In the Polish language, the area has been called Pomorze ('Pomerania') since the Early Middle Ages. In the early 14th century, the Teutonic Knightsinvaded and annexed the region from Poland into 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 BalticPrussians but by Slavic Poles.
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[1] to distinguish it from 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 GermanKingdom 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.
In the tenth century, Pomerelia was already settled by West-Slavic Pomeranians. The area was conquered and incorporated into early medieval Poland either by Duke Mieszko I – the first historical Polish ruler - in the second half of the tenth century[8] or even earlier, by his father, in the 940s or 950s[9] – the date of incorporation is unknown.[10] Mieszko founded Gdańsk to control the mouth of the Vistula between 970 and 980,.[11] According to Józef Spors, despite some cultural differences, the inhabitants of the whole of Pomerania had very close ties with residents of other Piast provinces,[12] from which Pomerelia was separated by large stretches of woodlands and swamps.[10]
The Piasts introduced Christianity to pagan Pomerelia, though it is disputed to what extent the conversion materialized.[13] In the eleventh century the region had loosened its close connections with the kingdom of Poland and subsequently for some years formed an independent duchy.[14] Most scholars suggest that Pomerelia was still part of Poland during the reign of king Bolesław I of Poland and his son Mieszko II Lambert. However, there are also different opinions e.g. Peter Oliver Loew suggests the Slavs in Pomerelia severed their ties with the Piasts and reverted the Piasts' introduction of Christianity already in the first years of the 11th century.[15] The exact date of separation is unknown, however. It was suggested that the inhabitants of Pomerelia participated in the Pagan reaction in Poland, actively supported Miecław who intended to detach Masovia from the power of the rulers of Poland, but after the defeat of Miecław in 1047 accepted the rule of duke Casimir I the Restorer and that the province remained a part of Poland till the 1060s, when Pomerelian troops took part in the expedition of the Polish king 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: Sobieslaw I and his son, Sambor I.[10]
Danish conquest and independence
In 1210, king Valdemar II of Denmark invaded Pomerelia, whose princepsMestwin I became his vassal.[19] The Danish suzerainty did not last long, however. Mestwin had already gained more independence from Poland and expanded southward, and his son 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 Swietopelk II, Wartislaw, Sambor II and Ratibor.[21] Swietopelk II, who took his seat in Gdańsk, assumed a leading position over his brothers: Sambor II, who received the castellany of Lubieszewo (the center later moved to Tczew), and Ratibor, who received the Białogard area, were initially under his tutelage.[21] The fourth brother, Wartislaw, took his seat in Świecie, thus controlling the second important area besides Gdańsk.[21] Wartislaw died before 27 December 1229, his share was to be given to Oliwa Abbey by his brothers.[22] The remaining brothers engaged in a civil war: Sambor II and Ratibor allied with the Teutonic Order[22][23] and the Duke of Kuyavia[22] against Swietopelk, who in turn allied with the Old Prussians,[23] took Ratibor prisoner and temporarily assumed control over the latter's share.[22] The revolt of the Old Prussians against the Teutonic Order in 1242 took place in the context of these alliances.[23] Peace was restored only in the Treaty of Christburg (Dzierzgoń) in 1249, mediated by the later pope Urban IV, then papal legate and archidiacone of Lüttich (Liege).[23]
Swietopelk II, who styled himself dux. since 1227, chartered the town of Gdańsk with Lübeck law and invited the Dominican Order.[20] His conflicts with the Teutonic Order, who had become his eastern neighbor in 1230, were settled in 1253 by exempting the order from the Vistula dues.[20] With Swietopelk II's death in 1266, the rule of his realm passed to his sons Wartislaw and Mestwin II.[20] These brothers initiated another civil war, with Mestwin II allying with and pledging allegiance to the Brandenburg margraves (Treaty of Arnswalde/Choszczno 1269).[20] The margraves, who in the 1269 treaty also gained the land of Białogarda, were also supposed to help Mestwin II securing the lands of Schlawe (Sławno) and Stolp (Słupsk), which after Swietopelk II's death were in part taken over by Barnim III.[25] With the margraves' aid, Mestwin II succeeded in expelling Wartislaw from Gdansk in 1270/71.[20] The lands of Schlawe/Slawno, however, were taken over by Mestwin II's nephew Wizlaw II, prince of Rügen in 1269/70, who founded 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, High Duke of Poland and WielkopolskaPrzemysł II and the Duke of PomereliaMestwin 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:
