DANZIG

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 531, 15 May 1933, Page 2

DANZIG

THE FREE CITY LONG PERIODS OF ClPPRESSION IN CH.E5UERED CAREER. PRUSSIAN THRiEATS. The name of the city "Gdansk" betr,a.ys its Slavonic origin, for .it was originally a fishing village ih the Yistula, which first came under Boland's influence in the 10th' century, writes L. de Noskowski in the "Sydney Morning Herald." Two centuries later Pope Eugene III. assigned the city to the first rules of D'anzig the Slavoniq princes of Pomerania, and when the province became an integr,al part of Poland the city acknowledged the Polish King Ladislas as its right fiil master, at the end of the 18th century. The favourable geographical situation of the . port resulted in increased trade wiith the whole of Poland, and Danzig rapidly developed. U nf or tunately, at the invitation of the King of Poiand, the Teutonic Knights of the Cross were allowed to settle on the right ' hank of the Vistula, and it was not long before the blood-thirsty warriofs cast their eyes on Danzig. A sudden treacherous attack was made in November, 1308, when nearly 10,000 peaceful in hahitants were mercilessly murdered .and their hdmes plundered and suhsequently levelled Poland made a strong protest to the Pope, who demanded an explanation. The Grand Master of the Teutonic Oi'der stated that a dozen rohbers had been killed, and that "the people of thei city, of their own free will, laid waste their homes and settled in another place! German historians later acknowledged the massacre of Danzig as a historical fact, but most of them claimed that it was a political necessity (!) owing to the inability of the Order to garrison large cities. The Vengeance

For over a century Danzig experienced the ruthless oppression of the mailed Teutonic fist, until the power of the Order was shatter,ed by Poland in the memorable battle of Grunwald in 1410. The entry of the Polish' King was celebrated with houndless enthusiasm, and he was hailed as a deliverer. A few months later the remna.nts of the mighty Order returned to the castle of Danzig, and as a friendly gesture the brother of the Grand Master invited the Mayor and two leading aldermen, who had shown particulai friendship for Poland The vengeance was in keeping with the spirit of the Order — the citizens were murdered m cold blood, and their hodies delivered to the xerror-striCken city. Puniishment was not long in commg and during the suhsequent war, m which Poland decided once and for all to wipe out the rapacious and hloodthirsty knights, the inhahitants o± Danzig took the castle, razed it to tne ground in 1454, and provided Poland with money and a volnnteer army of 15 000 to crush' the hated oppressor. In' 1457' King Casimir of Poland entered Danzig, and was accorded an ! enthusiastic welcome. Gifts, of gold j aI1{i sfiver were showered upon him, i and he immediately granted the city full autonomy, extensive trade rights, a reduction of taxes, rights to pariey with foreign Power s, and additional territory, including the peninsula and Nehring. , During the next three and a half | centuries Danzig r^nained nnder the | sovereignty of Poland, and the cordia 1 relations were interrupted only once, | when the city refused to recognise the ' election of King Stephen Batory. Th i .army marched against the city, anc i af ber a short and gallant resistancc Danzig surrendered. Instead o± pnnishing the inhahitants, the King. immediately confirmed and even extend ' ed former privileges, and cordial re r lations were in no way lmpaired. T . : city's Third Committee, representmj J ... , ciincTnakers

the guilus oi du^ucib, - bla,cksmiths, and bakers, at every step showed its strong pro-Polish tendencies, and me-n frequently enhsted m the Polish army During every subse- j quent war Danzig helped Poland ivith money, ammunition and m.en, and th Polish Diet on several occasions gratefully acknowledged the unswervmg loyalty of Danzig. Teroentenary Celebrations. In 1754 Danzig celebrated the tercentenary of its happy nnion with Poland. With the approachmg disintegraibion of Poland, Danzig, found itself in an unenviable position, for both Prussian and Russia coveted the port. From the first partition of Poland, Frederic the Great sent a Prussian army to the frontmrs of the tpvritorv. and at. first with

tempting offers and later with. dnect threats, attempted to' seize it. Th city was virtually hlockaded, the Prussian King having seize-d the 1 lower Vistula bank, and gradually thr tled it by imposing crushmg Customs, duties. Protests were even made to England, which prompted F^edmfte the Great to dnstruct his Ambassador in London that "Engiand has no reason for worrying ahout Polish mat ters They are really -strangiei to her, and cannot have the least eff ect either unon her position or interests. The mother of the grdat philosopher Schopenhauer, who had spent all he life in the city, wrote:_ Like ,a vampire the Prussian King has falle Loh mv nnhappy city, committed to

