Editing Gdańsk (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Gdańsk}}
{{For timeline}}

===Ancient history===
The oldest evidence found for the existence of a settlement on the lands of what is now Gdańsk comes from the [[Bronze Age]] (which is estimated to be from 2500&ndash;1700 BC). The settlement that is now known as Gdańsk began in the 9th century, being mostly an [[agriculture]] and [[fishing]]-dependent village.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historia.trojmiasto.pl/historia-gdanska.html |title=Gdańsk na przestrzeni dziejów |website=Trójmiasto.pl Historia |publisher=Trójmiasto |access-date=15 December 2021 |quote= |archive-date=15 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215162949/https://historia.trojmiasto.pl/historia-gdanska.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://polskatampabay.com/2018/04/09/gdansk-jedno-z-najstarszych-polskich-miast/ |title=Gdańsk – jedno z najstarszych polskich miast |date=9 April 2018 |website=Polska Tampa Bay |publisher= |access-date=15 December 2021 |quote= |archive-date=15 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215180000/http://polskatampabay.com/2018/04/09/gdansk-jedno-z-najstarszych-polskich-miast/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> In the beginning of the 10th century, it began becoming an important centre for [[trade]] (especially between the [[Pomeranians (tribe)|Pomeranians]]) until its annexation in {{circa}} 975 by [[Mieszko I]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gedanopedia.pl/gdansk/?title=GDA%C5%83SK_%E2%80%93_POCZ%C4%84TKI_MIASTA |title=GDAŃSK – POCZĄTKI MIASTA |date=25 December 2019 |website=Gedanopedia |publisher=Gdańsk Foundation |access-date=15 December 2021 |quote= |archive-date=9 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609183651/https://www.gedanopedia.pl/gdansk/?title=GDA%C5%83SK_%E2%80%93_POCZ%C4%84TKI_MIASTA |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Early Poland===
[[File:Brama Zuraw W Gdansku (153003103).jpeg|thumb|The world's largest medieval port crane, situated over the river [[Motława]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.nmm.pl/crane/the-crane-past-and-present |title=The Crane: past and present – Crane – National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk |website=en.nmm.pl |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416081538/https://en.nmm.pl/crane/the-crane-past-and-present |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

The first written record thought to refer to Gdańsk is the ''vita'' of [[Adalbert (Archbishop of Magdeburg)|Saint Adalbert]]. Written in 999, it describes how in 997 Saint [[Adalbert of Prague]] baptised the inhabitants of ''urbs Gyddannyzc'', "which separated the great realm of the duke [i.e., [[Bolesław I Chrobry|Bolesław the Brave]] of Poland] from the sea."<ref name=Loew24>Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 24.</ref> No further written sources exist for the 10th and 11th centuries.<ref name=Loew24/> Based on the date in Adalbert's ''vita'', the city celebrated its millennial anniversary in 1997.<ref name=Waznyetal>Wazny, Tomasz; Paner, Henryk; Golebiewski, Andrzej; Koscinski, Bogdan: Early medieval Gdańsk/Danzig revisited (EuroDendro 2004), Rendsburg 2004, [http://www.bfafh.de/eurodendro2004/abstracts_inet.pdf pdf-abstract] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909224137/http://www.bfafh.de/eurodendro2004/abstracts_inet.pdf |date=9 September 2013 }}.</ref>

Archaeological evidence for the origins of the town was retrieved mostly after [[World War II]] had laid 90{{nbsp}}percent of the city centre in ruins, enabling excavations.<ref name=LoewWazny>Loew (2011), p. 24; Wazny et al. (2004), [http://www.bfafh.de/eurodendro2004/abstracts_inet.pdf abstract] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909224137/http://www.bfafh.de/eurodendro2004/abstracts_inet.pdf|date=9 September 2013 }}.</ref> The oldest seventeen settlement levels were dated to between 980 and 1308.<ref name=Waznyetal/> [[Mieszko I of Poland]] erected a stronghold on the site in the 980s, thereby connecting the [[History of Poland (966–1385)|Polish state]] ruled by the [[Piast dynasty]] with the trade routes of the [[Baltic Sea]].<ref name=Hess39>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=39}}</ref> Traces of buildings and housing from the 10th century have been found in archaeological excavations of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archeologia.pl/en/exhibitions/permanent/95-1000-lat-gdanska-w-swietle-wykopalisk |title=1000 LAT GDAŃSKA W ŚWIETLE WYKOPALISK |last=((admin2)) |access-date=18 March 2017 |archive-date=20 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220013801/http://archeologia.pl/en/exhibitions/permanent/95-1000-lat-gdanska-w-swietle-wykopalisk |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Pomeranian Poland===
[[File: Hala Targowa w Gdańsku podziemia.jpg|thumb|Excavated remains of 12th-century buildings in Gdańsk]]

The site was ruled as a [[Duke|duchy]] of Poland by the [[Samborides]]. It consisted of a settlement at the modern Long Market, settlements of craftsmen along the Old Ditch, German merchant settlements around [[Basilica of St. Nicholas, Gdańsk|St Nicholas' Church]] and the old Piast stronghold.<ref name=Hess40>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=40}}</ref> In 1215, the ducal stronghold became the centre of a [[Pomeranian duchies and dukes#Duchy of Pomerelia|Pomerelian splinter duchy]]. At that time the area of the later city included various villages.

In 1224/25, merchants from [[Lübeck]] were invited as ''hospites'' (immigrants with specific privileges) but were soon (in 1238) forced to leave by [[Świętopełk II, Duke of Pomerania|Świętopełk II]] of the Samborides during a war between Świętopełk and the [[Teutonic Order]], during which Lübeck supported the latter. Migration of merchants to the town resumed in 1257.<ref name="zbierski">{{cite book |title=Struktura zawodowa, spoleczna i etnicza ludnosci. In Historia Gdanska, Vol. 1 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Morskie |author=Zbierski, Andrzej |year=1978 |pages=228–9 |isbn=978-83-86557-00-4}}</ref> Significant German influence did not reappear until the 14th century, after the takeover of the city by the Teutonic Order.<ref name="turnock">{{cite book |title=The Making of Eastern Europe: From the Earliest Times to 1815 |publisher=Routledge |author=Turnock, David |year=1988 |page=180 |isbn=978-0-415-01267-6}}</ref>

