Pomerelia

Coordinates: 54°22′00″N 18°38′00″E / 54.366667°N 18.633333°E / 54.366667; 18.633333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Duchy of Pomerania or Province of Pomerania (disambiguation).
For the medieval state, see
Duchy of Pomerelia
.
Pomerelia
Pomorze Nadwiślańskie
Pomorze Wschodnie
UTC+2 (CEST)
Highways

Pomerelia,[a] also known as Eastern Pomerania,[b] Vistula Pomerania,[c] and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland.

Gdańsk Pomerania[d] is largely coextensive with Pomerelia, but slightly narrower, as it does not include Chełmno Land or Michałów Land.

Its largest and most important city is Gdańsk. Since 1999 the region has formed the core of Pomerania Province.

Overview

Pomerelia is located in northern

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and small parts in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It has traditionally been divided into Kashubia, Kociewie, Tuchola Forest and Chełmno Land (including the Michałów Land, sometimes with the addition of Lubawa Land). The Lauenburg and Bütow Land is considered by Polish historiography a part of Kashubia (and thus Gdańsk Pomerania and Pomerelia), while German historiography tends to treat it as a part of Farther Pomerania. Pomerelia has been inhabited by ethnic Kashubians, Kociewians, Borowians and Chełminians
, respectively.

Name

In the Polish language, the area has been called Pomorze ('Pomerania') since the

their monastic state, which already included historical Prussia, located east of the region. As a result of Teutonic rule, in German terminology, the name of Prussia was extended to annexed Polish lands like Vistula/Eastern Pomerania, although it was never inhabited by Baltic Prussians
but by Slavic Poles.

After the area was reintegrated with Poland in 1466, both names were in use: Pomerania was used when referring to the

Pogesania and Warmia
, the only actual Prussian territories of the province.

Location of the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1466–1772) within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

After the Partitions of Poland, the area was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and formed part of the newly established province of West Prussia, and the name Pomerania was avoided by Prussian or German authorities in relation to this region.

Outside of the Kingdom of Prussia and later Germany, the area was termed Polish Pomerania (Pomorze Polskie) since at least the 18th century

Hither and Farther Pomerania, territories long outside of Polish rule. In the late 19th century this term was used in order to underline Polish claims to that area that was then ruled by the German Kingdom of Prussia. The designation of Polish Pomerania became obsolete since Farther Pomerania and a small part of Hither Pomerania were also transferred to Poland as part of the territories recovered from Germany, following World War II
.

History

Outline

Early history

Main article: Early history of Pomerania
Pomerelia (named M: Gdańsk) within Poland on a map showing West-Slavic and Lechitic peoples before 1125

In its early history, the territory which later became known as Pomerelia was the site of the

Wielbark Culture (AD 1–450, associated with Veneti, Goths, Rugii, Gepids).[4] In the mid-6th century Jordanes mentioned the Vistula estuary as the home of the Vidivarii.[5] Pomerelia was settled by West Slavic and Lechitic tribes[6] in the 7th and 8th centuries.[7]

Early medieval Poland

For a list of Polish monarchs, see List of Polish monarchs.
For a list of dukes, see
Pomeranian duchies and dukes
.

In the tenth century, Pomerelia was already settled by

Piast provinces,[12] from which Pomerelia was separated by large stretches of woodlands and swamps.[10]

The Piasts introduced

Bolesław II the Generous against Bohemia in 1061 or 1068. Duke Bolesław suffered a defeat during the siege of Hradec and had to retreat to Poland. Soon after Pomerelia separated from his realm.[16] A campaign by Piast duke Władysław I Herman to conquer Pomerelia in 1090–91 was unsuccessful, but resulted in the burning of many Pomerelian forts during the retreat.[10]

In 1116, direct control over Pomerelia was reestablished by Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland,[17] who by 1122 had also conquered the central and western parts of Pomerania.[18] While the latter regions (forming the Duchy of Pomerania) regained independence quickly, Pomerelia remained within the Polish realm. It was administered by governors of a local dynasty, the Samborides, and subordinated to the bishopric of Włocławek.[10] In 1138, following the death of Bolesław III, Poland was fragmented into several provincial principalities. The principes in Pomerelia gradually gained more local power, evolving into semi-independent entities, much like other fragmented Polish territories, with the difference that the other parts of the realm were governed by Piast descendants of Bolesław III. The Christian centre became Oliwa Abbey near Gdańsk.

