Ethnic Germans Living Within The Borders Of Modern Poland In 1900 – Brilliant Maps

The
map
above
shows
where
ethnic
Germans
lived
in
the
borders
of
modern
between
1890
and
1910.

In
many
areas
Germans
made
up
to
95%
of
the
population.
So
what
happened?

To
start
in
1900
there
was
not
Polish
state
and
the
Polish
people
were
split
between
Germany,
Austria-Hungary
and
Russia.

For
more
on
that
process
see:

However,
following
World
War
I
the

Second
Polish
Republic
was
created
with
the
blue
borders
in
blue
above.
And
as
you
can
see
it
more
or
less
corresponded
to
where
ethnic
Poles
lived
at
that
time.

The

Free
City
of
Danzig
is
an
interesting
anomaly.

Although
predominantly German-populated,
the
territory
was
bound
by
the
imposed
union
with
Poland
covering
foreign
policy,
defence, customs,
railways
and
post,
but
remained
distinct
from
both
the
post-war German
Republic and
the
newly
independent Polish
Republic.

However,
World
War
2
would
change
things
again:

Here’s
a
detailed
explanation
of
what
happened
to
Poland’s
territory
and
people
from
the
outbreak
of

World
War
II
(1939)
through
the
shifting
of
its
borders
after

World
War
II
(1945):

September
1939
–
The
Invasion
and
Partition
of
Poland

• 
  September
  1,
  1939:
  Nazi
  Germany
  invaded
  Poland
  from
  the
  west,
  initiating
  WWII.
• 
  September
  17,
  1939:
  The
  Soviet
  Union
  invaded
  from
  the
  east,
  in
  accordance
  with
  the
  secret
  clauses
  of
  the
  
  Molotov-Ribbentrop
  Pact,
  which
  divided
  Poland
  into
  two
  spheres
  of
  influence.
• Poland
  ceased
  to
  exist
  as
  an
  independent
  nation,
  partitioned
  between:
  • 
    Western
    and
    Central
    Poland:
    Annexed
    by
    Nazi
    Germany,
    incorporated
    into
    Germany
    directly,
    or
    administered
    under
    harsh
    occupation
    policies
    (General
    Government).
  • 
    Eastern
    Poland:
    Occupied
    and
    annexed
    by
    the
    Soviet
    Union,
    incorporated
    into
    the
    Ukrainian
    and
    Belarusian
    Soviet
    Socialist
    Republics.

Poland
Under
Occupation
(1939–1945)

• 
  Nazi-occupied
  territory:
  • Brutal
    policies
    aimed
    at
    cultural
    destruction,
    economic
    exploitation,
    and
    Germanization.
  • Mass
    extermination:
    
    Holocaust
    resulted
    in
    the
    murder
    of
    approximately
    3
    million
    Polish
    Jews
    and
    millions
    of
    non-Jewish
    Poles.
  • Polish
    elites
    (intellectuals,
    politicians,
    religious
    leaders)
    systematically
    targeted
    and
    killed
    or
    imprisoned.
• 
  Soviet-occupied
  territory
  (1939–1941,
  1944–1945):
  • Deportations:
    Over
    1
    million
    Poles
    forcibly
    deported
    to
    Siberia,
    Kazakhstan,
    and
    remote
    regions
    of
    the
    USSR.
  • Mass
    executions
    (most
    notably
    the
    
    
    Katyn
    Massacre
    (1940)):
    Approximately
    22,000
    Polish
    officers,
    intellectuals,
    and
    civil
    servants
    were
    executed
    by
    the
    NKVD.
  • Sovietization
    policies
    implemented,
    repressing
    Polish
    culture
    and
    religion.
• 
  1941–1944:
  After
  Operation
  Barbarossa
  (the
  German
  invasion
  of
  the
  Soviet
  Union
  in
  June
  1941),
  all
  of
  pre-war
  Poland
  was
  under
  Nazi
  occupation
  until
  Soviet
  forces
  gradually
  recaptured
  it
  (1944–1945).

End
of
WWII
and
Movement
of
Borders
(1945)

• As
  WWII
  ended,
  Poland’s
  borders
  shifted
  dramatically
  westward
  at
  the
  insistence
  of
  the
  
  Allied
  powers
  (USA,
  UK,
  USSR),
  primarily
  under
  Soviet
  direction.
• 
  Yalta
  (February
  1945)
  and
  
  Potsdam
  Conferences
  (July–August
  1945)
  set
  the
  new
  boundaries:
  • 
    Eastern
    Territories
    Lost:
    Poland
    permanently
    lost
    substantial
    territories
    east
    of
    the
    
    Curzon
    Line
    (regions
    including
    Vilnius,
    Lviv,
    Brest),
    which
    remained
    part
    of
    the
    USSR
    (now
    Ukraine,
    Belarus,
    Lithuania).
  • 
    Western
    Territories
    Gained:
    Poland
    was
    compensated
    with
    former
    German
    territories
    in
    the
    west,
    including
    
    Silesia,
    Pomerania,
    and
    East
    Prussia
    (cities
    such
    as
    Wrocław/Breslau,
    Szczecin/Stettin,
    and
    Gdańsk/Danzig).
• As
  a
  result,
  
  the
  entire
  country
  shifted
  westward
  by
  roughly
  150–200
  kilometres
  (90–125
  miles).

Population
Movements
and
Consequences

• 
  Forced
  Migrations:
  Massive
  population
  transfers
  occurred
  to
  align
  populations
  with
  the
  new
  borders:
  • Over
    
    2
    million
    Poles
    expelled
    from
    former
    eastern
    Poland
    (now
    USSR
    territory).
  • Around
    
    6
    million
    Germans
    forcibly
    expelled
    or
    fled
    from
    new
    Polish
    territories
    to
    Germany.
  • Approximately
    
    1.5
    million
    Poles
    from
    central
    Poland
    and
    other
    parts
    resettled
    in
    the
    newly
    acquired
    western
    territories.
• Poland’s
  ethnic
  makeup
  dramatically
  changed:
  • Pre-war
    Poland
    was
    diverse
    (Poles,
    Jews,
    Ukrainians,
    Belarusians,
    Germans,
    Lithuanians,
    and
    others).
  • After
    WWII,
    it
    became
    overwhelmingly
    ethnically
    Polish
    (over
    90%)
    due
    to
    genocide,
    expulsions,
    migrations,
    and
    territorial
    changes.

Political
Aftermath

• Poland
  emerged
  from
  WWII
  greatly
  diminished
  demographically
  (over
  6
  million
  deaths,
  including
  about
  half
  the
  pre-war
  Jewish
  population).
• Politically,
  Poland
  became
  a
  
  Soviet
  satellite
  state,
  governed
  by
  a
  communist
  government
  installed
  by
  the
  Soviet
  Union,
  which
  remained
  until
  1989.
• The
  German
  population
  which
  had
  lived
  in
  what
  is
  now
  Western
  Poland
  were
  expelled
  to
  make
  room
  for
  the
  Poles
  who
  were
  themselves
  expelled
  from
  the
  Soviet
  Union.

Go to Source
Author: Brilliant Maps