Gdansk

1
Gdansk

• Szlachta Polska

• Geographic history
• From Gdansk to Danzig and back.
• DUSTIN PRZYBYLSKI
• przybydb_at_uwec.edu
• Geography 308 (Russia and Eastern Europe)
  Professor Zoltan Grossman University of
  Wisconsin-Eau Claire Spring 2005

2
The City of Gdansk
3
Early Gdansk/Danzig

• Founded in 997.
• Gdansk officially named, by Poles, in 1224.
• Became an important merchant and fishing port for
  the Baltic coast.

4
Teutonic Order Invasion

• 1308, in the Gdansk Slaughter both Germans and
  Poles were massacred by Teutonic knights
• 1309, Teutonic Order renames Gdansk to its German
  name Danzig

5
Rise of the Hanseatic League

• Founded by northern German merchants.
• Hanse guild or association (German).
• 1265,Law of Lübeck, was created to protect the
  league merchants and their products.
• Is not a country, but a trading bloc.

6
Golden age of the Hanseatic League

• Danzig became a full member in 1361.
• Hanses were formed in places like Danzig to
  monopolize trade over Baltic Sea routes to places
  like England.
• Shipping was used because land based
  transportation took to long for fresh produce.

7
Hanseatic Leagues defense against Denmark

• 1368, the League defeated the Danes lead King
  Valdemar IV.
• 1370, Denmark is forced to recognize the Leagues
  control over the Baltic shipping routes.

8
The Fall of the Hanseatic League

• Weakened by English and Dutch control of sea
  ways, Sweden became the dominant force of the
  Baltic Sea.
• The League ended in 1669.

9
Poland regains control of Gdansk

• Poland fights the Teutonic Knights in the 13
  year war.
• 1457, King Kasimir took control of the Gdansk
  from the Teutonic Knights.
• Lands of the Teutonic Knights became the Fiefdom
  of Poland.

10
Issues of ethnic diversity

• 16th century, during religious reformations, many
  Dutch Mennonites, Scots, and Jews settled in.
• Early 18th century, Gdansk was continually
  attacked by the Swedish, Russians, and Saxons
  (Germans).
• Many Polish writers were upset with Gdansks
  cultural and ethnic diversity.

11
Gdansk instability

• Gdansk experienced many set backs to its rapid
  growth in the 17th century.
• Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)
• Northern Wars (1655-1660)
• Bubonic Plague (1709)

12
1st Free City of Danzig

• Gdansk was annexed by Prussia during the 2nd
  partition of Poland (1792-93).
• Name changed back to Danzig, as it became part of
  West Prussia (German).
• City was Danzig to its German citizens.
• Gdansk to its Polish citizens.
• Napoleon freed the city from Prussian control,
  making it a free city (1807-1814).

13
Prussia takes control of Gdansk/Danzig
14
Growth of Danzig under Prussian control

• After the first free city of Danzig, Prussia
  regains control.
• Danzig begins to develop industry and modern
  conveniences like plumbing and waste disposal.
• The harbor and shipping industry utilize the
  Vistula River to transport goods.
• 1852,Prussia builds a railroad into Danzig from
  Bydgoszcz.

15
Gdansk/Danzig before WWI
16
League of Nations

• After WWI, Poland gains its freedom.
• Polands desire is to control Gdansk once more.
• 1919,Treaty of Versailles.
• The Allies, as part of the League of Nations,
  promoted by Woodrow Wilson does not give Poland
  sovereignty over Gdansk.
• For a second time Danzig/ Gdansk is considered a
  Free City.

17
Gdansk/Danzig and the Polish Corridor
18
2nd Free City of Danzig

• Citizens were mainly German speaking, but the
  citys politics were mainly of external Polish
  affairs.
• German authorities restricted Polish trade and
  migration to Danzig.
• Tensions over the control of Danzig/Gdansk helped
  spark the Nazi invasion of Poland and Danzig in
  1939.

19
Gdynia

• Founded in 1926.
• Gdynia was created by the Polish government as a
  seaport to the Baltic due to German restrictions
  on Gdansk.

20
World War II

• Nazis invaded Danzig for many reasons.
• German nationalists believe that all Germans
  should be a part of Germany (irredentism).
• Danzigs strategic location at the mouth of the
  Vistula River for military purposes.
• Danzigs importance to sea trade.
• After Danzigs annexation during WWII, many Poles
  and Jews were either expelled from the city or
  executed.

21
Aftermath of WWII

• Polish Prisoners being freed from Dachau

• 1945, Soviet troops defeat the Nazis, freeing
  Poland from Nazi control.
• 90 of Gdansk was destroyed.
• 40 of Gdansk population was killed.
• 1946, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the city
  of Danzig is ceded back to Poland.

22
Post-War Rebuilding

• The Soviet Union was allowed to control all of
  the areas it freed from the Nazis. Hence, Poland
  became a Soviet satellite state.
• 1950, Poland, with the Soviets approval,
  expelled 285,000 Germans from Gdansk.
• 1950s and 1960s, much of Gdansk needed to be
  rebuilt, in order for the city to be a major port
  and industrial center.
• New families move in, leaving the city unstable
  and a willingness to assertively seek their
  independence.

23
Gdansk before and after WWII
24
Workers Unite

• Polands working class was upset about working
  conditions under communist rule.
• Polish workers staged strikes in
• 1956
• 1968
• 1970
• 1976
• The strikes were unsuccessful because the people
  were not united due to lack of solid
  communication.
• Sometimes students would join in the strikes,
  sometimes they would not.

25
Gdansk shipyard strike 1970

• Workers in Gdansk shipyards rally against the
  selection of Edward Gierek.
• Leader of the Communist PZPR (Polish Workers
  Party).
• The protest failed to unify the country against
  Communist rule.

26
John Paul IIs influence

• 1920 - 2005

• 1978, Karol Józef Wojtyla becomes the first
  Polish Pope.
• The Popes selection sparks a surge of Polish
  nationalism.
• Renewed nationalism helps propel new strikes at
  the shipyards in Gdansk (1980).

27
Gdansk Shipyard strikes1980

• Another workers strike started in the Lenin
  shipyard of Gdansk.
• The strike was lead by Lech Walesa.
• He was an electrician at the shipyards.
• The new independent union was dubbed
  Solidarity.
• Workers demanded better work conditions and an
  end to Soviet rule over Poland.

28
Martial LawDecember 1981

• Gdansks strikes were powerful movements because
  Poland relied on the shipyard to transport goods
  in and out of the country.
• Brezhnev feared example of Polish Solidarity.
• 1981, Poland enforced martial law to prevent
  Soviet invasion.
• Poland leaders feared Soviet involvement, thus
  they drove the Solidarity movement underground.

29
Polish freedom from Communist rule

• 1989, Poland was the first country to end
  Communist one party rule.
• The illegal Solidarity movement in 1980 continued
  helping people in protest.
• After the lifting of martial law in 1989, Poland
  sought a new government and elected Solidarity.
• Lech Walesa later became president of Poland from
  1990 to 1995.

30
Gdansk Post 1989

• 1995, The Polish government lead by ex-Communist
  Aleksander Kwasniewski, refused to give the
  shipyard 100 million loan to help with its
  increasing debts.
• The Lenin Shipyard, the birthplace of Solidarity
  in 1980 was forced to close because of 140
  million debts.
• 1997, Gdansk celebrates its 1000th anniversary.

31
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