Warsaw - The Phoenix City
Warsaw has a long and noble history that was all but brought to an end during the second world war… but the Warsovians are passionate about their city and it has truly risen from the ashes to become one of Europe’s great capitals. Dominic Tidey explains…
Warsaw has a tumultuous history having experienced plagues, invasions, destruction and devastating fires. It is testament to the tenacity of its inhabitants that today it truly is one of Europe’s great cities.
The site of today’s Warsaw on the banks of the Vistula river was founded around 1200 by Prince Bolesway II who ordered the building of a brick cathedral. From this time on, the city became one of the seats of the Dukes of Masovia, becoming capital of Masovia in 1413. During the 15th century the population expended hugely from 4,500 to over 20,000 and the city was quickly gaining a reputation as a trade centre due to it’s central geographical location. The powerful Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth was born and Warsaw became the seat of the Polish Crown in 1596. King Sigismund Vasa III rebuilt the Royal Castle (venue for the EuRA Gala Dinner) and moved to Warsaw for good, cementing the city’s place as capital.
In 1700 the Great Northern War broke out between Sweden and Russia and Poland found itself in the centre of conflict. Warsaw was besieged in 1702 by Swedish troops and in 1704 was retaken by the Saxon army after days of severe bombardment. In 1705 the Saxons lost Warsaw to the Swedish in a bloody battle. In 1707 the Russians marched in only to be forced out two months later. In 1709 the Russians finally triumphed over the Swedish forces and Warsaw became part of Russia, suffering an oppressive occupation. On the death of Augustus II in 1733, in-fighting in the factions wanting to take control led to the War of Polish Succession. Warsaw was once again occupied by oppressive forces.
The Saxon kings of Germany took control and during this time the city was rebuilt in the classical style of Dresden. Warsaw became home to the first public library in Europe and by the end of the 1780’s a Warsaw renaissance was well under way with the city now a centre for arts and culture. Also during this time the practice of electing the Kings of Poland was established and in 1764 the highly pro-Russian Stanislow Poniatowski turned Poland into a Russian protectorate for the second and not final time.
In 1793, the second partition of Poland ended the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in an attempt by the Polish Government to prevent total annexation of the country by Russia. This led to the first Warsaw Uprising in retaliation for the brutality and looting of the Russian forces in the city. 2000 troops were killed and in retaliation, the city was razed to the ground and 20,000 of its citizens were killed.
Poland was liberated from Russian rule in 1806 by Napoleon and in 1815 the Congress of Vienna made Warsaw the centre of the Congress Poland, a constitutional monarchy under the control of Imperial Russia. However, under the rule of the liberal Emperor Alexander I, Warsaw flourished once again. After his death and the accession of the power mad Emperor Nicholas I, the November Uprising broke out, starting with an attack on the Royal Palace Belvedere, the residence of the commander in chief of the Polish army and de facto viceroy for the Emperor. The uprising led to the Polish Russian war which led to the defeat of Polish forces and the dissolution of the Sjem, the parliament, the army and the university.
Warsaw blossomed once more during this period as again its central location made it a huge rail
hub as the growth of the railways made it a strategic trading city. Electricity was wired throughout the city and the first power stations and water sanitation systems and drains were constructed. New tramways were built and new bridges across the Vistula opened up the suburbs. However this came at a cost. The Russians closed Polish schools and undertook to crush any sense of Polish identity. Striking at the heart of Polish culture, they built more and more Russian Orthodox churches and diminished the influence of the Catholic church. Tempers flared and demonstrations against Russian rule began. Following Russian troops firing into a crowd and killing five people at a protest, a new uprising broke out in 1863. Unrest continued for the next 30 years and by the turn of the century, the demographic of Warsaw was 57% Polish, 36% Jewish and 6% Russian. With the advent of world war one, the German army entered Warsaw. The Russians in retreat, destroyed all of the bridges and looted the factories. The war did not end well for Poland - years of hyper inflation and threats from the Red Army did little to bring stability to the country for the next decades.
The first bombs of world war two fell on Warsaw on 1st September 1939 and just one week later the city was again besieged. Despite brave and fierce resistance, the city fell to the Nazis within a month. At this time, around 1/3 of the population of the city was Jewish. On October 12th 1940, the holy day of Yom Kippur, the governor of the Warsaw District Ludwig Fischer signed a decree on the establishment of a ghetto in the city. During 1939 the Nazis had already begun a series of repressive actions against the Jewish population, including the concentration of the population in defined areas, blocking Jewish bank accounts and savings and banning ritual slaughter, effectively outlawing Kosher observance. By December 1939 the order was given for all Jews to wear Star of David armbands. In February 1940 Jews were banned from using trams. By April the Judenrat (Jewish Council) was forced to build a wall around the ghetto, 3 metres high and topped with barbed wire. The cost was imposed on the Judenrat. By November the ghetto had been sealed and in early 1942 the Nazis began deporting Jews from the ghetto to concentration camps. The Polin Museum of the History of the Polish Jews portrays the stark horror of the ghetto and concentration camps. One exhibit reads:
“ Before the eyes of the whole world, in the summer of 1942, 300,000 Jews were deported… the destination always one and the same - the slaughterhouse of Treblinka. The last round ups and deportations from the Umschlagplatz occurred on 21 September, Yom Kippur.”
From, The Liquidation of Jewish Warsaw, a report of the united underground ghetto organisations to the Polish government in London and the Allied governments, dated 15 November 1942.
On August 1st 1944, the Warsaw Uprising began. Insurgents attacked 180 German military installations and the city’s strategic positions. Heinrich Himmler sends reinforcements and on August 5th German Troops exact terrible revenge, executing 65,000 civilians trapped in the captured districts, indiscriminate of age. 1,300 patients and staff of the two main hospitals were also murdered. By the end of September the uprising had been brutally crushed and a massive organised looting campaign began. Delegations from German municipalities were allowed to enter the city and take any remaining goods. 33,000 railway wagons filled with furniture, personal belongings and factory equipment left the city. Once anything of value had been taken, a systematic destruction of every building, church and home was ruthlessly executed. Monuments and government buildings were blown up by special German troops known as “Verbrennungs und Vernichtungskommando”, burning and destruction detachments. Everything you see today has been rebuilt since 1944. The incredible
restorations to the Royal Route and the Old Town, including the complete re-building of the cathedral and Royal Castle are so meticulous that the area has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status. “It is an outstanding example of a near total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century.”
When Russian forces finally recaptured Warsaw, there was nothing left. Only one building remained in tact on the Royal Route - The Hotel Bristol, which was used as Nazi HQ.
Warsaw is a beautiful place with an incredible history, truly the Phoenix City.
Dominic Tidey is the COO of EuRA and the editor of the European. Contact him at dominic@eura-relocation.com or on Twitter