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
In 1440, many cities of the region joined the newly formed anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation.[32] In 1454, the organization asked Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon to reincorporate the region into the Kingdom of Poland, to which the King agreed and signed an act of re-incorporation in Kraków.[33] After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the region and recognized it as part of Poland.[34] Pomerelia was organized into the Pomeranian Voivodeship, part of the larger Polish provinces of Royal Prussia within Greater Poland Province. Lauenburg and Bütow Land (Lębork and Bytów) was a Polish fief ruled by Pomeranian dukes until 1637, when it was incorporated directly into Poland. In early modern timesGdańsk was the biggest city of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and most of its exports (especially grain) were made through the port. Gdańsk and Żuławy Wiślane were mostly German/Dutch-speaking Lutheran or Reformed, while most of the region remained Polish/Kashubian Catholic. In the 17th century Pomerelia was attacked and destroyed by a Swedish army.
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.
As the result of the Thirteen Years' War of 1454-1466, Pomerelia became part of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland again, within the province of Royal Prussia (which along Pomerelia also included the western rim of the actual region of Prussia, namely Warmia as well as Malbork Land, the latter comprising northern parts of Pomesania and 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]
^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
^Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.23, ISBN83-906184-8-6
^J. B. Rives on Tacitus, Germania, Oxford University Press, 1999, p.311, ISBN0-19-815050-4
^Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.25, ISBN83-906184-8-6
^Andrew H. Merrills, History and Geography in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p.325, ISBN0-521-84601-3
^Gerhard Köbler, Historisches Lexikon der Deutschen Länder: die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 7th edition, C.H.Beck, 2007, p.532, ISBN3-406-54986-1
^
Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.29, ISBN83-906184-8-6
^J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 68
^ abcdeLoew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 32.
^J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 69–70
^J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 67
^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.
^ abJames Minahan, One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 375, ISBN0-313-30984-1
^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.
^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.
^Andrzej Chwalba (2000). Wydawnictwo Literackie (ed.). Kalendarium Historii Polski (in Polish). Kraków. p. 45. ISBN83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Andrzej Chwalba (2000). Wydawnictwo Literackie (ed.). Kalendarium Historii Polski (in Polish). Kraków. pp. 45–56. ISBN83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Andrzej Chwalba (2000). Wydawnictwo Literackie (ed.). Kalendarium Historii Polski (in Polish). Kraków. p. 58. ISBN83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ abcdefLoew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 33.
^ abcLingenberg, 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.
^ abcdWichert, Sven: Das Zisterzienskloster Doberan im Mittelalter (Studien zur Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur der Zisterzienser, vol. 9), Berlin 2000, p. 208
^ abSchmidt, Roderich: Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse, Köln/Weimar 2007, pp. 141-142.
^ abSchmidt, Roderich: Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse, Köln/Weimar 2007, p. 143.
^Andrzej Chwalba (2000). Wydawnictwo Literackie (ed.). Kalendarium Historii Polski (in Polish). Kraków. pp. 70–71. ISBN83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Andrzej Chwalba (2000). Wydawnictwo Literackie (ed.). Kalendarium Historii Polski (in Polish). Kraków. p. 71. ISBN83-08-03136-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. XXXVII.
^Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 145–153, 167, 169–170, 182.
^Poloźenie mniejszości niemieckej w Polsce, 1918-1938 1969 Stanisław Kazimierz Potocki Wydawn. Morskie, page 30
^Ruch polski na Śląsku Opolskim w latach 1922-1939 - page 15 Marek Masnyk - 1989
^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
^Kazimierz Śmigiel (1992). Die statistischen Erhebungen über die deutschen Katholiken in den Bistümern Polens, 1928 und 1936. J.G. Herder-Institut. p. 117.