Republic of Gdansk

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Republic of Gdansk
1807-1814
Flag of Gdańsk
Coat of arms of the Republic of Gdansk
flag coat of arms
Official language German
Capital Danzig
Form of government republic
Head of government de facto : French governor
founding 1807
resolution 1814
Republic of Danzig after the Treaty of Schönbrunn (1809)
Republic of Danzig after the Treaty of Schönbrunn (1809)

The Republic of Danzig was a city-state established by Napoleon and existed from 1807 to 1814 , which included the area of Danzig and its surroundings and the Hela peninsula as an exclave .

history

After the defeat of Friedrich Wilhelm III. against Napoleon I in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt , Prussia had to provide France with the Gdansk territory, which was only acquired with the Second Partition of Poland , in the Tilsit Peace Treaty of July 7th and 9th, 1807. This happened after the city was besieged by French troops from mid-March to May 27, 1807, the day of the surrender.

On July 21, 1807, the city and the adjacent area at the mouth of the Vistula were proclaimed the Republic of Danzig. According to Article 19 of the Tilsit Peace Treaty, Danzig was declared a free city within a radius of two German miles by Napoleon I under the protection of the kings of Prussia and Saxony. The Saxon King Friedrich August I was also Duke of the Duchy of Warsaw . In fact, the power lay with the French governor Jean Rapp . The main task of the city now was to endure French billeting and to raise excessive contributions.

After the failure of Napoleon's Russian campaign and the loss-making retreat of the Grande Armée , around 33,000 French and Polish soldiers fled to the fortress of Danzig. The Russian army pursuing them began at the end of January 1813 with a siege that lasted around ten months . The French occupation capitulated on November 29th, and the survivors withdrew on January 2nd, 1814. According to the agreements of the Congress of Vienna , the Free City of Danzig was reunited with the Prussian Province of West Prussia in the same year .

Limits

The boundary treaty of December 6, 1807 described the demarcation from Prussia. Thereafter, the area of ​​the Free City of Danzig enclosed roughly that of the later Prussian districts of Danziger Höhe and Danziger Niederung . In the northeast it still comprised the place Narmeln on the Fresh Spit , while in the west Sopot remained Prussian.

Since Danzig was required to maintain a lighthouse at the tip of the Hela peninsula and at Rukokowa at its own expense , this peninsula was also part of the Free City of Danzig.

Duke of Danzig

In addition to the Prussian and Saxon-Polish patron saints and the French governor and despite the republican character of the Free City, the French Empire had the title of Duke of Danzig (duc de Dantzig) , Marshal François-Joseph , which was not associated with any real power in Danzig Lefebvre had received. A duchy of Danzig did not exist (apart from 1215 to 1295).

literature

  • Werner Hahlweg : On the history of the first restoration of the Free City of Danzig 1808–1814 . In: Bulletin for the members of the Bund der Danziger Jhrg. 1 (1949) and the rest in Unser Danzig. for the members of the Bund der Danziger (name extension of the same sheet from 1950) year 2 (1950). (Scans) (PDF; 2.26 MB)
  • The grand treaty of December 6, 1807 . In: Unser Danzig (... see above ) year 2, number 12 (1950). (Scans) (PDF; 835 kB)