Encyclopedia
The
Free City of Danzig refers to either of two short-lived city-states which were centered around the present-day
Baltic port known as
Gdansk .
Napoleonic-era Dantzic
The
Free City of Dantzic, sometimes referred to as the
Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent state established by
Napoleon on September 9, 1807, during the time of the
Napoleonic Wars. This territory was carved out from lands that made up part of the
Kingdom of Prussia, consisting of the city of Danzig along with its rural possessions on the mouth of
Vistula, together with the
Hel Peninsula and the southern half of the
Vistula Spit. The state came to an end on January 22, 1813.
After the
Congress of Vienna of 1815, Danzig was reincorporated into Prussia. Although made the capital of a district and the province of West Prussia, the traditional autonomy of the city was significantly reduced.
Danzig between the World Wars
The
Free City of Danzig was an autonomous city-state established on January 10, 1920. It was established in accordance with the terms of Section XI of the
Treaty of Versailles of 1919, which redrew Germany's borders and placed the city under
League of Nations protection, with special economic-related rights reserved for Poland.
Territory
The Free City of Danzig included the major city of Danzig as well as
Zoppot ,
Tiegenhof , Neuteich and some 252 villages and 63
hamlets. Covering a total area of 1,966 km˛ , the territory was roughly twice the size of the Napoleonic statelet.
Population
The Free City had a population of 357,000
[1919
], most of whom were German-speakers, with the rest mainly speaking either Kashubian or Polish.
The state had its own citizenship, based on residency. 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 make their residence in Germany.
| Total population by language [November 1, 1923] |
|---|
| 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 | 100.00% | 95.03% | 0.44% | 3.28% | 0.72% | 0.16% | 0.37% |
|---|
Polish rights
The Free City was represented abroad by
Poland, and was in a customs union with it. The railway line that connected the Free City with Poland was administered by Poland. Similarly, the separated military post within the city's harbour, the
Westerplatte , was also given to Poland. There were also two post-offices, one municipal, the other Polish-run.
Politics
In May 1933, the
Nazi Party won the local election in the city. However, they received 57 percent of the vote, less than the two thirds required by the
League of Nations to change the Free City's constitution. The government introduced
anti-Semitic and
anti-Catholic laws. 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 and the
Deutsche Vereinigung that would form the leading cadres of
Selbstschutz, an organisation involved with mass murder and atrocities during German invasion of Poland in 1939.
In 1939, as tensions peaked between Poland and Germany, the Free City's Nazi government engaged in persecutions of Polish Danzigers, including the expulsion to Poland of all Polish students from the Danzig Technical University.
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. Although illegal under the terms of the city's constitution, the state was nevertheless formally incorporated by Germany into the newly-formed
Reichsgau was an administrative sub-division created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi [i] ...
of
Danzig-West Prussia. The Polish forces in the city resisted at the
Polish Post Office and held out until the 7th at the fortified
Westerplatte. The defenders of the Post Office were executed upon the surrender.
Around ninety percent of the city was reduced to ruins towards the end of the
Second World War. On March 30, 1945 the city was taken by the
Red Army. 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 the German military training ship "Wilhelm Gustloff", which had 5,000 to 7,000 refugees and over 1,000 soldiers and sailors on board at the time.
The Allied Powers agreed at the
Yalta and
Potsdam conferences, that the city should become part of Poland.
By 1950, around 285,000 former inhabitants of the Free City were living in an Allied-occupied Germany. It is estimated that 100,000 Danzigers lost their lives in the War or its immediate aftermath.
External links
See also
