Gdansk

Gdańsk (gədänsk`), formerly Danzig (dăn`sĭg), city (1993 est. pop. 466,700), capital of Pomorskie prov., N Poland, on a branch of the Vistula and on the Gulf of Gdańsk. One of the chief Polish ports on the Baltic Sea, it is a leading industrial and communications center. It has important mechanical-engineering, machine-building, chemical, and metallurgical industries. Sawmilling, food processing, and light manufacturing are also important. Its once-famous state-owned shipyard was nearly closed in 1996 but was sold in 1998 and continues shipbuilding on a smaller scale. There are two port areas; one is at Nowy Port (Neufahrwasser), a northern suburb, and the other, Port Połnocny, was completed in 1975. The port cities of Gdańsk and Gdynia and the nearby resort of Sopot are administered as a single city. Gdańsk has numerous educational and cultural facilities. Historic landmarks include the Gothic Church of St. Mary (1343).

A Slavic settlement, Gdańsk was first mentioned in 997. It soon became the capital of Pomerelia (see Pomerania). After its settlement by German merchants, it joined (13th cent.) the Hanseatic League and developed as an important Baltic trading port. In 1308 it was conquered by the Teutonic Knights and became an object of struggle between them and Poland. Pomerelia and Gdańsk passed to Poland in 1466. Gdańsk was granted local autonomy under the Polish crown. In 1576, Gdańsk withstood a siege by Stephen Báthory and thus preserved its established privileges against domination by the Polish crown.

After the Thirty Years War

General Character of the War

There were many territorial, dynastic, and religious issues that figured in the outbreak and conduct of the war.
.....  the city began to decline. In the War of the Polish Succession, King Stanislaus I took refuge in Gdańsk until it fell (1734) after a heroic defense. The first partition of Poland in 1772 made Gdańsk a free city; the second partition (1793) gave it to Prussia.

Napoleon I restored its status as a free city (1807). Reverting to Prussia in 1814, it was fortified and, as Danzig, was the provincial capital of West Prussia until 1919, when by the Treaty of Versailles it once more became a free city with its own legislature. In order to give the newly reestablished nation of Poland a seaport, Danzig was included in the Polish customs territory and was placed under a high commissioner appointed by the League of Nations.

As the League's authority waned after 1935, Gdańsk came under Nazi control. Hitler's demand (1939) for the city's return to Germany was the principal immediate excuse for the German invasion of Poland and thus of World War II. Gdańsk was annexed to Germany from Sept. 1, 1939, until its fall to the Soviet army early in 1945. The Allies returned the city to Poland, which restored the name Gdańsk. In 1970 workers' grievances sparked riots in Gdańsk that spread to other cities and led to changes in Poland's national leadership. Further labor unrest in the Gdańsk shipyard led to the formation of the Solidarity union in 1980.

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Gdansk

 German Danzig

City (pop., 2000 est.: 456,574), capital of Pomorskie province, northern Poland. Located at the mouth of the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea, it was first mentioned in the late 10th century as a Polish town. The capital of the dukes of Pomerania in the 13th century, it was taken by the knights of the Teutonic Order in 1308. In 1466 Casimir IV regained the territory for Poland, and Gdansk expanded greatly. From 1793 it was controlled mainly by Prussia; following World War I, it was a free city governed by Poland. In 1938 Adolf Hitler demanded that Gdansk be given back to Germany; Poland's refusal was the excuse for his attack on Poland in 1939, which precipitated World War II. The city, greatly damaged during the war, was returned to Poland in 1945. It is now fully restored, with renewed port facilities. The independent labour union Solidarity was founded there in 1980.

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Gdańsk

1. the chief port of Poland, on the Baltic: a member of the Hanseatic league; under Prussian rule (1793--1807 and 1814--1919); a free city under the League of Nations from 1919 until annexed by Germany in 1939; returned to Poland in 1945. Pop.: 851 000 (2005 est.)

2. Bay of. a wide inlet of the Baltic Sea on the N coast of Poland