Free City of Danzig | |||||||||
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1920–1939 | |||||||||
Motto: "Nec Temere, Nec Timide" | |||||||||
Anthem: Für Danzig / Gdańsku | |||||||||
Status | Free City under League of Nations protection | ||||||||
Capital | Danzig | ||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||
Religion | |||||||||
Government | Republic | ||||||||
High Commissioner | |||||||||
• 1919–1920 | Reginald Tower | ||||||||
• 1937–1939 | Carl Jacob Burckhardt | ||||||||
Senate President | |||||||||
• 1920–1931 | Heinrich Sahm | ||||||||
• 1934–1939 | Arthur Greiser | ||||||||
Legislature | Volkstag | ||||||||
Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Independence from Germany | 15 November 1920 | ||||||||
1 September 1939 | |||||||||
• Annexed by Germany | 2 September 1939 | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
1923 | 1,966 km2 (759 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1923 | 366730 | ||||||||
Currency |
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Today part of | Poland |
The Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) was a self-governing port on the Baltic Sea port and a city-state. It was set up on January 10, 1920, by Part III Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, and put under League of Nations protection, with special rights reserved to Poland,[1] because it was the only port in the Polish Corridor.
The Free City ceased to exist after 1939 when it was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany. After Germany's defeat in 1945 Danzig was occupied and annexed by Poland under the Polish name Gdańsk.