At latest in 1263 [[Pomerelia]]n duke, Świętopełk II granted city rights under [[Lübeck law]] to the emerging market settlement.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |title=Stadtanlage und Befestigung von Danzig (zur Zeit des Deutschen Ordens) |publisher=GRIN Verlag |author=Harlander, Christa |year=2004 |page=2 |isbn=978-3-638-75010-3}}</ref> It was an [[German town law|autonomy charter]] similar to that of Lübeck, which was also the primary origin of many settlers.<ref name=Hess40/> In a document of 1271 the [[Pomerelia]]n duke [[Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania|Mestwin II]] addressed the Lübeck merchants settled in the city as his loyal citizens from Germany.<ref name="lingenberg">{{cite book |title=Die Anfänge des Klosters Oliva und die Entstehung der deutschen Stadt Danzig: die frühe Geschichte der beiden Gemeinwesen bis 1308/10 |publisher=Klett-Cotta |author=Lingenberg, Heinz |year=1982 |page=292 |isbn=978-3-129-14900-3}}</ref><ref>'The Slippery Memory of Men': The Place of Pomerania in the Medieval Kingdom of Poland by Paul Milliman p. 73, 2013</ref>

In 1300, the town had an estimated population of 2,000. While overall the town was far from an important trade centre at that time, it had some relevance in the trade with [[Eastern Europe]]. Low on funds, the Samborides lent the settlement to Brandenburg, although they planned to take the city back and give it to Poland. Poland threatened to intervene, and the Brandenburgians left the town. Subsequently, the city was taken by Danish princes in 1301.<ref>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |pages=40–41}}</ref>

===Teutonic Order===
[[File:Gdanskmemorial.jpg|thumb|upright|Monument to defenders of Polish Gdańsk also commemorates the victims of the 1308 massacre carried out by the Teutonic Order.]]
{{main|Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk)}}
In 1308, the town was taken by [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] and the Teutonic Knights restored order. Subsequently, the Order took over control of the town. Primary sources record a [[Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk)|massacre]] carried out by the Teutonic Order against the local population,<ref name=Hess41>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=41}}</ref> of 10,000 people, but the exact number killed is subject of dispute in modern scholarship.<ref name=Boockmann158>[[Hartmut Boockmann]], ''Ostpreußen und Westpreußen'', Siedler, 2002, p. 158, {{ISBN|3-88680-212-4}}</ref> Multiple authors accept the number given in the original sources,<ref name="p.376">James Minahan, One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, {{ISBN|0-313-30984-1}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC&dq=1308+Gdansk+massacre&pg=PA376 p. 376 Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102110148/https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC&pg=PA376&dq=1308+Gdansk+massacre&as_brr=3&ei=cilQSPHSMom2iwGE8JU0&sig=OR_a7-g10jIZsYOJGkmBe5ZwfSY |date=2 November 2020 }}</ref> while others consider 10,000 to have been a medieval exaggeration, although scholarly consensus is that a massacre of some magnitude did take place.<ref name=Boockmann158/> The events were used by the Polish crown to condemn the Teutonic Order in a subsequent papal lawsuit.<ref name=Boockmann158/><ref name="Thomas Urban">[[Thomas Urban]]: "[http://www.thomas-urban.pl/gdansk.php Rezydencja książąt Pomorskich]". {{in lang|pl}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050825225724/http://www.thomas-urban.pl/gdansk.php |date=25 August 2005 }}</ref>

The knights colonized the area, replacing local [[Kashubians]] and Poles with German settlers.<ref name="p.376"/> In 1308, they founded ''Osiek Hakelwerk'' near the town, initially as a [[Lechites|Lechitic]] fishing settlement.<ref name=Hess41/> In 1340, the Teutonic Order constructed a large fortress, which became the seat of the knights' [[Komtur]].<ref name=Hess4142>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |pages=41–42}}</ref> In 1346 they changed the Town Law of the city, which then consisted only of the ''[[Rechtstadt]]'', to [[Kulm law]].<ref name=frankot>{{cite book |title='Of Laws of Ships and Shipmen': Medieval Maritime Law and its Practice in Urban Northern Europe |first=Edda |last=Frankot |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7486-4624-1 |page=100}}</ref> In 1358, Danzig joined the [[Hanseatic League]], and became an active member in 1361.<ref name=Hess42>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=42}}</ref> It maintained relations with the trade centres [[Bruges]], [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]], [[Lisbon|Lisboa]], and [[Seville|Sevilla]].<ref name=Hess42/> Around 1377, the [[Old Town (Gdańsk)|Old Town]] was equipped with city rights as well.<ref name=Loew>{{cite book |title=Danzig: Biographie einer Stadt |first=Peter O. |last=Loew |publisher=C.H. Beck |location=München |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-406-60587-1 |page=43}}</ref> In 1380, the ''New Town'' was founded as the third, independent settlement.<ref name=Hess41/>

After a series of [[Polish–Teutonic Wars|Polish-Teutonic Wars]], in the [[Treaty of Kalisz (1343)]] the Order had to acknowledge that it would hold Pomerelia as a [[fief]] from the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Polish Crown]]. Although it left the legal basis of the Order's possession of the province in some doubt, the city thrived as a result of increased exports of grain (especially wheat), timber, [[potash]], tar, and other goods of forestry from Prussia and Poland via the [[Vistula]] River [[trade route|trading routes]], although after its capture, the Teutonic Order tried to actively reduce the economic significance of the town. While under the control of the Teutonic Order German migration increased. The Order's religious networks helped to develop Danzig's literary culture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sobecki |first1=Sebastian |title=Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418, ed. David Wallace |date=2016 |pages=635–41 |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/europe-9780198735359?cc=nl&lang=en& |isbn=9780198735359 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=2 June 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220183041/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/europe-9780198735359?cc=nl&lang=en& |url-status=live }}</ref> A new war broke out in 1409, culminating in the [[Battle of Grunwald]] (1410), and the city came under the control of the [[Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty|Kingdom of Poland]]. A year later, with the [[Peace of Thorn (1411)|First Peace of Thorn]], it returned to the Teutonic Order.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgdansk.pl/ii-pokoj-torunski-i-przylaczenie-gdanska-do-rzeczpospolitej,10.html |title=II Pokój Toruński i przyłączenie Gdańska do Rzeczpospolitej |work=mgdansk.pl |access-date=16 September 2014 |archive-date=19 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019234200/http://www.mgdansk.pl/ii-pokoj-torunski-i-przylaczenie-gdanska-do-rzeczpospolitej,10.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Kingdom of Poland===
[[File:Allegory of Gdańsk trade.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Apotheosis]] of Gdańsk'' by Izaak van den Blocke. The [[Vistula]]-borne trade of goods in Poland was the main source of prosperity during the city's Golden Age.]]

