Pomerania Pomerania is a geographical region today divided between northern Poland and Germany on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. While its boundaries have varied they are roughly from Rostock, Germany in the west to Gdansk, Poland in the east, centred on the Oder delta. Pomerania is the area between the Vistula, Notec, Warta and Recknitz rivers. The Baltic forms the Bay of Pomerania, Lagoon of Szczecin, Gdansk Bay with Bay of Puck, and Vistula Bay along the coast. Lakes Lebsko, Jamno and Gardno were formerly bays but have been cut off from the sea. Pomerania takes its name from the Latin "longum mare," and means "country by or along the sea". The Polish name, "Pomorze," is literally "Seacoast" in this case, the Baltic seacoast. The history of the region is rich and varied due to its having been under the rule of many different powers through the centuries. Pomerania was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and was ruled as imperial fiefs by the Dukes of Pomerania, the kings of Poland, Denmark, Saxony, Brandenburg, Prussia, and Sweden. In 1648 and then again in 1721 Pomerania became a part of Prussia. Then, after 1871, of Imperial Germany, the Republic of Germany and Nazi Germany. Pomerania was settled by a number of East Germanic tribes including migrants from Scandinavia, called the Rugians. Later, around 500 AD, Rugians moved on to Central Europe and by the 7th century they were replaced by Slavic tribes. Pomerania as part of Germany Pomerania was conquered by the Polish duke Mieszko I in the second half of the 10th century. In 1181 the western part of Pomerania joined in an alliance with the German noblemen. From that point on until 1806 Western Pommerania was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In the beginning of the eleventh century the Pomeranian region was divided into an eastern part, which later became known as Pomerelia and a western part, which evolved into the German duchy of Pomerania. The eastern part of Pomerania, which was part of Polish kingdom, was disputed by Brandenburg and conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1309, becoming part of the Teutonic Order Prussian state. It was then annexed by the kingdom of Poland in 1466 as a province with large authonomy. This part of Pomerellia and Prussia was centuries later referred to as the Royal Prussia, or "Königliches Preußen". In 1569 during the unification of all lands of Polish kingdom and creation of Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth large part of authonomy was abandoned. Duchy of Pomerania in 15th century The branch of the Pomeranian princely house that ruled most of the western part of Pomerania known then as Slawia was the house of Greif and they assumed the title duke in 1170, which was confirmed by the German emperor in 1181 and fell under danish rule until 1227. In 1227 Pomerania became German again, but it was subordinate to Brandenburg. For the remaining period of the Middle age the Pomeranian dukes would try to shake off Brandenburg's overlordship. It was finally successful with the treaty of Grimnitz in 1529. During the same period Pomerania was settled by German colonists who assimilated the indigenous Slavic population. When the last member of the house of Greif died in 1637 Pomerania was already occupied by Swedish troops and it was divided between Sweden and Brandenburg in the peace of Westphalia. Throughout the late mediaeval period Pomerania was claimed by Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Poland, and occasionally by the Teutonic Knights. In 1420 the Wendish nobles of Brandenburg were supported by the Wends of Pomerania in an uprising against the Margrave of Brandenburg, Frederick I of the Hohenzollerns, but were decisively defeated at Angermünde. Frederick believed that the key to the complicated politics of his region was to forge close ties with Poland, which could now control the Teutonic order and was therefore in a position to confirm Brandenburg's claims to Pomerania. He therefore arranged for his second son, Frederick, to get engaged to King Vladislav of Poland's daughter. This enraged Sigismund of Bohemia, who now threw his support behind the Dukes of Pomerania, granting them the Uckermark. In 1425 it came to war, with Brandenburg facing Pomerania, Mecklenburg, the Teutonic Order and even Poland. Frederick's plans had come badly unstuck. In the war which followed, Frederick was able to keep the Uckermark, but Hohenzollern pretensions to rule Pomerania were thwarted. In 1227 Pomerania became German again, but it was subordinate to Brandenburg. For the remaining period of the Middle age the Pomeranian dukes would try to shake off Brandenburg's overlordship. It was finally successful with the treaty of Grimnitz in 1529. During the same period Pomerania was settled by German colonists who assimilated the indigenous Slavic population. When the last member of the house of Greif died in 1637 Pomerania was already occupied by Swedish troops and it was divided between Sweden and Brandenburg in the peace of Westphalia. Throughout the late mediaeval period Pomerania was claimed by Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Poland, and occasionally by the Teutonic Knights. In 1420 the Wendish nobles of Brandenburg were supported by the Wends of Pomerania in an uprising against the Margrave of Brandenburg, Frederick I of the Hohenzollerns, but were decisively defeated at Angermünde. Frederick believed that the key to the complicated politics of his region was to forge close ties with Poland, which could now control the Teutonic order and was therefore in a position to confirm Brandenburg’s claims to Pomerania. He therefore arranged for his second son, Frederick, to get engaged to King Vladislav of Poland’s daughter. This enraged Sigismund of Bohemia, who now threw his support behind the Dukes of Pomerania, granting them the Uckermark. In 1425 it came to war, with Brandenburg facing Pomerania, Mecklenburg, the Teutonic Order and even Poland. Frederick’s plans had come badly unstuck. In the war which followed, Frederick was able to keep the Uckermark, but Hohenzollern pretensions to rule Pomerania were thwarted. Since 1200 a steady influx of German settlers and agricultural pioneers had existed in then mostly Slavic Pomerania. The 16th & 17th Centuries Disputes with Brandenburg continued. These were partially agreed at the Conference of Juterbog (1527) between Joachim I of Brandenburg and the Duke of Pomerania. As the Reformation gathered pace, Pomerania also went Lutheran Protestant, but the process was slower than in Brandenburg. In 1637 the last of the Wendish Dukes of Pomerania, Boguslaw XIV, died without direct male successor. During the Thirty Years War Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden occupied Pomerania. In the negotiations between France Brandenburg and Sweden following the Northern War the Brandenburgish diplomats Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal and his son Christoph Caspar obtained the rights of succession for Brandenburg, though the argument with Sweden, especially over Hither Pomerania, continued to the end of the 17th century and beyond, until the Treaty of Stockholm in 1720. The 18th & 19th Centuries Prussian noblemen began to acquire estates in Pomerania, while Pomeranian noblemen were integrated into Prussian society. Thus originally Wendish noble families such as the von Lettows, von Strelows, von Peglows, von Zitzewitzes and von Krockows intermarried with German families from Brandenburg such as the von Blumenthals, who possessed great estates at Quackenburg, Varzin, Dubberzin, Schlönwitz and elsewhere. By the nineteenth century Pomerania was mostly Germanised, and was a popular place of retirement for the well-to-do such as Bismarck, who bought Varzin. The 20th Century Many leading officers and highly decorated German soldiers were from Pomerania, where Prussian militarism had exercised its influence for centuries. However, some networks of aristocratic estates, and the loyalties they generated, resulted in anti-Nazi conspiracy. Dietrich Bonhoeffer ran his illegal Lutheran Confessing Church seminary at the Pomeranian hamlet of Groß Schlönwitz, near Schlawe, in 1938. After the defeat of Germany in 1945, most of Pomerania became Polish, and the entire German population of the Pomeranian territories assigned to Polish rule fled or was expelled according to the results of the Potsdam Conference. Some Germans were assigned by Soviet authorities to do forced labour for the Soviet exclaves on the territory of Poland for several years after 1945.