Gdańsk, formerly Free City of Danzig, sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent state established by Napoleon on September 9, 1807, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The first partition of Poland in 1772 made Gdańsk a free city; the second partition (1793) gave it to Prussia. Napoleon-I named it as Danzig in 1807 but restored its status as a free city and made it 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, Danzig came under Nazi control. Hitler's demand for the city's return to Germany in 1939 was the principal immediate excuse for the German invasion of Poland and thus of World War II. Danzig 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.
Gdańsk city is the sixth-largest city in Poland, and also its principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodship. 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. 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). Danzig began printing stamps in 1920, and the first Marian Stamps were printed in 1937.
* Taken from "Gda%u0144sk." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.
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