" 1 ' "" dHP, and has .sucked' out of it ii^n||^bd, This for mauy a year, u^BKiully exhaustedi" Danzig resisted the Teutonic ffien- | a^^H^feeventually pressure from ^gjjfe^se'd. Fredoric to relax. It w^^Hfegtil the reign of his .succesor t^pjB^^fhe secret treaty hetween Russia-, in 1793, Danzig yJIMifered to the former as comP^H^V'for the jiroimsed heip .to cr^pp^^French Revolution. •^^M^mg.army was sent to capture the mty. . Its citizens were prepared for a stuhhorn defence, and for threC ! days discussed the Prussian ultiliiatum, Wiser counsels prevailed to pf event useless hl-oodshed -for the city would have eventually had tb siifrehder to overwhielmdng forces. The citizens, however, seiit a final declaration of loyalty to the King of Poland expressing great sorrow at being forced to surrendel: to the nemy. - . • ; Napoleonic Wars. The first Prussian occupation did not .las-t long, for fourteen years later, during Napoleon's war against Pruss'ia, a Freneh-Polish army under Marshal Lefehre took Danzig, in May, 1807, after a siege lasting several weeks. The vietors were enthusiastically reeedved hy the population and , great was; the , disappointm'ient wheii. in the suhsequent peace treaty Danzig was not incorporated in the newly-created Duchy of W'arsaw. It was declared a free city, and was occupied hy two Polish regiments uhtil the disastrous canlpaigii bf Russia dr 181^. Danzig was retaken in 1813, this time by a Russian army, ' and an interbnting situation developed. Russia in 1812. Danzig was retaken in cdntrol of the city; and I King- Frederic William, greatly alarmeA at thie Russian success, appointed a Governor and a commander, who were ignored hy the Russian command. The population once- more j showed its traditional distrust of the German oppressors, and was delighted that when the Prussian com-mandie-r attempted to issue orders, he was immediately threatened with arrest hy the commander of the Rus-

sian army. During the suhsequent months preceding the congress of Viennay Danzig made strenuous diplomatic efforts to have the city incorporated with j Poland. The Senate -of Danzig instructed the plenip.otentiary, Keidel, to press for its rights -and ta fight against the return under Prussnan I domination. Keidel interviewed Tsar Alexander I., and gave him a document recalling the ruthless oppression the city -had experienced at the hands of Frederic the Great, and demanding its complete deliverance from Prussia. Danzig made similar strong repxesentations to England, | hut, unfortunately the Prime Minis- i ter, Lord Liverpool, and the Foneign Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, fearmg Russia' s might, sided with Germany. Eventually, hy virtue of the Treaty of Vienna, in 1815, Danzig reverted to Prussia. . Prussianisation. A relentless policy of _ Prussian j bureaucracy and 'Germanisation fo - I lowed, and the former aff luence of the city gradually declined. Several nots fostered by general Peyeity ^ok place hetween 1819-22. The Polish language was officially suppressed m 1837, and gradually Danzig character. Its trade did not develop as that oi other German ports, hecause it was the policy of the Govemment to o-ive preferential tre-atment to Haanburg, Stetlin, and Koenigsherg. As recently as 1907 the Danzig Cham1 her of Commerce bitterly complamed [ to the German Governmen-t about the ' railway ireights from Lodz ; (m Bus- ' sian Poland) to Danzjg ydnch were 1 higher than from Lodz to Stetlin, ai 1 though the distance was shorter. ; Danzig has always been treated hy " the German Governmient in a step- " motherly fashion, and Professor Sim- " on Askenbazy, in his authoritative ' hcok on the city, pomted out that - Prussia "was concerned not to permit ' a direct means of communication he- * i I "WOT*lCl.

tweert Po.lana ana uie yy Slie was concerned that a Polish Danzig shoultt not become the rival of her own seaports." Accordmgly, while the imports mto Danzig rose tc » 800,000 tons- hefore the war, Hamhu g _ figures were thirteen million tons, and Stetlin' s two miillion. The g^w the population has been equally slow. Since the Great War, the free city oif Danffig, 5n pursuance of the Treaty of Versailles, forms _ pait of the Polish Customs adimnistration, and no Customs barrier can Je established hetween the city ,and Repuhlic of Poland. The port of Danzig is administered by a har ou hoard comprising an equal ntmiber o I xep'resehtativesi of the city and _ Poland, with a president, who- mus he a suhject of Switzerland, nomI iiT.atp.fi hv the League of Nations.