In 1440, the city participated in the foundation of the [[Prussian Confederation]] which was an organisation opposed to the rule of the Teutonic Order. The organisation in its complaint of 1453 mentioned repeated cases in which the Teutonic Order imprisoned or murdered local patricians and mayors without a court verdict.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Górski|first=Karol|title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych|year=1949|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|location=Poznań|language=pl|pages=16, 18}}</ref> On the request of the organisation King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV of Poland]] reincorporated the territory to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.<ref>Górski, pp. 51, 56</ref> This led to the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]] between Poland and the [[State of the Teutonic Order]] (1454–1466). Since 1454, the city was authorized by the King to mint Polish coins.<ref>Górski, p. 63</ref> The local mayor pledged allegiance to the King during the incorporation in March 1454 in [[Kraków]],<ref>Górski, pp. 71–72</ref> and the city again solemnly pledged allegiance to the King in June 1454 in [[Elbląg]], recognizing the prior Teutonic annexation and rule as unlawful.<ref>Górski, pp. 79–80</ref> On 25 May 1457 the city gained its rights as an autonomous city.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Gdańsk.html |title=Danzig – Gdańsk until 1920}}{{Dead link|date=April 2021|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On 15 May 1457, [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV of Poland]] granted the town the Great Privilege, after he had been invited by the town's council and had already stayed in town for five weeks.<ref name=Hess45>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=45}}</ref> With the Great Privilege, the town was granted full autonomy and protection by the King of Poland.<ref name=Hess45A>{{cite book |title=Danziger Wohnkultur in der frühen Neuzeit |first=Corina |last=Hess |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-8258-8711-7 |page=45}}: "Geben wir und verlehen unnsir Stadt Danczk das sie zcu ewigen geczeiten nymands for eynem herrn halden noc gehorsam zcu weszen seyn sullen in weltlichen sachen."</ref> The privilege removed tariffs and taxes on trade within Poland, Lithuania, and Ruthenia (present day [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]), and conferred on the town independent jurisdiction, legislation and administration of her territory, as well as the right to mint her own coin.<ref name=Hess45/> Furthermore, the privilege united Old Town, Osiek, and Main Town, and legalised the demolition of New Town, which had sided with the Teutonic Order.<ref name=Hess45/> By 1457, New Town was demolished completely, no buildings remained.<ref name=Hess41/>

Gaining free and privileged access to Polish markets, the seaport prospered while simultaneously trading with the other Hanseatic cities. After the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)]] between Poland and the Teutonic Order the warfare ended permanently; Gdańsk became part of the Polish province of [[Royal Prussia]], and later also of the [[Greater Poland Province, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Greater Poland Province]]. The city was visited by [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] in 1504 and 1526, and ''[[Narratio Prima]]'', the first printed abstract of his [[heliocentric theory]], was published there in 1540.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://szlakkopernikowski.pl/pl/gdansk|title=Gdańsk|website=Szlak Kopernikowski|access-date=11 January 2024|language=pl}}</ref> After the [[Union of Lublin]] between Poland and Lithuania in 1569 the city continued to enjoy a large degree of internal autonomy (cf. [[Danzig law]]). Being the largest and one of the most influential cities of Poland, it enjoyed voting rights during the [[Royal elections in Poland|royal election]] period in Poland.

In the 1560s and 1570s, a large [[Mennonite]] community started growing in the city, gaining significant popularity.<ref>{{cite book |last=de Graaf |first=Tjeerd |author-link= |date=2004 |title= The Status of an Ethnic Minority in Eurasia: The Mennonites and Their Relation with the Netherlands, Germany and Russia |url= |location= |publisher= |page= |isbn=}}</ref> In the 1575 election to the Polish throne, Danzig supported [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]] in his struggle against [[Stephen Báthory of Poland|Stephen Báthory]]. It was the latter who eventually became monarch but the city, encouraged by the secret support of [[Denmark]] and [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian]], shut its gates against Stephen. After the [[Siege of Danzig (1577)|Siege of Danzig]], lasting six months, the city's army of 5,000 mercenaries was utterly defeated in a field battle on 16 December 1577. However, since Stephen's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached: [[Stephen Báthory of Poland|Stephen Báthory]] confirmed the city's special status and her [[Danzig law]] privileges granted by earlier [[List of Polish monarchs|Polish kings]]. The city recognised him as ruler of Poland and paid the enormous sum of 200,000 [[Guilder|guldens]] in gold as payoff ("apology").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historykon.pl/bitwa-pod-lubieszowem-w-swietle-wybranych-zrodel-pisanych/ |title=Bitwa pod Lubieszowem w świetle wybranych źródeł pisanych |last=Włusek |first=Andrzej |date=23 May 2017 |website=HistoryKon |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

During the [[Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)|Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629]], in 1627, the naval [[Battle of Oliwa]] was fought near the city, and it is one of the greatest victories in the history of the [[Polish Navy]]. During the Swedish invasion of Poland of 1655–1660, commonly known as the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]], the city was unsuccessfully [[Siege of Danzig (1655–1660)|besieged by Sweden]]. In 1660, the war was ended with the [[Treaty of Oliwa]], signed in the present-day district of [[Oliwa]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Wojny na Bałtyku X - XIX wiek |last=Kosiarz |first=Edmund |publisher=Wydawnictwo Morskie |location=Gdańsk |year=1978|page=}}</ref> In 1677, a Polish-Swedish alliance was signed in the city.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jonasson|first=Gustav|year=1980|title=Polska i Szwecja za czasów Jana III Sobieskiego|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|publisher=[[Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich]], Wydawnictwo [[Polish Academy of Sciences|Polskiej Akademii Nauk]]|location=Wrocław|language=pl|volume=XXXV|issue=2|page=240|issn=0037-7511}}</ref> Around 1640, [[Johannes Hevelius]] established his [[:pl:Obserwatorium Astronomiczne Jana Heweliusza w Gdańsku|astronomical observatory]] in the [[Old Town (Gdańsk)|Old Town]]. Polish King [[John III Sobieski]] regularly visited Hevelius numerous times.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/jan-heweliusz |title=Jan Heweliusz - życie i twórczość |last= |first= |date= |website=Culture.pl |publisher=[[Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Poland)|Ministry of Culture and National Heritage]] |access-date=10 December 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