Two Samborides administering Pomerelia in the 12th century are known by name:

Sambor I.[10]

Danish conquest and independence

In 1210, king

Swietopelk II, who succeeded him in 1217,[20] gained full independence in 1227.[14]

Duchy of Pomerelia

After Mestwin I's death, Pomerelia was internally divided among his sons

Urban IV, then papal legate and archidiacone of Lüttich (Liege).[23]

In the west, the Pomerelian dukes' claim to the

Griffin dukes of Pomerania, Barnim I and Wartislaw III.[24] In this conflict, Swietopelk II initially won the upper hand, but could not force a final decision.[24]

Swietopelk II, who styled himself dux. since 1227, chartered the town of

Rügenwalde (now Darlowo) near the fort of Dirlow.[25]

In 1273, Mestwin found himself in open conflict against the margraves who refused to remove their troops from Gdańsk, Mestwin's possession, which he had been forced to temporarily lease to them during his struggles against Wartisław and Sambor. Since the lease had now expired, through this action, the Margrave Conrad broke the Treaty of Arnswalde/Choszczno and subsequent agreements. His aim was to capture as much of Mestwin's Pomerelia as possible. Mestwin, unable to dislodge the Brandenburgian troops himself called in the aid of Bolesław the Pious, whose troops took the city with a direct attack. The war against Brandenburg ended in 1273 with a treaty [26] (possibly signed at Drawno Bridge), in which Brandenburg returned Gdańsk to Mestwin while he paid feudal homage to the margraves for the lands of Schlawe (Sławno) and Stolp (Słupsk).[27]

On February 15, 1282,

Mestwin II, signed the Treaty of Kępno which transferred the suzerainty over Pomerelia to Przemysł.[28] As a result of the treaty the period of Pomerelian independence ended and the region was again part of Poland. Przemysł adopted the title dux Polonie et Pomeranie (Duke of Poland and Pomerania).[29] Mestwin, per the agreement, retained de facto control over the province until his death in 1294, at which time Przemysł, who was already the de jure ruler of the territory, took it under his direct rule.[28]

The hereditary ruleta of the Duchy included as follows:

Late medieval Poland

After the death of

Władysław I the Elbow-high
in 1306.

Teutonic Order

Pomerelia as a part of the Teutonic Knights' state in the early 14th century
Main articles:
Teutonic Order state, Royal Prussia, and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

During Władysław's rule, the

Polish–Teutonic Wars
throughout the 14th and 15th centuries.

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1440, many cities of the region joined the newly formed anti-Teutonic

Reformed, while most of the region remained Polish/Kashubian Catholic. In the 17th century Pomerelia was attacked and destroyed by a Swedish
army.

Partitions of Poland

Pomerelia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the late 18th century Partitions of Poland, becoming part of the new Province of West Prussia, and part of Germany in 1871. The region was subjected to intense Germanisation policies.

Interwar period

After

Pomeranian Voivodeship (Greater Pomerania as of 1938). Gdańsk with Żuławy became the Free City of Danzig. In the interbellum, German propaganda coined the term of Polish Corridor
in reference to the region.

World War II

The region was the site of the Battle of Westerplatte, the first battle of the German invasion of Poland which started World War II in September 1939, as well as several other important battles incl. at Hel, Gdynia and Kępa Oksywska. Afterwards it was occupied and illegally annexed by Nazi Germany, and the Polish population was subjected to various crimes, such as mass arrests, imprisonment, slave labor, kidnapping of children, deportations to Nazi concentration camps and genocide, incl. the Intelligenzaktion. The Germans established the Stutthof concentration camp, the first Nazi concentration camp outside of pre-war German borders, with multiple subcamps in the region. Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included Piaśnica, Szpęgawsk, Mniszek, Igielska Valley, Luszkówko, Skarszewy, Rudzki Most and Grupa.[35]

Post-war period

After the defeat of Germany in the war in 1945, almost the entire region, including the former Free City of Danzig, was reclaimed by Poland according to the Potsdam Agreement, except for a small portion of the Vistula Spit around the village of Narmeln (Polski) which was annexed by the Soviet Union. The local German minority population which included numerous members of the Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz complicit in its atrocities, fled or was expelled to Germany, also in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement.

