| Siege of Danzig | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of East Pomeranian offensive | |||||||
 Flight of Germans from East Prussia a few weeks before the siege | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Dietrich von Saucken | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 2nd Army (Wehrmacht) | 1st Kosciuszko Division | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Danzig was launched by the Red Army against Nazi Germany in March 1945.
On 14 January, the 2nd Belorussian Front started an attack against the 2nd Army from their garrison in Pułtusk, and in the next ten days, they advanced quickly up the Vistula River. Danzig was eventually reached in early March, and as it was an important strategic location and the last German stronghold in the region, the Soviets started coordinating attacks. [2]
General Karl-Wilhelm Specht organised the defences. He was replaced by Dietrich von Saucken due to not agreeing to Hitler's policies on the defense of the city. [3] The Soviets began massive bombardments of Danzig on 15 March. A paratrooper unit was deployed in the Oliwa Forests (Lasy Oliwskie) on 18 March, which provoked the Soviets to enter it and start bloody fighting in the forest. The fight continued until 25 March and resulted in a Soviet victory. It is regarded as the most intense and bloody battle of the siege. [2]
On 21 March, the way to Nenkau was opened. On 22 March, the Soviets entered the city from the north (through Zoppot). On 24 March, Praust was taken, though it was not an important strategic move, as the areas nearby were flooded and the main offensives were in the north and west. After the takeover of Glettkau on 25 March, Soviet tanks continued their advance towards Brösen, though it was stopped by the 62nd Grenadier Regiment, which had recently entrenched in the region. Intense fighting broke out in the downtown in the next few days, though the combat within the city was more limited. [4]
In the following days, Oliwa would become another centre for artillery as the Soviets advanced through the city. On 27 March the Soviets captured Hagelsberg, a mountain in the region, and Neufahrwasser, an important port. Now, the gasworks in the Gdańsk Shipyard were only 100 metres away from Soviet-occupied territory. Fighting began in the remnants of German-held territory, and Śródmieście was burning. The lack of water and low accessibility caused the fire to continue, which did not give an advantage to either side. [3] Mass bombardments and common[ clarification needed ] Soviet attacks resulted in Red Army divisions in[ clarification needed ] the centre of the city to the mouth of the Vistula and its surroundings. [4] The Germans finally surrendered on 30 March. [5] [2]
Danzig was left as ruins. [6] The bombardments, constant combat and continuous fires resulted in most of the city's landmarks being destroyed. On 30 March, the newly renamed Gdańsk was subject to the provisional government, which created the Gdańsk Voivodeship. [6] Mass deportation of Germans from the city started shortly after the battle in order to rise the government's popularity and manifest the new administration system. [7] By 1946, around 68% of the German population was gone. [3]
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Gdańsk is one of the oldest cities in Poland. Founded by the Polish ruler Mieszko I in the 10th century, the city was for a long time part of Piast state either directly or as a fief. In 1308 the city became part of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights until 1454. Thereafter it became part of Poland again, although with increasing autonomy. A vital naval city for Polish grain trade, it attracted people from all over the European continent. The city was taken over by Prussia during the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 and subsequently lost its importance as a trading port. Briefly becoming a free city during Napoleonic Wars, it was again Prussian after Napoleon's defeat, and later became part of the newly created German Empire.
Oliwa is a northern district of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, while from the west with Matarnia and Osowa. It is known for its medieval monastery with the Oliwa Cathedral, the 1627 Battle of Oliwa and the 1660 Treaty of Oliva.
The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle of the German invasion of Poland, marking the start of World War II in Europe. It occurred on the Westerplatte peninsula in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig. A small forested island separated from Gdansk by the harbour channel, Westerplatte was established as a Polish military outpost during the interwar period.
Zygmunt Szendzielarz was the commander of the Polish 5th Wilno Brigade of the Home Army and after the Second World War fought against the Red Army. The unit also committed the Dubingiai massacre, murdering hundreds of Lithuanian civilians on 23 June 1944.
The 1st Belorussian Front, known without a numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. Alongside the 1st Ukrainian Front, it was the largest and most powerful among all Soviet fronts, as their main effort was to capture Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany.
The Free City of Danzig, sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig, was a semi-independent city-state established by Napoleon on 21 July 1807, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars following the capture of the city in the siege of Danzig in May. After the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, Danzig was re-incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia.
The East Pomeranian strategic offensive operation was an offensive by the Soviet Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. It took place in Pomerania and West Prussia from 10 February – 4 April 1945.
The Archdiocese of Gdańsk is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Poland. The diocese's episcopal see is Gdańsk.
The Battle of Lubieszów, which occurred on 17 April 1577, was the most crucial battle in the two-year Danzig Rebellion fought between the forces loyal to the newly elected King Stefan Batory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Commonwealth's most prosperous city, Gdańsk, following the city's refusal to accept the election of Batory as monarch of the Commonwealth which had taken place on 15 December 1575. The battle took place to the west of the town of Tczew (Dirschau), southeast of Gdansk on the left bank of the Vistula River, near Lubieszów Lake and the modern village of Lubiszewo Tczewskie. While it was not a decisive victory insofar as Gdansk itself was not taken and the war raged on, the city, having lost much of its wealthy citizenry, did finally to come to terms with the king at the end of the year.
The rebellion of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) was a revolt from December 1575 to December 1577 of the city against the outcome of the 1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election. The Polish throne was contested by Stephen Báthory and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II.
The Vistula is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at 1,047 kilometres in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers 193,960 km2 (74,890 sq mi), of which 168,868 km2 (65,200 sq mi) is in Poland.
The Abbots' Palace in Oliwa is a rococo palace in Oliwa, a quarter of Gdańsk. It houses the Department of Modern Art of the National Museum in Gdańsk, and along with the Cistercian-Cathedral complex in Oliwa it is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Gdańsk, Poland.