Beside a majority of German-speakers,<ref name=Zamoyski>{{cite book |last=Zamoyski |first=Adam |year=2015 |title=Poland. A History |publisher=William Collins |isbn=978-0007556212 |pages=26, 92}}</ref> whose elites sometimes distinguished their German dialect as [[Pomerelia]]n,<ref>Bömelburg, Hans-Jürgen, ''Zwischen polnischer Ständegesellschaft und preußischem Obrigkeitsstaat: vom Königlichen Preußen zu Westpreußen (1756–1806)'', München: Oldenbourg, 1995, (Schriften des Bundesinstituts für Ostdeutsche Kultur und Geschichte (Oldenburg); 5), zugl.: Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-Univ., Diss., 1993, p. 549</ref> the city was home to a large number of Polish-speaking Poles, Jewish Poles, [[Latvian language|Latvian-speaking]] [[Kursenieki]], [[Flemish people in Poland|Flemings]], and [[Dutch people|Dutch]]. In addition, a number of [[Scots in Poland|Scots]] took refuge or migrated to and received citizenship in the city, with first Scots arriving in 1380,<ref>{{cite book|last=Wijaczka|first=Jacek|editor-last1=Kopczyński|editor-first1=Michał|editor-last2=Tygielski|editor-first2=Wojciech|year=2010|title=Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona|chapter=Szkoci|page=201|isbn=978-83-11-11724-2}}</ref> and a [[French people in Poland|French]] [[Huguenot]] commune was founded in 1686.<ref>{{cite book|last=Muret|first=Eduard|title=Geschichte der Französischen Kolonie in Brandenburg-Preußen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Berliner Gemeinde. Aus Veranlassung der Zweihundertjährigen Jubelfeier am 29. Oktober 1885|year=1885|location=Berlin |publisher=H. Scherer |page=211}}</ref> During the [[Protestant Reformation]], most German-speaking inhabitants adopted [[Lutheranism]]. Due to the special status of the city and significance within the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], the city inhabitants largely became bi-cultural sharing both Polish and German culture and were strongly attached to the traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name=Chwalba>Historia Polski 1795–1815 [[Andrzej Chwalba]] Kraków 2000, p. 441</ref>

[[File:Brama św. Jakuba w Gdańsku.jpg|thumb|Old Town in the 1770s with the Saint James church on the left and Saint Bartholomew church on the right]]

The city suffered a [[The plague during the Great Northern War|last great plague]] and a slow economic decline due to the wars of the 18th century. After peace was restored in 1721, Danzig experienced steady economic recovery. As a stronghold of [[Stanisław Leszczyński]]'s supporters during the [[War of the Polish Succession]], it was taken by the [[Russian Empire|Russians]] after the [[Siege of Danzig (1734)|Siege of Danzig]] in 1734.  In the 1740s and 1750s Danzig was restored and Danzig port was again the most significant grain exporting ports in the [[Baltic region]].<ref>{{Cite book|title= The Rise of Prussia 1700-1830 | author1=Philip G. Dwyer  |publisher=  Taylor & Francis |year=2014 |isbn=9781317887034 | pages=134}}</ref> The [[Danzig Research Society]], which became defunct in 1936, was founded in 1743.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gornig/danzig/geschichte.htm |title=Geschichte der Danziger Naturforschenden Gesellschaft |last=Letkemann |first=Peter |date=2000 |website=uni-marburg.de |publisher=[[University of Marburg]] |access-date=10 December 2022 |quote= |archive-date=31 January 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050131091324/http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gornig/danzig/geschichte.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Karte_von_Danzig_(1792).tif|thumb|Map of Gdańsk (1792)]]

In 1772, the [[First Partition of Poland]] took place and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] annexed almost all of the former Royal Prussia, which became the [[Province of West Prussia]]. However, Gdańsk remained a part of Poland as an [[exclave]] separated from the rest of the country. The [[List of monarchs of Prussia|Prussian king]] cut off Danzig with a military controlled barrier, also blocking shipping links to foreign ports, on the pretense that a [[cattle plague]] may otherwise break out. Danzig declined in its economic significance. However, by the end of the 18th century, Gdańsk was still one of the most economically integrated cities in Poland. It was well-connected and traded actively with [[German cities]], while other [[Polish cities]] became less well-integrated towards the end of the century, mostly due to greater risks for long-distance [[trade]], given the number of [[Violence|violent]] conflicts along the trade routes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baten |first1=Jörg |last2=Wallusch |first2=Jacek |date=2005 |title=Market Integration and Disintegration of Poland and Germany in the 18th Century |journal=Economies et Sociétés}}</ref>

===Prussia and Germany===
Danzig was annexed by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in 1793,<ref name="lonelyplanet.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/pomerania/gdansk/history |title=History of Gdańsk – Lonely Planet Travel Information |first=Lonely |last=Planet |work=lonelyplanet.com |access-date=29 July 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821171335/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/pomerania/gdansk/history |url-status=live }}</ref> in the [[Second Partition of Poland]]. Both the Polish and the German-speaking population largely opposed the Prussian annexation and wanted the city to remain part of Poland.<ref>Górski, p. XVI</ref> The mayor of the city stepped down from his office due to the annexation.<ref>Andrzej Januszajtis, ''Karol Fryderyk von Conradi'', "Nasz Gdańsk", 11 (196)/2017, p. 3 (in Polish)</ref> The notable city councilor Jan (Johann) Uphagen, historian and art collector, also resigned as a sign of protest against the annexation. His house exemplifies [[Baroque in Poland]] and is now a museum, known as [[Uphagen's House]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gait.pl/patron-cpt/jan-uphagen/ |title=Jan Uphagen |website=Gdańskie Autobusy i Tramwaje |access-date=1 April 2020 |language=pl |archive-date=19 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219130048/https://www.gait.pl/patron-cpt/jan-uphagen/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> An attempted student uprising against Prussia led by Gottfried Benjamin Bartholdi was crushed quickly by the authorities in 1797.<ref>''Dzieje Gdańska'' Edmund Cieślak, Czesław Biernat Wydawn. Morskie, 1969 p. 370</ref><ref>''Dzieje Polski w datach Jerzy Borowiec'', Halina Niemiec p. 161</ref><ref>''Polska, losy państwa i narodu'' Henryk Samsonowicz 1992 Iskry p. 282</ref>

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], in 1807, the city was [[Siege of Danzig (1807)|besieged and captured]] by a coalition of [[First French Empire|French]], [[Polish Legions (Napoleonic period)|Polish]], [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Italian]], [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxon]], and [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Baden]] forces. Afterwards, it was a [[Free City of Danzig (Napoleonic)|free city]] from 1807 to 1814, when it was [[Siege of Danzig (1813)|captured]] by combined Prussian-Russian forces.