Contemporary

Historic Pomerelia nowadays forms the bulk of the

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, while a small western fragment (Gmina Biały Bór) is in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship
.

Historical population

Kashubs and other Poles who spoke German were considered German.[36][37][38][39][40]

Legend for the districts:
  German language
  Polish language
  Kashubian language
  others or bilingual

During the

Borowiacy) predominated.[41] The Teutonic Order developed the land in amelioration projects, dyking of the founding of German-settled Estates and villages.[42]

As the result of the

Pogesania). After the Partitions of Poland in 1772–1795, historical Pomerelia became part of the new province of West Prussia within the Kingdom of Prussia. Temporarily, during the Napoleonic Wars until 1815, Gdańsk became a Free City, while southern portions of West Prussia with Toruń became parts of the Duchy of Warsaw. Perhaps the earliest census figures (from years 1817 and 1819) about the ethnic or national composition of the region come from Prussian data published in 1823. At that time, entire West Prussia (of which historical Pomerelia was part) had 630,077 inhabitants – 327,300 ethnic Poles (52%), 290,000 Germans (46%) and 12,700 Jews (2%).[43] In this data Kashubians are included with Poles, while Mennonites
(numbering 2% of West Prussia's population) are included with Germans.

Ethnic structure (Nationalverschiedenheit) of West Prussia (including Pomerelia) in 1819[43]
Ethnic or national group Population
Number Percentage
Poles 327,300 52%
Germans 290,000 46%
Jews 12,700 2%
Total 630,077 100%

Another German author, Karl Andree, in his book "Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht" (Leipzig 1831), gives the total population of West Prussia as 700,000 inhabitants – including 50% Poles (350,000), 47% Germans (330,000) and 3% Jews (20,000).[44]

There are also estimates of the religious structure (number of temples) of the pre-1772 Pomerelian Voivodeship of Poland. Around year 1772 that voivodeship had 221 (66,6%) Roman Catholic, 79 (23,8%) Lutheran, 23 (6,9%) Jewish, six (1,8%) Mennonite, two (0,6%) Czech Brethren and one (0,3%) Calvinist churches:

Number of churches of each denomination and synagogues in Royal Prussia around 1772[41]
Voivodeship Roman Catholic Lutheran Calvinist Czech Brethren Mennonite Jewish
Pomerelia 221 79 1 2 6 23
Lębork-Bytów 15 23 1 - - -
Malbork 62 47 1 - 9 -
Warmia 124 - - - - -
Chełmno 151 11 - 1 1 9
TOTAL Royal Prussia 573 160 3 3 16 32

See also

Notes

  1. Latin: Pomerellia, Pomerania, Polish
    : Pomerelia (rarely used)
  2. ^ Polish: Pomorze Wschodnie, Kashubian: Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô
  3. ^ Polish: Pomorze Nadwiślańskie
  4. ^ Polish: Pomorze Gdańskie; Kashubian: Gduńsczim Pòmòrzã; German: Danziger Pommernis

