population
The Free City had a population of 357,000 (1919), 95% of whom were German-speakers [3], with the rest mainly speaking either Kashubian or Polish. A League of Nations mandate refers to a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I. The Territory of the Saar Basin (in French: Le Territoire du Bassin de la Sarre, in German: Saarbeckengebiet) also referred as the Saar The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920 Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Lt-Col Edward Lisle Strutt CBE, DSO ( 8 February 1874 - 7 July 1948) was an English Soldier and Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom General Sir Richard Cyril Byrne Haking, GBE, KCB, KCMG ( 24 January 1862 &ndash 9 June 1945) was a British Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe thumb|Seán Lester --> Seán Lester ( September 28, 1888, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Kashubian or Cassubian (Kashubian kaszëbsczi jãzëk, pòmòrsczi jãzëk, kaszëbskò-słowińskô mòwa; język kaszubski is one of
The Treaty of Versailles, which had severed Danzig and surrounding villages from Germany, now required that the newly formed state had its own citizenship, based on residency. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. German inhabitants lost their German nationality with the creation of the Free City, but were given the right within the first two years of the state's existence to re-obtain it; however, if they did so they were required to leave their property and make their residence outside of the Free State of Danzig area in the remaining part of Germany. [1]
| Nationality | Total | German | German and Polish | Polish, Kashub, Masurian | Russian, Ukrainian | Hebrew, Yiddish | Unclassified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danzig | 335,921 | 327,827 | 1,108 | 6,788 | 99 | 22 | 77 |
| Non-Danzig | 30,809 | 20,666 | 521 | 5,239 | 2,529 | 580 | 1,274 |
| Total | 366,730 | 348,493 | 1,629 | 12,027 | 2,628 | 602 | 1,351 |
| Percent | 100. Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Kashubian or Cassubian (Kashubian kaszëbsczi jãzëk, pòmòrsczi jãzëk, kaszëbskò-słowińskô mòwa; język kaszubski is one of Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High 00% | 95. 03% | 0. 44% | 3. 28% | 0. 72% | 0. 16% | 0. 37% |
Politics
| Name | Took Office | Left Office | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presidents of the Danzig senate | ||||
| 1 | Heinrich Sahm | 6 December 1920 | 10 January 1931 | none |
| 2 | Ernst Ziehm | 10 January 1931 | 20 June 1933 | DNVP |
| 3 | Hermann Rauschning | 20 June 1933 | 23 November 1934 | NSDAP |
| 4 | Arthur Karl Greiser | 23 November 1934 | 23 August 1939 | NSDAP |
| State President | ||||
| 4 | Albert Förster | 23 August 1939 | 1 September 1939 | NSDAP |
It became clear almost at once that the overwhelming German majority population of the Free State resented the concessions which had been made to Poland and their dismemberment from Germany. For administration of Danzig district see Administration of West Prussia before 1919. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The German National People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei DNVP was a national-conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic Hermann Rauschning ( 7 August 1887 &ndash February 8 1982) was a German conservative and Reactionary who joined Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Arthur Greiser ( January 22, 1897 &ndash July 14, 1946) was a Nazi German Politician and SS Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Albert Maria Forster ( July 26, 1902 &ndash February 28, 1952) was a Nazi German politician Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Professor Burckhardt, the League of Nations' High Commissioner in Danzig found, by 1939, his position as absolute arbiter in the endless disputes almost untenable.
