WI: the League of Nations lets the Weimar Republic keep Danzig

Instead of making it a "protectorate" for Poland's benefit, the League of Nations lets the city of Danzig remain German territory.
 
Poland is in trouble. Until the port in Gdynia was built, Danzig/Gdańsk was Poland's "window to the world". The customs war between Poland and Germany (IOTL started in 1925) would have had much harsher consequences for Polish economy - IOTL Poland was saved by high prices for coal on international market. Without Danzig/Gdańsk Polish coal export is seriously limited and Polish economy is in big trouble. BTW, it was exactly that customs war that made Poles build Gdynia - Danzig/Gdańsk was simply not enough.
 

Chilperic

Banned
Still, its going to be hard to get a port elsewhere... Maybe Lithuania-Poland union? though Memel is claimed by Germany so that could scupper that.
 
Originally posted by Chilperic
Still, its going to be hard to get a port elsewhere... Maybe Lithuania-Poland union? though Memel is claimed by Germany so that could scupper that.
Polish-Lithuanian realtins in 1920s were VERY bad, mostly because of Vilnius. Lithuanian nationalists (or patriots, depending on POV) considered Poland one oof the greatest threat to their country and to their nation. They were affraid of polonization - in XIXth century they had to fight hard to preserve Lithuanian language, cause most of the intelectual elite in Lithuania at that time spoke Polish, German or Russian - not Lithuanian. It was legacy from the times of old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Therefore, any Polish-Lithuanian union after WWI is out of the question.
 
Therefore, any Polish-Lithuanian union after WWI is out of the question.

Pff. Sure, if you rely on the consent of the Lithuanians.

An interesting question is whether or not this merely ups German demands; while there was a lot of focus on the corridor OTL, perhaps here it extends to more of the 1914 border.
 
Originally posted by Faeelin
An interesting question is whether or not this merely ups German demands; while there was a lot of focus on the corridor OTL, perhaps here it extends to more of the 1914 border.
Well, most of the German right wing IOTL DID want the 1914 borders, with Danzig, Pomerania, Silesia and Great Poland (Poznań/Posen region). More moderate were willing to cede Great Poland, but not Pomerania. In short, they wanted to connect East Prussia with the rest of Germany.
 

General Zod

Banned
Originally posted by Faeelin

Well, most of the German right wing IOTL DID want the 1914 borders, with Danzig, Pomerania, Silesia and Great Poland (Poznań/Posen region). More moderate were willing to cede Great Poland, but not Pomerania. In short, they wanted to connect East Prussia with the rest of Germany.

A compromise request would be the return of Pomerania, to reconnect East Prussia to the rest of Germany, and Upper Silesia, which had precious natural resources, and was awarded to Poland in 1921 despite the contrary results of a referendum.
 
Top