by Przemysław Myszka

The world in 1922 looked a lot different from today. Four years earlier, Poland regained independence after being off Europe's map for 123 years.

The country first lost a considerable chunk of its connection to the Baltic Sea in 1772 (Elbląg) and 1793 (Gdańsk) when Prussia seized these lands, and then entirely in 1795 when what's nowadays western Latvia and Lithuania was annexed by the Russians.

In 1919, the Bolshevik regime attacked (so perhaps the early 20th century wasn't all that different from now...), a blow that was successfully driven off the following year.

In 1920, the newly born state had just a tiny stretch of coast (75 kilometres), with no genuine seaports since Gdańsk was declared a free city and unwilling to let Poland use its quays.

Against this background of war and stitching together a state of different legal & cultural patches, the idea of turning a small fishing village into (in modern terms) a greenfield port was born.

Fast forward 100 years, and in 2022 we are celebrating the centenary of what is today one of Baltic's biggest universal seaports.

Download PDF