[[File:Danzig Partie am Krahnthor (1890-1900).jpg|thumb|Colorized photo, {{circa}} 1900, showing prewar roof of the ''Krantor'' crane (''Brama Żuraw'').]]
In 1815, after France's defeat in the [[Napoleonic Wars]], it again became part of Prussia and became the capital of {{lang|de|[[Danzig (region)|Regierungsbezirk Danzig]]}} within the province of [[West Prussia]]. Since the 1820s, the [[Wisłoujście Fortress]] served as a prison, mainly for Polish political prisoners, including [[Resistance movements in partitioned Poland (1795–1918)|resistance members]], protesters, insurgents of the [[November Uprising|November]] and [[January Uprising|January]] uprisings and refugees from the [[Russian Partition]] of Poland fleeing conscription into the Russian Army,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kubus| first=Radosław| year=2019|title=Ucieczki z twierdzy Wisłoujście w I połowie XIX wieku|journal=Vade Nobiscum|location=Łódź| publisher=Wydawnictwo [[University of Łódź|Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego]]|language=pl| volume=XX|pages=154–155}}</ref> and insurgents of the November Uprising were also imprisoned in [[Biskupia Górka]] (''Bischofsberg'').<ref>{{cite book|last=Kasparek|first=Norbert|editor-last=Katafiasz|editor-first=Tomasz| year=2014|title=Na tułaczym szlaku... Powstańcy Listopadowi na Pomorzu| language=pl| location=Koszalin|publisher=Muzeum w Koszalinie, Archiwum Państwowe w Koszalinie|page=177| chapter=Żołnierze polscy w Prusach po upadku powstania listopadowego. Powroty do kraju i wyjazdy na emigrację}}</ref> In May–June 1832 and November 1833, more than 1,000 Polish insurgents departed partitioned Poland through the city's port, boarding ships bound for [[France]], the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]] (see ''[[Great Emigration]]'').<ref>Kasparek, pp. 175–176, 178–179</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|author=|date=6 July 1832| title=Rozmaite wiadomości| magazine=Gazeta Wielkiego Xięstwa Poznańskiego|location=Poznań| language=pl|issue=155|page=852}}</ref>

The city's longest serving mayor was Robert von Blumenthal, who held office from 1841, through the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|revolutions of 1848]], until 1863. With the [[unification of Germany]] in 1871 under Prussian [[hegemony]], the city became part of the [[German Empire]] and remained so until 1919, after Germany's defeat in [[World War I]].<ref name="lonelyplanet.com"/> Starting from the 1850s, long-established Danzig families often felt marginalized by the new town elite originating from mainland Germany. This situation caused the Polish to allege that the Danzig people were oppressed by German rule and for this reason allegedly failed to articulate their natural desire for strong ties with Poland.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Germanoslavica Zeitschrift für germano-slawische Studien|publisher=Verlag Georg Olms|volume =28|issue=1–2|year=207|place=Hildesheim|first=Peter Oliver|last=Loew|title=Danzig oder das verlorene Paradies. Vom Herausgeben und vom Hineinerzählen|pages=109–122}}</ref>

===Free City of Danzig and World War II===
{{main|Free City of Danzig}}
[[File:Danzig NARA-68155011.jpg|thumb|An aerial view of the historic city centre around 1920]]
When Poland regained its independence after [[World War I]] with access to the sea as promised by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] on the basis of [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s "[[Fourteen Points]]" (point 13 called for "an independent Polish state", "which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea"), the Poles hoped the city's harbour would also become part of Poland.<ref name="Amtliche">{{cite book |date=1920 |title=Amtliche Urkunden zur Konvention zwischen Danzig und Polen vom 15. November 1920 : zusammegestellt und mit Begleitbericht versehen von der nach Paris entsandten Delegation der Freien Stadt Danzig |url=https://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/publication/221530/edition/235125/content |publication-place=Danzig |publisher=Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Toruniu |page= |isbn=}}</ref> However, in the end – since Germans formed a majority in the city, with Poles being a minority (in the 1923 census 7,896 people out of 335,921 gave Polish, Kashubian, or [[Masurian dialects|Masurian]] as their native language)<ref>{{cite book |title=Ergebnisse der Volks- und Berufszählung vom 1. November 1923 in der Freien Stadt Danzig |publisher=Verlag des Statistischen Landesamtes der Freien Stadt Danzig |year=1926 |language=de}}. Polish estimates of the Polish minority during the interwar era, however, range from 37,000 to 100,000 (9%–34%). Studia historica Slavo-Germanica, Tomy 18–20page 220 Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu. Instytut Historii Wydawnictwo Naukowe imienia. Adama Mickiewicza, 1994.</ref> – the city was not placed under Polish sovereignty. Instead, in accordance with the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles Treaty]], it became the [[Free City of Danzig]], an independent quasi-state under the auspices of the [[League of Nations]] with its external affairs largely under Polish control.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2009|title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|page=37}}</ref> Poland's rights also included free use of the harbour, a Polish post office, a Polish garrison in Westerplatte district, and customs union with Poland.<ref name="auto"/> The Free City had its own constitution, [[national anthem]], [[Volkstag|parliament]], and government ({{lang|de|Senat}}). It issued its own stamps as well as its currency, the [[Danzig gulden]].<ref name="Amtliche" />

With the growth of [[Nazism]] among Germans, [[anti-Polish sentiment]] increased and both [[Germanisation]] and [[Racial segregation|segregation]] policies intensified, in the 1930s the rights of local Poles were commonly violated and limited by the local administration.<ref name="auto"/> Polish children were refused admission to public Polish-language schools, premises were not allowed to be rented to Polish schools and preschools.<ref name=mw40>Wardzyńska, p. 40</ref> Due to such policies, only eight Polish-language public schools existed in the city, and Poles managed to organize seven more private Polish schools.<ref name=mw40/>

In the early 1930s, the local [[Nazi Party]] capitalised on pro-German sentiments and in 1933 garnered 50% of vote in the parliament. Thereafter, the Nazis under [[Gauleiter]] [[Albert Forster]] achieved dominance in the city government, which was still nominally overseen by the League of Nations' [[High Commissioner]].

In 1937, Poles who sent their children to private Polish schools were required to transfer children to German schools, under threat of police intervention, and attacks were carried out on Polish schools and Polish youth.<ref name=mw40/> German militias carried out numerous beatings of Polish activists, scouts and even postal workers, as "punishment" for distributing the Polish press.<ref name=mw41>Wardzyńska, p. 41</ref> German students attacked and expelled Polish students from the technical university.<ref name=mw41/> Dozens of Polish surnames were forcibly Germanized,<ref name=mw41/> while Polish symbols and monuments that reminded that for centuries Gdańsk was part of Poland were removed from the city's landmarks, such as the [[Artus Court]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Jakrzewska-Śnieżko|first=Zofia|title=Dwór Artusa w Gdańsku|year=1972|publisher=[[Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe]]|language=pl|page=19}}</ref> and the [[Neptune's Fountain, Gdańsk|Neptune's Fountain]].<ref name=mw42>Wardzyńska, p. 42</ref>

From 1937, the employment of Poles by German companies was prohibited, and already employed Poles were fired, the use of Polish in public places was banned and Poles were not allowed to enter several restaurants, in particular those owned by Germans.<ref name=mw42/> In 1939, before the German [[invasion of Poland]] and outbreak of [[World War II]], local Polish railwaymen were victims of beatings, and after the invasion, they were also imprisoned and murdered in [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].<ref>Wardzyńska, pp. 39-40, 85</ref>

