Editing Polish Corridor (section)

== Terminology ==

According to German historian [[Hartmut Boockmann]] the term ''corridor'' was first used by Polish politicians,<ref>Hartmut Boockmann, Ostpreussen und Westpreussen, Siedler 2002, p. 401, {{ISBN|3-88680-212-4}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=e9dpAAAAMAAJ&q=korridor]</ref> while Polish historian [[Grzegorz Lukomski]] writes that the word was coined by [[German nationalist]] propaganda of the 1920s.<ref>[http://www.adiutor-mars.com.pl/katalog_wyd/opisy/korytarz_2000.htm Grzegorz Lukomski, The problem of Corridor in the Polish-German relationships and on the international stage 1918 - 1939. A political study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224193910/http://www.adiutor-mars.com.pl/katalog_wyd/opisy/korytarz_2000.htm |date=2012-02-24 }} (in Polish)</ref> Internationally the term was used in English as early as March 1919<ref>''[[The New York Times]]'': March 18, 1919: [https://www.nytimes.com/1919/03/18/archives/outlines-polish-corridor-paris-paper-sketches-proposed-strip-to.html Outlines Polish "Corridor"; Paris Paper Sketches Proposed Strip to Danzig.]; March 17, 1919: [https://www.nytimes.com/1919/03/17/archives/plan-to-give-germany-land-communication-across-polish-corridor-to.html Plan to Give Germany Land Communication Across Polish Corridor to the Baltic]</ref> and whatever its origins it became a widespread term in English.<ref>Edmund Jan Osmańczyk, Anthony Mango, ''Encyclopedia of the United Nations and international agreements'', 3rd edition, Taylor & Francis, 2003, p.1818, {{ISBN|0-415-93921-6}}: "Polish Corridor: International term for Poland's access to the Baltic in 1919&ndash;1939."</ref><ref>Hartmut Boockmann, Ostpreussen und Westpreussen, Siedler 2002, p. 401,{{ISBN|3-88680-212-4}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=e9dpAAAAMAAJ&q=korridor]</ref><ref>e.g.[[The New York Times]]: March 18, 1919: [https://www.nytimes.com/1919/03/18/archives/outlines-polish-corridor-paris-paper-sketches-proposed-strip-to.html POLISH "CORRIDOR."; Paris Paper Sketches Proposed Strip to Danzig.]; August 16, 1920: [https://www.nytimes.com/1920/08/16/archives/russians-hoist-the-german-flag-over-soldau-say-polish-corridor-will.html Russians Hoist the German Flag Over Soldau; Say Polish Corridor Will Be Returned to Germany]; March 17, 1919: [https://www.nytimes.com/1919/03/17/archives/plan-to-give-germany-land-communication-across-polish-corridor-to.html Plan to Give Germany Land Communication Across Polish Corridor to the Baltic]; November 16, 1930 [https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/16/archives/europe-sorest-spot-the-polish-corridor-the-old-german-port-of.html?sq=polish%2520corridor&scp=19&st=cse Europe Sorest Spot: The Polish Corridor.; The Old German Port of Danzig]; August 17, 1932 [https://www.nytimes.com/1930/08/17/archives/germans-united-on-polish-corridor-speech-by-treviranus-voiced.html?sq=polish%2520corridor&scp=15&st=cse Germans United On Polish Corridor]</ref><ref>Denmark: Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon, e.g., in the article about railways: ("the German railway network was reduced due to [Germany's] territorial concessions following the [first world] war and is cut in two separate parts by the Polish corridor.") [https://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/26/0584.html] (1930) and article about Poland [https://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/19/0329.html] (1924)</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/03/18/112641765.pdf| title = New York Times early 1919}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,728314,00.html |title = Time magazine, 1925 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090209075924/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,728314,00.html |archive-date = 9 February 2009 |url-status = dead |access-date = 3 December 2008 }}</ref><ref>Barbara Dotts Paul, ''The Polish-German Borderlands: An Annotated Bibliography'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994, {{ISBN|0-313-29162-4}}: contains an abundant collection of contemporary sources using Polish or Danzig Corridor</ref>

The equivalent German term is {{lang|de|Polnischer Korridor}}. Polish names include {{lang|pl|korytarz polski}} ('Polish corridor') and {{lang|pl|korytarz gdański}} ('Gdańsk corridor'); however, reference to the region as a corridor came to be regarded as offensive by [[Interwar period|interwar]] Polish diplomats. Among the harshest critics of the term ''corridor'' was Polish Foreign Minister [[Józef Beck]], who in his May 5, 1939 speech in the [[Sejm]] (Polish parliament) said: "I am insisting that the term ''Pomeranian Voivodeship'' should be used. The word ''corridor'' is an artificial idea, as this land has been Polish for centuries, with a small percentage of German settlers".<ref>[http://kronika.sejm.gov.pl/kronika.99/text/pl/an-71.htm Official webpage of Polish Sejm, Chronicle of speeches]{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Poles commonly referred to the region as {{lang|pl|Pomorze Gdańskie}} ('Gdańsk Pomerania', [[Pomerelia]]") or simply {{lang|pl|Pomorze}} ('[[Pomerania]]'), or as {{lang|pl|województwo pomorskie}} ('[[Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Pomeranian Voivodeship]]'), which was the administrative name for the region.