Czechoslovak-Polish border conflicts

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The Czechoslovak-Polish border conflicts have their origin in the official demarcation during the existence of the multi-ethnic state Austria-Hungary and the resulting new borders after the First World War . Due to the mixed population distribution in the northern areas of Czechoslovakia , Poland claimed some border areas for itself:

Conflict over the border in the Slovak part of the country

Northern Slovakia with border changes to Poland, the areas marked in red ultimately became part of Poland, areas marked in green were kept by Czechoslovakia.

A tiny part of the Spiš (located below the Rysy in Poland) came to the Austrian half of the empire as early as 1902 in the course of a territory swap, so this part automatically became part of the newly formed Polish state in 1918.

After the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Slovak citizens of Polish origin appealed to Stefan Żeromski , who at that time was President of the Republic of Zakopane , for "brotherly help" against the "Czech invasion". On November 6, 1918, Polish troops marched into the Spiš , but they had to leave the occupied territories after the lost battle at Kežmarok (December 7, 1918), the use of the Polish troops in the war against the Soviet army and because of strong pressure to clear the Entente again. In June 1919 the northern spis and the northern arwa were again occupied . They demanded the entire northern part of the area as far as Poprad , but troops were withdrawn again on orders from Warsaw in January 1920. Despite the promise of both states to let the population vote on their fate in referenda, it did not and it did asked for mediation by the international community. At the Paris Peace Conference , Poland then reduced its demands to the north-western Spiš (with the area around Javorina ) and the current border was largely determined at a conference of ambassadors in Spa (Belgium) on July 28, 1920. Edvard Beneš, in his role as Foreign Minister at the time, approved the transfer of 13 localities in the north-west of the Spiš (especially Nowa Biała , Jurgów and Niedzica with an area of ​​195 km² and 8,747 inhabitants, the so-called Polish Spiš ) and 12 localities in the north-eastern Arwa (around the place Jabłonka with an area of ​​389 km² and 16,133 inhabitants) to Poland, although most of the inhabitants were Slovaks. However, Poland demanded other areas, especially those around Javorina and Ždiar (both in the High Tatras ).

The conflict was finally settled by the Council of the League of Nations (International Court of Justice) on March 12, 1924, with an exchange of territory. The area around the place Lipnica Wielka (Slovak Nižná Lipnica, ) came to Poland and in return the area around the places Suchá Hora and Hladovka to Czechoslovakia. The new border was then also confirmed in a Czechoslovak-Polish treaty on April 24, 1925 and is identical to the current border. For Poland, however, the situation remained unsatisfactory.

In October 1938, in the course of the events surrounding the Munich Agreement and the Vienna Arbitration Award , Poland occupied some areas in northern Slovakia, as the areas around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, Javorina and the area around Lesnica (in Polish: Leśnica, lying in the Pieninen ), a small area around Skalité and other small border areas had been ceded (the areas officially became Polish territory only on November 1, 1938).

Slovakia , newly established on March 14, 1939, officially got all previously mentioned areas back on November 21, 1939 because of its participation in the attack on Poland (with Germany) at the beginning of World War II , but began to occupy the areas as early as October .

In January 1945 the territories were conquered by the Soviet Red Army and the residents organized the administration analogously to the rest of Czechoslovakia, preventing the Polish authorities from establishing their own administration. The now Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš decided through the Beneš decrees to return the areas to Poland (formally confirmed on May 20, 1945), although a referendum in the areas showed that 98 percent of the population was in the northern Spiš and Arwa Wanted to see Czechoslovakia. Massive protests by delegations to the President, petitions to Prague and Warsaw, and protests by American Slovaks and the clergy were unsuccessful, and the pre-war borders were restored.

Polish troops occupied the area on July 17, 1945 and expelled Slovak judges, clergymen and teachers. The Slovaks were persecuted and looted in the annexed areas, and there were even clashes with the military, in which some people were killed. Thus around 6,000 Slovaks (almost a quarter of the population) left the now Polish territories by 1947, most of the Spiš settled in Kežmarok , Poprad , the newly developed industrial town of Svit and in the now depopulated, formerly German-speaking villages near Kežmarok, the population of the Arwa went mainly to Moravian-Silesia and the depopulated formerly German-speaking places in the Sudetenland .

Finally, on March 10, 1947, after long negotiations, a treaty was concluded between the two countries that was supposed to secure the basic rights of the Slovaks in Poland. As a result, 41 Slovak primary schools and one secondary school opened in Poland, but most were closed again by Polish authorities in the 1960s.

List of assigned areas

Zips

Territorial claims in the Spiš around Tatranská Javorina

Area around Nowa Biała / Nová Belá

  • Nowa Biała (Slovak Nová Belá , German Neubela )
  • Frydman (Slovak Fridman , German Friedmann )
  • Krempachy (Slovak and German Krempach )
  • Trybsz (Slovak Tribš , German Tripsch )
  • Dursztyn (Slovak Durštín , German Dornstein )
  • Jurgów (Slovak Jurgov , German Joerg )
  • Rzepiska (Slovak Repiská , German Reps )
  • Czarna Góra (Slovak Čierná Hora , German Schwarzberg )
  • Łapsze Wyżne (Slovak Vyšné Lapše , German Oberlapsch )
  • Łapsze Niżne (Slovak Nížné Lapše , German Unterlapsch )
  • Niedzica (Slovak Nedeca , German Niest )
  • Kacwin (Slovak Kacvín , German Katzwinkel )
  • Łapszanka (Slovak Lapšanka , German Kleinlapsch )

Area around (Tatranská) Javorina

Lesnica area

Arwa

Territorial claims in the Arwa around Suchá Hora

Area around Jabłonka / Jablonka

Suchá Hora area

Area around Skalité

See also

swell

  • Felix Buttin. The Polish-Czechoslovak Conflict over Teschen Silesia (1918–1920): a case study. Perspectives: The Central European Review of International Affairs. No. 25/2006. Pp. 63-78. ISSN  1210-762X . PDF
  • Marie Gawrecká: Československé Slezsko mezi světovými válkami 1918-1938. Opava: Silesian University in Ostrava, 2004, ISBN 80-7248-233-5 .
  • Stanisław Zahradnik, Marek Ryczkowski: Korzenie Zaolzia. Warszawa - Praga - Trzyniec: PAI-press. OCLC 177389723