[[NSDAP|The German government]] officially demanded the return of Danzig to Germany along with an extraterritorial (meaning under German [[jurisdiction]]) highway through the area of the [[Polish Corridor]] for land-based access from the rest of Germany. Hitler used the issue of the status of the city as a pretext for attacking Poland and in May 1939, during a high-level meeting of German military officials explained to them: "It is not Danzig that is at stake. For us it is a matter of expanding our [[Lebensraum]] in the east", adding that there will be no repeat of the Czech situation, and Germany will attack Poland at first opportunity, after isolating the country from its Western Allies.<ref>''The history of the German resistance, 1933–1945'' Peter Hoffmann p. 37 McGill-Queen's University Press 1996</ref><ref>''Hitler'' Joachim C. Fest p. 586 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002</ref><ref>''Blitzkrieg w Polsce wrzesien 1939'' Richard Hargreaves p. 84 Bellona, 2009</ref><ref>''A military history of Germany, from the eighteenth century to the present day''Martin Kitchen p. 305 Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975</ref><ref>International history of the twentieth century and beyond Antony Best p. 181 Routledge; 2 edition (30 July 2008)</ref>

After the German proposals to solve the three main issues peacefully were refused, German-Polish relations rapidly deteriorated. Germany [[Invasion of Poland|attacked Poland]] on 1 September after having signed [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|a non-aggression pact]] with the Soviet Union.<ref name="Reduta">{{cite book |last=Drzycimski |first=Andrzej |author-link= |date=2014 |title=Reduta Westerplatte |url= |location= |publisher=Oficyna Gdańska |page= |isbn=978-8364180187}}</ref>

[[File:The Nazi-soviet Invasion of Poland, 1939 HU106374.jpg|thumb|The German battleship {{SMS|Schleswig-Holstein}} firing at the Polish Military Transit Depot during the [[Battle of Westerplatte]] in September 1939]]
The German attack began in Danzig, with a bombardment of Polish positions at [[Westerplatte]] by the German battleship {{SMS|Schleswig-Holstein||2}}, and the landing of German infantry on the peninsula. Outnumbered Polish defenders at Westerplatte [[Battle of Westerplatte|resisted]] for seven days before running out of ammunition. Meanwhile, after a fierce day-long [[Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig|fight]] (1 September 1939), defenders of the Polish Post office were tried and executed then buried on the spot in the Danzig quarter of [[Zaspa]] in October 1939. In 1998 a German court overturned their conviction and sentence.<ref name="Reduta" /> The city was officially annexed by [[Nazi Germany]] and incorporated into the [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]].

About 50 percent of members of the [[History of the Jews in Gdańsk|Jewish community]] had left the city within a year after a [[pogrom]] in October 1937.<ref name=JVL>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07105.html |title=Gdansk |access-date=18 March 2017 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113051709/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07105.html |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[Kristallnacht]] riots in November 1938, the community decided to organize its emigration<ref name=Bauer>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOd3rLul-LcC&q=jewish+danzig&pg=PA145 |title=American Jewry and the Holocaust |first1=Yehuda |last1=Bauer |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-8143-1672-6 |page=145 |access-date=11 February 2016 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032226/https://books.google.com/books?id=WOd3rLul-LcC&q=jewish+danzig&pg=PA145 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in March 1939 a first transport to [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] started.<ref name=shoa>{{cite web |url=http://www.shoa.de/holocaust/deportations-und-vernichtungspraxis/763.html |website=www.shoa.de |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629204011/http://www.shoa.de/holocaust/deportations-und-vernichtungspraxis/763.html |archive-date=29 June 2011 |title=Die "Lösung der Judenfrage" in der Freien Stadt Danzig |date=30 November 2018}}</ref> By September 1939 barely 1,700 mostly elderly Jews remained. In early 1941, just 600 Jews were still living in Danzig, most of whom were later murdered in the [[Holocaust]].<ref name=JVL/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol6_00033.html |title=Gdansk, Poland |work=jewishgen.org |access-date=27 January 2018 |archive-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128021208/https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol6_00033.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Out of the 2,938 [[Kehilla (modern)|Jewish community]] in the city, 1,227 were able to escape from the Nazis before the outbreak of war.<ref>''Żydzi na terenie Wolnego Miasta Gdańska w latach 1920–1945:działalność kulturalna, polityczna i socjalna''Grzegorz Berendt Gdańskie Tow. Nauk., Wydz. I Nauk Społecznych i Humanistycznych, 1997 p. 245</ref>

[[Gestapo|Nazi secret police]] had been observing Polish minority communities in the city since 1936, compiling information, which in 1939 served to prepare lists of Poles to be captured in [[Operation Tannenberg]]. On the first day of the war, approximately 1,500 [[Polish people|ethnic Poles]] were arrested, some because of their participation in social and economic life, others because they were activists and members of various Polish organisations. On 2 September 1939, 150 of them were deported to the [[Stutthof concentration camp|Sicherheitsdienst camp Stutthof]] some {{cvt|30|mi|km|-1|order=flip}} from Danzig, and murdered.<ref>[http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum/museums.htm Museums Stutthof in Sztutowo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050824163259/http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum/museums.htm |date=24 August 2005 }}. Retrieved 31 January 2007.</ref> Many Poles living in Danzig were deported to Stutthof or executed in the [[Massacres in Piaśnica|Piaśnica forest]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum/museums.htm |title=Museums Stutthof |access-date=16 January 2006 |archive-date=24 August 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050824163259/http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum/museums.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the war, Germany operated a prison in the city,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1516 |title=Schweres NS-Gefängnis Danzig, Neugarten 27 |website=Bundesarchiv.de |access-date=18 September 2021 |language=de |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918124617/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1516 |url-status=live }}</ref> an ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]''-operated penal camp,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1515 |title=Einsatzgruppen-Straflager in der Danziger Holzgasse |website=Bundesarchiv.de |access-date=18 September 2021 |language=de |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918124616/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1515 |url-status=live }}</ref> a camp for [[Romani people]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1018 |title=Zigeunerlager Danzig |website=Bundesarchiv.de |access-date=18 September 2021 |language=de |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918124615/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1018 |url-status=live }}</ref> two subcamps of the [[Stalag XX-B]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]] for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs,<ref>{{cite book|last=Niklas|first=Tomasz|editor-last=Grudziecka|editor-first=Beata|title=Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana|language=pl|location=Malbork|publisher=Muzeum Miasta Malborka|page=29|chapter=Polscy jeńcy w Stalagu XX B Marienburg|date=23 August 2023 |isbn=978-83-950992-2-9}}</ref> and several subcamps of the [[Stutthof concentration camp]] within the present-day city limits.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gliński |first=Mirosław |title=Podobozy i większe komanda zewnętrzne obozu Stutthof (1939–1945) |journal=Stutthof. Zeszyty Muzeum |language=pl |volume=3 |pages=165, 167–168, 175–176, 179 |issn=0137-5377}}</ref>

