CITY OF WARSAW

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 September 1939, Page 4

CITY OF WARSAW

CENTRE OF FIERCE FIGHTING IN PAST DAYS.

ASSOCIATION WITH RUSSIA.

Warsaw, the city round which the interest of the world has been centred during the last few weeks, is a beautiful city, situated on the River Vistula, standing on a terrace about 125 feet above the river to which it descends by steep slopes, leaving a broad bench at its base. At the 1931 census it had a population of 1,178,211, of which 70.7 per cent were Poles and the rest nearly all Jews.

The city is connected to its suburb Praga on the other side of the river by two bridges about 500 yards long. Warsaw is the seat of a Roman Catholic Archbishopric, and of the Orthodox Metropolitan. The city of Warsaw is old and traces its history well back into mediaeval times. It is situated in a fertile plain, and is a very progressive centre.

A striking trend of the present-day Poland is the industrialisation of towns, and their being given a place in the national life. This is necessary today in a land where two-thirds of the population lives on the land. In this process Warsaw leads the way. The precise date of the foundation of Warsaw is not known, but it is supposed that Conrad, Duke of Mazovia, built a castle on the present site of Warsaw as early as the ninth century. Casimir the Just is supposed to have fortified it in the eleventh century, but Warsaw was not mentioned in annals until 1224. Until 1528 it was the residence of the Dukes of Mazovia. but when their dynasty was extinct it was annexed by Poland.

For many years Warsaw was the centre of fierce fighting, the city passing from the Russians to Sweden, becoming independent, and finally going back to the Russians. The Russians had to quell numerous revolutions but managed to control the situation, although many lives were lost and at times the position became serious. The Russians were firm and merciless rulers, however, and executions, banish-

ment to the convict prisons of Siberia, and confiscation of estates were carried out on an unheard of scale. Hundreds of Russian officials were called in to fill the administration posts and to teach in the schools and in the university. The Russian language was made obligatory in all official acts, in all legal proceedings, and even in trade. The name of Poland was even expunged from official writings, and Russian administrative institutions were introduced. Much rioting and lawless bloodshed took place in the city until as late as 1905-06.

In 1914 Warsaw became a great base for the supply of the Russian Armies. In 1915 it was occupied by the Germans, who made it the capital of the Polish State, which possessed no real power. With the break-up of the German Government in 1918 the Poles made themselves masters of town, and set up a Government.

The streets of Warsaw are lined with beautiful old architecture and most of the buildings have history dating back many years.

Warsaw is now an industrious centre, the steel industry having develop-

ed and the manufacture of plated silver, carriages, boots and shoes bringing an annual turnover of £8,457,000. Other important occupations and industries are millinery, hosiery, gloves, tobacco, sugar, and house decorations.