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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 Gdańsk (German: Danzig).
Napoleonic-era Danzig (1807-1815)
The Free City of Danzig, 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 (1920-1939)
The Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) 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 (Gdánsk) as well as Zoppot (Sopot), Tiegenhof (Nowy Dwór Gdański), Neuteich (Nowy Staw) and some 252 villages and 63 hamlets. Covering a total area of 1,966 km² (754 mi²), the territory was roughly twice the size of the Napoleonic statelet.Population
The Free City had a population of 357,000The 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 (formerly a city beach), 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 ("Young German Party") and the Deutsche Vereinigung ("German Union") 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 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
- Polish-language article about the Nazis and Danzig
- Polish-language Wikipedia article about the Polish Post Office in Danzig
See also
- Alfons Flisykowski
- Danzig Research Society
- History of Gdańsk
- Administrations of Danzig before April 1945
- Former countries in Europe after 1815
Special territories | Former countries in Europe | History of Germany | Polish historical regions | History of Gdańsk
Freie Stadt Danzig | Danzigi vabalinn | Ciudad libre de Danzig | Ville libre de Dantzig | העיר החופשית דנציג | Libera Città di Danzica | Wolne Miasto Gdańsk | Slobodné mesto Gdaňsk | Vrije Stad Danzig (1920-1939)
"Free City of Danzig"