In 1941, [[Hitler]] ordered the [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion of the Soviet Union]], eventually causing the fortunes of war to turn against Germany. As the [[Red Army|Soviet Army]] advanced in 1944, German populations in [[Central Europe]] took flight, resulting in the beginning of a great population shift. After the [[East Pomeranian Offensive|final Soviet offensives]] began in January 1945, hundreds of thousands of German refugees converged on Danzig, many of whom had fled on foot from [[East Prussia]], some tried to escape through the city's port in a large-scale evacuation involving hundreds of German cargo and passenger ships. Some of the ships were sunk by the Soviets, including the {{MV|Wilhelm Gustloff||2}} after an evacuation was attempted at neighbouring [[Gdynia]]. In the process, tens of thousands of refugees were killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wiekdwudziesty.pl/bitwa-o-gdansk-1945/ |title=Bitwa o Gdańsk 1945 |last=Voellner |first=Heinz |date=31 August 2020 |website=wiekdwudziesty.pl |publisher= |access-date=9 August 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

The city also endured heavy Allied and Soviet air raids. The city was [[Siege of Danzig (1945)|captured]] by [[1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade|Polish]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Jakrzewska-Śnieżko|first=Zofia|title=Dwór Artusa w Gdańsku|year=1972|publisher=[[Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe]]|language=pl|page=31}}</ref> and [[Red Army|Soviet]] troops in March 1945. The city was heavily damaged and Soviet soldiers and German saboteurs set fire to houses.<ref name="Baziur"/> Soviet soldiers committed large-scale [[Rape during the liberation of Poland|rape]] and [[Looting of Poland in World War II|looting]], especially of the port, shipyard and factories.<ref name="Baziur">{{cite journal |title=Armia Czerwona na Pomorzu Gdańskim 1945–1947 (Red Army in Gdańsk Pomerania 1945–1947) |author=Grzegorz Baziur, OBEP [[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]] [[Kraków]] |journal=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (Institute of National Remembrance Bulletin) |year=2002 |volume=7 |publisher=IPN|language=pl|pages=35–38}}</ref><ref>Biskupski, Mieczysław B. ''The History of Poland''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, p. 97.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Tighe|first=Carl|title=Gdańsk: National Identity in the Polish-German Borderlands|location=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|page=199}}</ref>

In line with the decisions made by the Allies at the [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] and [[Potsdam Conference|Potsdam]] conferences, the city became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the [[Fall of Communism]] in the 1980s. The remaining German residents of the city who had survived the war [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|fled or were expelled]] to postwar Germany. The city was repopulated by ethnic [[Polish people|Poles]]; up to 18 percent (1948) of them had been [[Polish population transfers (1944–1946)|deported by the Soviets]] in [[Repatriation of Poles (1955–1959)|two major waves]] from pre-war eastern [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ifeo6zdSMcC&q=3200 |title=Danzig – Biographie einer Stadt |first1=Peter Oliver |last1=Loew |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-406-60587-1 |page=232 |language=de |access-date=11 February 2016 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032302/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ifeo6zdSMcC&q=3200 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Post World War II (1945–1989)===

In 1946, the communists executed 17-year-old [[Danuta Siedzikówna]] and 42-year-old [[:pl:Feliks Selmanowicz|Feliks Selmanowicz]], known [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance]] members, in the local prison.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://europeremembers.com/destination/inka-monument/ |title=Inka Monument |website=Europe Remembers |access-date=18 September 2021 |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918152908/https://europeremembers.com/destination/inka-monument/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=mkidn>{{cite web |url=http://mkidn.gov.pl/pages/posts/panstwowy-pogrzeb-zolnierzy-niezlomnych---bdquoinkirdquo-i-bdquozagonczykardquo-6535.php |title=Państwowy pogrzeb Żołnierzy Niezłomnych - "Inki" i "Zagończyka" |website=Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego |access-date=18 September 2021 |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918152908/http://mkidn.gov.pl/pages/posts/panstwowy-pogrzeb-zolnierzy-niezlomnych---bdquoinkirdquo-i-bdquozagonczykardquo-6535.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The port of Gdańsk was one of the three Polish ports through which [[Greeks]] and [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]], [[refugees of the Greek Civil War]], reached Poland.<ref name=ik>{{cite book |last=Kubasiewicz |first=Izabela |editor-last1=Dworaczek |editor-first1=Kamil |editor-last2=Kamiński |editor-first2=Łukasz |year=2013 |title=Letnia Szkoła Historii Najnowszej 2012. Referaty |language=pl |location=Warszawa |publisher=IPN |pages=114 |chapter=Emigranci z Grecji w Polsce Ludowej. Wybrane aspekty z życia mniejszości}}</ref> In 1949, four transports of Greek and Macedonian refugees arrived at the port of Gdańsk, from where they were transported to new homes in Poland.<ref name=ik/>

[[File:Strajk sierpniowy w Stoczni Gdańskiej im. Lenina 07.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Gdańsk Shipyard]] strike in 1980]]

Parts of the historic old city of Gdańsk, which had suffered large-scale destruction during the war, were rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s. The reconstruction sought to dilute the "German character" of the city, and set it back to how it supposedly looked like before the annexation to Prussia in 1793.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5IU6r6cFkAC&q=+Danzig&pg=PA80 |title=Die Schleifung – Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau historischer Bauten in Deutschland und Polen |first1=Bogdana |last1=Kozinska |first2=Dieter |last2=Bingen |publisher=Deutsches Polen-Institut |year=2005 |isbn=978-3-447-05096-8 |page=67 |language=de |access-date=11 February 2016 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032225/https://books.google.com/books?id=j5IU6r6cFkAC&q=+Danzig&pg=PA80 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ifeo6zdSMcC&q=Wiederaufbau |title=Danzig – Biographie einer Stadt |first1=Peter Oliver |last1=Loew |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-406-60587-1 |page=146 |language=de |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032232/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ifeo6zdSMcC&q=Wiederaufbau |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5IU6r6cFkAC&q=+Danzig&pg=PA80 |title=Die Schleifung – Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau historischer Bauten in Deutschland und Polen |first1=Konstanty |last1=Kalinowski |first2=Dieter |last2=Bingen |publisher=Deutsches Polen-Institut |year=2005 |isbn=978-3-447-05096-8 |page=89 |language=de |access-date=11 February 2016 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032225/https://books.google.com/books?id=j5IU6r6cFkAC&q=+Danzig&pg=PA80 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nineteenth-century transformations were ignored as "ideologically malignant" by post-war administrations, or regarded as "Prussian barbarism" worthy of demolition,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMuuwvSxrj4C&q=Barbarei |title=Neue Stadt in altem Glanz – Der Wiederaufbau Danzigs 1945–1960 |first1=Jacek |last1=Friedrich |publisher=Böhlau |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-412-20312-2 |pages=30, 40 |language=de |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032230/https://books.google.com/books?id=LMuuwvSxrj4C&q=Barbarei |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztVJLYq9WtoC&q=reconstruction+gdansk&pg=PA82 |title=Cultural landscapes of post-socialist cities: representation of powers and needs |first1=Mariusz |last1=Czepczynski |publisher=Ashgate publ. |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7546-7022-3 |page=82 |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201032226/https://books.google.com/books?id=ztVJLYq9WtoC&q=reconstruction+gdansk&pg=PA82 |url-status=live }}</ref> while Flemish/Dutch, Italian and French influences were emphasized in order to "neutralize" the German influx on the general outlook of the city.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMuuwvSxrj4C&q=italienische |title=Neue Stadt in altem Glanz – Der Wiederaufbau Danzigs 1945–1960 |first1=Jacek |last1=Friedrich |publisher=Böhlau |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-412-20312-2 |pages=34, 102 |language=de |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=8 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008143038/https://books.google.com/books?id=LMuuwvSxrj4C&q=italienische |url-status=live }}</ref>