In May 1933, the Nazi Party won the local elections in the city. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 However, they received 57 percent of the vote, less than the two-thirds required by the League of Nations to change the Constitution of the Free City of Danzig. The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920 The government introduced anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic laws, the latter primarily being directed against the newly brought in Poles and Kashubian inhabitants. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for Discrimination, hostility or Prejudice directed at the Roman Catholic Church or its followers Kashubians/Kashubs/Kaszubians (Kaszëbi Kaszubi also called Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic Ethnic group of north-central The city also served as a training point for members of the German minority within Poland that, recruited by organisations such as the Jungdeutsche Partei ("Young German Party") and the Deutsche Vereinigung ("German Union"), would form the leading cadres of Selbstschutz, an organisation involved with murder and atrocities during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Selbstschutz (Self-protection stands for two organisations it was (1 a name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by Ethnic Germans in Central Europe As throughout Germany, Jews were increasingly persecuted; the Danzig Great Synagogue was taken over and demolished by the local authorities in 1939. The Great Synagogue (Wielka Synagoga Neue Synagoge was a Synagogue in the city of Danzig, Germany (later Free City of Danzig, now Gdańsk
Despite several years of proposals by the German governments, both before and after 1933, to renegotiate Danzig's anomalous position, Poland refused, and as late as April 1939 Professor Burckhardt was told by the Polish Commissioner-General that any attempt to alter its status would be answered with armed resistance on the part of Poland. [4]
In 1939, as tensions peaked between Poland and Germany, the Free City's Nazi government engaged in persecutions of Polish Danzigers (Gdańszczanie), including the expulsion to Poland of all Polish students from the Danzig Technical University. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Second World War and aftermath
The Nazi government voted for re-unification with Germany on September 2, 1939, the day after the German invasion of Poland began. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Although illegal under the terms of the city's constitution, the state was nevertheless formally incorporated by Germany into the newly-formed Reichsgau of Danzig-West Prussia. A Reichsgau (plural Reichsgaue) was an administrative sub-division created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and The province Danzig-West Prussia (Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen was a German administrative sub-division unit ( Reichsgau) created in 1939 by the Nazis from the Polish civilian Post Office employees had been trained and had a cache of weapons, mostly pistols, three light machine guns and some hand grenades, when they defended the Polish Post Office for 15 hours. The Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig (today Gdańsk) was one of the first battles of the Invasion of Poland, and of the World War II They were executed upon their surrender, against international law. The Polish military forces in the city held out until the 7th at the fortified Westerplatte. Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the About 10,000 membersof the Polish intelligentsia were executed within the first week of the German invasion. The Invasion of Poland (1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small German-allied
Around 90% of the city was reduced to ruins towards the end of the Second World War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including On March 30, 1945 the city was taken by the Red Army. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya It is estimated that more than 90% of the pre-war population were either dead or had fled by 1945. A number of inhabitants of the city perished in the sinking of a ship assisting evacuation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Ship history The Wilhelm Gustloff was the first purpose-built cruise liner for the Nazi Kraft durch Freude (KdF (" Strength Through Joy " It had up to 10,000 refugees on board at the time, including about 1,000 seriously wounded soldiers and sailors.
The Allied Powers were presented with a communist fait accompli at the Potsdam conference that the former Free State was now part of Poland. In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, Germany, from July 16, (The Yalta conference was unclear on this point). The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and Codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the wartime meeting from 4 February
By 1950, around 285,000 former inhabitants of the Free City were living in an Allied-occupied Germany. and 13,424 former citizens of Free City had been positively verified and granted Polish citizenship. [5] By 1947 126,472 Germans were expelled to Germany from Gdańsk, and 101,873 Poles from Central Poland and 26,629 Poles from Eastern Poland took their place. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [5]
See also
- Gdańsk
- Danzig Corridor
- Alfons Flisykowski
- Danzig Research Society
- History of Gdańsk
- Interwar period
- Administrations of Danzig before April 1945
- Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig
- Arthur Greiser (Nazi Politician)
- Albert Förster (Nazi Politician)
- Oliwa
- Westerplatte
- Free City of Danzig (Napoleonic)
References
- ^ a b Yale Law School. Gdańsk ( Polish pronunciation; 'Danzig', Gduńsk Gedania Dantiscum is the City at the centre of the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in Poland Background Giving Poland access to the sea was one of the guarantees proposed by the United States President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Alfons Flisykowski ( 22 September 1902, Goreczyno, Kartuzy County - October 5 1939, Gdańsk - Zaspa) The Danzig Research Society (Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Danzig Societas Physicae Experimentalis Gdańskie Towarzystwo Przyrodnicze was founded in 1743 in the city of Danzig This article is about the History of Gdańsk (Danzig, a city located on the Baltic Sea. For administration of Danzig district see Administration of West Prussia before 1919. The Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig (today Gdańsk) was one of the first battles of the Invasion of Poland, and of the World War II Arthur Greiser ( January 22, 1897 &ndash July 14, 1946) was a Nazi German Politician and SS Albert Maria Forster ( July 26, 1902 &ndash February 28, 1952) was a Nazi German politician Oliwa, also Oliva is one of the quarters of Gdańsk. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża Westerplatte is a Peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the The Free City of Danzig, sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent state established by Napoleon on September 9, The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919 : Part III. The Avalon Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João
- ^ a b Danzig subsection of Poland entry from World Statesmen.org.
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Year Book, 1938
- ^ Woodward, E. L. , Butler, Rohan, Orde, Anne, editors, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919 - 1939, 3rd series, vol. v, HMSO,London, 1952:25
- ^ a b Bykowska, Sylwia (2005). The Office of Public Sector Information ( OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (usually abbreviated as HMSO "Gdańsk - Miasto (Szybko) Odzyskane" (in Polish). Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej 9-10 (56-57): 35-44. ISSN 1641-9561. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.
External links
- H.G. Wells on the Polish Corridor (WikiSource)
- Jewish community history
- History of Gdansk/Danzig
- Gdańsk history
- In 1997 Gdansk celebrated his thousand anniversary
- history & hallucination
- The power of Gdansk
The Gulden was the currency of Danzig ( Gdańsk) between 1923 and 1939
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