References

  1. ^ James Boswell, The Scots Magazine, t. 35, Edinburgh 1773, p 687 Google Books, The Magazine of Magazines t. 13, Limerick 1757 p. 158 Google Books, John Mottley, The history of the life of Peter I., emperor of Russia, London 1739, p. 89 Google Books, The Universal Magazine, t. 20, London 1757, p. 50 Google Books
  2. ISBN 83-906184-8-6
  3. ISBN 0-19-815050-4
  4. ISBN 83-906184-8-6
  5. ISBN 0-521-84601-3
  6. ISBN 3-406-54986-1
  7. ^ Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.29,
    ISBN 83-906184-8-6
  8. ISBN 0-521-36447-7 Google Books
  9. ^ J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 68
  10. ^ a b c d e Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 32.
  11. ^ J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 69–70
  12. ^ J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 67
  13. ^ Machilek, Franz: Strukturen und Repräsentanten der Kirche Polens im Mittelalter, in Dietmar Popp, Robert Suckale (eds.): Die Jagiellonen. Kunst und Kultur einer europäischen Dynastie an der Wende zur Neuzeit (Wissenschaftliche Beibände zum Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, Bd. 21), Nürnberg 2002, pp. 109–122; 109.
  14. ^
    ISBN 0-313-30984-1
  15. ^ Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 32; while James Minahan, One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 375 generally speaks of the 11th century.
  16. ^ J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 73, B. Śliwiński (red.) Wielka Historia Polski, t. I do 1320, Kraków 1997, p. 89-90. Both these authors connect the unsuccessful campaign against he Czechs with the loss of Pomerelia.
  17. ISBN 83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  18. ISBN 83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  19. ISBN 83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  20. ^ a b c d e f Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 33.
  21. ^ a b c Lingenberg, Heinz: Die Anfänge des Klosters Oliva und die Entstehung der deutschen Stadt Danzig. Die frühe Geschichte der beiden Gemeinwesen bis 1308/10 (Kieler historische Studien, Bd. 30), Stuttgart 1982, p. 191.
  22. ^ a b c d Hirsch, Theodor et al. (eds.): Scriptores rerum Prussicarum, vol. 1, Leipzig 1861, pp. 67, 686-687.
  23. ^ a b c d Wichert, Sven: Das Zisterzienskloster Doberan im Mittelalter (Studien zur Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur der Zisterzienser, vol. 9), Berlin 2000, p. 208
  24. ^ a b Schmidt, Roderich: Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse, Köln/Weimar 2007, pp. 141-142.
  25. ^ a b Schmidt, Roderich: Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse, Köln/Weimar 2007, p. 143.
  26. ^ Full text of the treaty of Drage Bridge (1273) (in Latin) in Morin FH (1838): Codex diplomaticus Brandenburgensis I, p. 121.
  27. ^ B. Śliwiński (red.) Wielka Historia Polski, t. I do 1320, Kraków 1997, p. 205
  28. ^ a b Muzeum Historii Polski (2010). "Układ w Kępnie między Przemysłem II a Mszczujem II Pomorskim". Muzhp.pl. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  29. ^ Aneta Kwiatkowska (March 12, 2008). "O przesławnych książętach pomorskich". dziedzictwo.polska.pl. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  30. ISBN 83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  31. ISBN 83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  32. ^ Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. XXXVII.
  33. ^ Górski, pp. 51, 56
  34. ^ Górski, p. 88-90, 206-207
  35. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 145–153, 167, 169–170, 182.
  36. ^ Andrzej Chwalba - Historia Polski 1795-1918 pages 461-463
  37. ^ Anna Cienciala Lecture Notes 11 The Rebirth of Poland, The University of Kansas
  38. ^ Poloźenie mniejszości niemieckej w Polsce, 1918-1938 1969 Stanisław Kazimierz Potocki Wydawn. Morskie, page 30
  39. ^ Ruch polski na Śląsku Opolskim w latach 1922-1939 - page 15 Marek Masnyk - 1989
  40. ^ Dzieje robotników przemysłowych w Polsce pod zaborami Elżbieta Kaczyńska Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe, 1970, page 75To show lower number of Poles, settled German soldiers were automatically included. The census of 1910 was most likely falsified
  41. ^ a b Szady, Bogumił (2010). Geography of Religious and Denominational Structures in the Crown of the Polish Kingdom in the Second Half of the 18th Century (PDF). Wydawnictwo KUL. pp. 164–165.
  42. ^ Kazimierz Śmigiel (1992). Die statistischen Erhebungen über die deutschen Katholiken in den Bistümern Polens, 1928 und 1936. J.G. Herder-Institut. p. 117.
  43. ^ a b Hassel, Georg (1823). Statistischer Umriß der sämmtlichen europäischen und der vornehmsten außereuropäischen Staaten, in Hinsicht ihrer Entwickelung, Größe, Volksmenge, Finanz- und Militärverfassung, tabellarisch dargestellt; Erster Heft: Welcher die beiden großen Mächte Österreich und Preußen und den Deutschen Staatenbund darstellt. Verlag des Geographischen Instituts Weimar. p. 42.
  44. ^ Andree, Karl (1831). Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht. Verlag von Ludwig Schumann. p. 212.

External links

Media related to Pomerelia at Wikimedia Commons

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