Boosted by heavy investment in the development of its port and three major shipyards for Soviet ambitions in the [[Baltic region]], Gdańsk became the major shipping and industrial centre of the [[People's Republic of Poland]]. In December 1970, Gdańsk was the scene of [[Polish 1970 protests|anti-regime demonstrations]], which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader [[Władysław Gomułka]]. During the demonstrations in Gdańsk and Gdynia, military as well as the police opened fire on the demonstrators causing several dozen deaths. Ten years later, in August 1980, [[Gdańsk Shipyard]] was the birthplace of the [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] trade union movement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://isj.org.uk/the-rise-of-solidarnosc/ |title=The rise of Solidarnosc |last=Barker |first=Colin |date=17 October 2005 |website=International Socialism |access-date=10 December 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

In September 1981, to deter Solidarity, Soviet Union launched [[Exercise Zapad-81]], the largest military exercise in history, during which amphibious landings were conducted near Gdańsk. Meanwhile, the Solidarity held its first national congress in [[Hala Olivia]], Gdańsk in which more than 800 deputies participated. Its opposition to the Communist regime led to the end of Communist Party rule in 1989, and sparked a series of protests that overthrew the Communist regimes of the former [[Eastern Bloc]].<ref name="Onet.pl">{{cite news |url=http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/trojmiasto/w-gdansku-otwarto-europejskie-centrum-solidarnosci |title=W Gdańsku otwarto Europejskie Centrum Solidarności |publisher=Onet.pl |date=31 August 2014 |access-date=7 August 2015 |language=pl |archive-date=13 December 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151213151647/http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/trojmiasto/w-gdansku-otwarto-europejskie-centrum-solidarnosci |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Contemporary history (1990–present)===
Solidarity's leader, [[Lech Wałęsa]], became [[President of Poland]] in 1990. In 2014 the [[European Solidarity Centre]], a museum and library devoted to the history of the movement, opened in Gdańsk.<ref name="Onet.pl"/>

On 9 July 2001, the city was flooded, with 200 million [[Polish złoty|zł]] being estimated in damage, 4 people killed, and 304 evacuated. As a result, the city has built 50 reservoirs, the number of which is rising.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dziennikbaltycki.pl/powodz-w-gdansku-9-lipca-2001-r-gwaltowna-ulewa-zatopila-czesc-miasta-18-rocznica-tragicznych-wydarzen-archiwalne-zdjecia/ar/c1-14259993 |title=Powódź w Gdańsku. 9 lipca 2001 r. gwałtowna ulewa zatopiła część miasta. 18 rocznica tragicznych wydarzeń [archiwalne zdjęcia] |last=Bednarz |first=Beata |date=9 July 2019 |publisher=Dziennik Bałtycki |access-date=16 October 2022 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/trojmiasto/gdansk-mija-20-lat-od-tragicznej-powodzi-zdjecia/68zqwqh |title=Gdańsk. Mija 20 lat od tragicznej w skutkach powodzi [ZDJĘCIA] |last=Olejarczyk |first=Piotr |date=9 July 2021 |publisher=[[Onet.pl]] |access-date=16 October 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

[[File:Spain vs Italy (7381934294).jpg|thumb|[[UEFA Euro 2012]] in Gdańsk]]
Gdańsk native [[Donald Tusk]] is [[Prime Minister of Poland]] from 2007 to 2014 and again from 2023 to present and was [[President of the European Council]] from 2014 to 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28989875 |title=Italy's Mogherini and Poland's Tusk get top EU jobs |publisher=BBC |date=30 August 2014 |access-date=8 August 2015 |archive-date=31 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831010253/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28989875 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, the remains of [[Danuta Siedzikówna]] and Feliks Selmanowicz were found at the local Garrison Cemetery, and then their state burial was held in Gdańsk in 2016, with the participation of thousands of people from all over Poland and the highest Polish authorities.<ref name=mkidn/>

In January 2019, the Mayor of Gdańsk, [[Paweł Adamowicz]], was [[Assassination of Paweł Adamowicz|assassinated]] by a man who had just been released from prison for violent crimes. After stabbing the mayor in the abdomen near the heart, the man claimed that the mayor's political party had been responsible for imprisoning him. Though Adamowicz underwent a multi-hour surgery, he died the next day.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/14/europe/pawel-adamowicz-gdansk-mayor-stabbed-poland-intl/index.html |title=Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz dies after being stabbed in heart on stage | publisher=CNN|date=14 January 2019 |access-date=14 January 2019 |archive-date=14 January 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114150906/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/14/europe/pawel-adamowicz-gdansk-mayor-stabbed-poland-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mayor-of-polish-city-dies-after-stabbing-at-charity-event/ar-BBSeqqz?ocid=chromentpshop |title=Mayor of Polish city dies after stabbing at charity event | publisher=www.msn.com |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115023117/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mayor-of-polish-city-dies-after-stabbing-at-charity-event/ar-BBSeqqz?ocid=chromentpshop |archive-date=15 January 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In October 2019, the City of Gdańsk was awarded the [[Princess of Asturias Awards|Princess of Asturias Award]] in the Concord category as a recognition of the fact that "the past and present in Gdańsk are sensitive to solidarity, the defense of freedom and human rights, as well as to the preservation of peace".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/polish-city-of-gdansk-wins-princess-of-asturias-award-8170 |title=Polish city of Gdansk wins Princess of Asturias Award |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019135303/https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/polish-city-of-gdansk-wins-princess-of-asturias-award-8170 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a 2023 Report on the Quality of Life in European Cities compiled by the [[European Commission]], Gdańsk was named as the fourth best city to live in Europe alongside [[Leipzig]], [[Stockholm]] and [[Geneva]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/reports/qol2023/2023_quality_life_european_cities_en.pdf |title=Report on the quality of life in European cities, 2023 |website=ec.europa.eu |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref>