Editing Polish Corridor (section)

==Background==

=== History of the area ===
{{Main|Pomerelia}}
In the 10th century, Pomerelia was settled by [[Slavic Pomeranians]], ancestors of the [[Kashubians]], who were subdued by [[Bolesław I of Poland]]. In the 11th century, they created an independent duchy.<ref name="Minahan">James Minahan, ''One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p.&nbsp;375, {{ISBN|0-313-30984-1}}</ref> In 1116/1121, Pomerania was again conquered by Poland. In 1138, following the death of Duke [[Bolesław III Wrymouth|Bolesław III]], Poland was [[History of Poland during the Piast dynasty#Fragmentation of the realm (1138 – c. 1314)|fragmented into several semi-independent principalities]]. The [[Samborides]], ''principes'' in Pomerelia, gradually evolved into independent dukes, who ruled the duchy until 1294. Before Pomerelia regained independence in 1227,<ref name="Minahan" /><ref>W.&nbsp;D. Halsey, L. Shores, Bernard Johnston, Emanuel Friedman, ''Merit Students Encyclopedia'', Macmillan Educational Corporation, 1979, p.&nbsp;195: Pomerelia, independent in 1227 and thereafter</ref> their dukes were [[vassal]]s of Poland and [[Denmark]]. Since 1308–1309, [[Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk)|following succession wars between Poland and Brandenburg]], Pomerelia was subjugated by the [[Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights]] in [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]]. In 1466, with the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)|second Peace of Thorn]], Pomerelia became part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] as a part of autonomous [[Royal Prussia]]. After the [[Partitions of Poland|First Partition of Poland]] in 1772 it was annexed by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and named [[West Prussia]], and became a constituent part of the new [[German Empire]] in 1871. Thus the Polish Corridor was not an entirely new creation: the territory assigned to Poland had been an integral part of Poland prior to 1772, but with a large degree of autonomy.<ref>''A Lasting Peace'' page 127, James Clerk Maxwell Garnett, Heinrich F. Koeppler – 1940</ref><ref>Arms and Policy, 1939–1944 page 40, Hoffman Nickerson – 1945</ref><ref>''The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822'' page 279, Harold Nicolson. Grove Pres 2000</ref><ref>Urban Societies in East-Central Europe, pages 190&ndash;191, Jaroslav Miller 2008</ref>

====Historical population====
Perhaps the earliest census data on the [[Ethnic group|ethnic]] and [[National identity|national]] structure of [[West Prussia]] (including areas which later made up the corridor) is from 1819.<ref name="hassel">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31DMAJgQV28C&pg=PA42|title=Statistischer Umriß der sämmtlichen europäischen und der vornehmsten außereuropäischen Staaten, in Hinsicht ihrer Entwickelung, Größe, Volksmenge, Finanz- und Militärverfassung, tabellarisch dargestellt; Erster Heft: Welcher die beiden großen Mächte Österreich und Preußen und den Deutschen Staatenbund darstellt|last1=Hassel|first1=Georg|publisher=Verlag des Geographischen Instituts Weimar|year=1823|page=42}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Ethnic/national data ({{lang|de|Nationalverschiedenheit}}) for West Prussia in 1819<ref name="hassel" />
!Ethnic or national group
!Population (number)
!Population (percentage)
|-
|[[Polish people|Poles]] ({{lang|de|Polen}})
|327,300
|52%
|-
|[[Germans]] ({{lang|de|Deutsche}})
|290,000
|46%
|-
|[[Jews]] ({{lang|de|Juden}})
|12,700
|2%
|-
!Total
!630,077
!100%
|}

[[Karl Andree]], in {{lang|de|Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht}} (Leipzig 1831), gives the total population of West Prussia as 700,000{{snd}}including 50% Poles (350,000), 47% Germans (330,000) and 3% Jews (20,000).<ref name="Karl Andree">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_xgUEAAAAYAAJ|title=Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht|last1=Andree|first1=Karl|publisher=Verlag von Ludwig Schumann|year=1831|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_xgUEAAAAYAAJ/page/n221 212]}}</ref>

Data from the 19th century and early 20th century show the following ethnic changes in four main counties of the corridor ([[Puck, Poland|Puck]] and [[Wejherowo]] on the Baltic Sea coast; [[Kartuzy]] and [[Kościerzyna]] between the [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Province of Pomerania]] and [[Free City of Danzig]]):

[[File:Polish Corridor Four Counties.png|The Polish Corridor: map of [[Puck, Poland|Puck]] (77.4%), [[Wejherowo]] (54.9%), [[Kartuzy]] (77.3%) and [[Kościerzyna]] (64.5%) counties, showing percentages of ethnic [[Polish people#Pomeranians|Poles]] (including Kashubians) by the end of [[World War I]], according to the [[c:File:Mapa_rozsiedlenia_ludności_polskiej_z_uwzględnieniem_spisów_z_1916_roku.jpg|Map of Polish population]] published in 1919 in Warsaw<ref name=":1" />|right|frame]]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Percent of Poles and Kashubians (including Polish-German [[Multilingualism|bilinguals]]) in four main counties of the corridor, 1831&ndash;1931
! {{Diagonal split header|Year|County}}
! Puck (Putzig)
! Wejherowo (Neustadt)
! Kartuzy (Karthaus)
! Kościerzyna (Berent)
! Source
|-
! 1831
| colspan="2" align="center" |82%
| align="center" |85%
| align="center" |72%
| Jan Mordawski's estimate<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://static.scholaris.pl/resource_imp/113/113621/PLIKI_1/pdf_14_XII_atlas_z_hiperlaczami.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621155443/http://static.scholaris.pl/resource_imp/113/113621/PLIKI_1/pdf_14_XII_atlas_z_hiperlaczami.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 21, 2020|title=Atlas dziejów Pomorza i jego mieszkańców - Kaszubów|last=Mordawski|first=Jan|publisher=Zrzeszenie Kaszubsko-Pomorskie|year=2017|isbn=978-83-62137-38-1|location=Gdańsk|pages=35–36|language=pl|accessdate=November 30, 2019}}</ref>
|-
! 1831
| colspan="2" align="center" |78%
| align="center" |84%
| align="center" |71%
| Leszek Belzyt's estimate<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|date=2017|title=Kaszubi w świetle pruskich danych spisowych w latach 1827-1911. Tabela 24. Procentowy udział Kaszubów w poszczególnych powiatach według korekty|url=http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Acta_Cassubiana/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235.pdf|journal=Acta Cassubiana|volume=19|pages=233|via=BazHum MuzHP|access-date=2019-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703072756/http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Acta_Cassubiana/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235.pdf|archive-date=2019-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
! 1837
| colspan="2" align="center" |77%
| align="center" |84%
| align="center" |71%
| [[Census in Germany|Volkszählung]] census<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|date=2017|title=Kaszubi w świetle pruskich danych spisowych w latach 1827–1911 [Kashubians in the light of Prussian census data in years 1827–1911]|url=http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Acta_Cassubiana/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235.pdf|journal=Acta Cassubiana|volume=19|pages=194–235|via=BazHum MuzHP|access-date=2019-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703072756/http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Acta_Cassubiana/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235/Acta_Cassubiana-r2017-t19-s194-235.pdf|archive-date=2019-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
! 1852
| colspan="2" align="center" |80%
| align="center" |77%
| align="center" |64%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1855
| colspan="2" align="center" |80%
| align="center" |76%
| align="center" |64%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1858
| colspan="2" align="center" |80%
| align="center" |76%
| align="center" |63%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1861
| colspan="2" align="center" |80%
| align="center" |77%
| align="center" |64%
| Belzyt<ref name=":2" />
|-
! 1886
| align="center" |75%
| align="center" |64%
| align="center" |66%
| align="center" |57%
| Schulzählung school census<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1890
| align="center" |69%
| align="center" |56%
| align="center" |67%
| align="center" |54%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1890
| align="center" |73%
| align="center" |61%
| align="center" |68%
| align="center" |57%
| Belzyt<ref name=":2" />
|-
! 1891
| align="center" |74%
| align="center" |62%
| align="center" |66%
| align="center" |56%
| Schulzählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1892
| align="center" |77%
| align="center" |67%
| align="center" |76%
| align="center" |59%
| [[Stefan Ramułt]]'s estimate<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kaszebsko.com/uploads/historia/Histori%C3%B4%20Kasz%C3%ABb%C3%B3w%20(19)I.pdf|title=Temat 19: Kaszubi w statystyce (cz. I)|website=kaszebsko.com|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911084626/http://kaszebsko.com/uploads/historia/Histori%C3%B4%20Kasz%C3%ABb%C3%B3w%20(19)I.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Statystyka ludności kaszubskiej|last=Ramułt|first=Stefan|year=1899|location=Cracow|language=pl}}</ref>
|-
! 1896
| align="center" |72%
| align="center" |61%
| align="center" |70%
| align="center" |58%
| Schulzählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1900
| align="center" |69%
| align="center" |54%
| align="center" |69%
| align="center" |55%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1901
| align="center" |76%
| align="center" |60%
| align="center" |71%
| align="center" |59%
| Schulzählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1905
| align="center" |70%
| align="center" |51%
| align="center" |70%
| align="center" |56%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1906
| align="center" |73%
| align="center" |62%
| align="center" |72%
| align="center" |60%
| Schulzählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1910
| align="center" |70%
| align="center" |50%
| align="center" |72%
| align="center" |58%
| Volkszählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1910
| align="center" |74%
| align="center" |62%
| align="center" |74%
| align="center" |62%
| Belzyt<ref name=":2" />
|-
! 1911
| align="center" |74%
| align="center" |63%
| align="center" |74%
| align="center" |63%
| Schulzählung<ref name=":0" />
|-
! 1918
| align="center" |77%
| align="center" |55%
| align="center" |77%
| align="center" |65%
| [[c:File:Mapa_rozsiedlenia_ludności_polskiej_z_uwzględnieniem_spisów_z_1916_roku.jpg|Map of Polish population]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://polona.pl/item/mapa-rozsiedlenia-ludnosci-polskiej-z-uwzglednieniem-spisow-wladz-okupacyjnych-w-1916-r,Njg0NTU3Mjg/|title=Mapa rozsiedlenia ludności polskiej: z uwzględnieniem spisów władz okupacyjnych w 1916 r. [Map of the distribution of Polish population: taking into account the censuses of 1916]|last=Dura|first=Lucjusz|date=1919|website=polona.pl/|access-date=31 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/75218?id=75218|title=Żywioł niemiecki w zachodniej Polsce|last=Andrzejewski|first=Czesław|work=Ostoja|year=1919|location=Poznań}}</ref>
|-
! 1921
| colspan="2" align="center" |89%
| align="center" |92%
| align="center" |81%
| Polish General Census<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Szczurek|first=Wiesław|date=2002|title=Liczba i rozmieszczenie ludności niemieckiej na Pomorzu w okresie II Rzeczypospolitej|url=https://repozytorium.ka.edu.pl/handle/11315/25725|journal=Państwo i społeczeństwo|volume=2|issue=II|pages=163–175|issn=1643-8299|via=Repozytorium eRIKA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Orphans of Versailles. The Germans in Western Poland 1918–1939|last=Blanke|first=Richard|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=1993|isbn=978-0813156330|location=Lexington, KY.|pages=244–245}}</ref>
|-
! 1931
| colspan="2" align="center" |95%
| align="center" |93%
| align="center" |88%
| [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Woj.pomorskie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf Polish General Census]
|}

=== Allied plans for a corridor after World War I ===
During the [[First World War]], both sides made bids for Polish support, and in turn Polish leaders were active in soliciting support from both sides. [[Roman Dmowski]], a former deputy in the Russian [[State Duma (Russian Empire)|State Duma]] and the leader of the [[National Democracy (Poland)|''Endecja'' movement]] was especially active in seeking support from the Allies. Dmowski argued that an independent Poland needed access to the sea on demographic, historical and economic grounds as he maintained that a Poland without access to the sea could never be truly independent. After the war [[Second Republic of Poland|Poland was to be re-established]] as an independent [[State (polity)|state]]. Since a Polish state had not existed since the [[Congress of Vienna]], the future republic's territory had to be defined.

Giving [[Poland]] access to the sea was one of the guarantees proposed by [[United States President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] in his [[Fourteen Points]] of January 1918. The thirteenth of Wilson's points was:
<blockquote>An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/51.htm The text of Woodrow's Fourteen Points Speech] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050622085518/http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/51.htm |date=2005-06-22 }}</ref></blockquote>

The following arguments were behind the creation of the corridor:

====Ethnographic reasons====
[[File:Ethnic structure of eastern regions of Prussia.png|thumb|Ethnic structure of the eastern regions of Prussia in 1817–1823]]
[[File:Poles Prussia.png|thumb|Poles in the Kingdom of Prussia during the 19th century:  {{legend|#710023|90% - 100% Polish}}  {{legend|#990030|80% - 90% Polish}}  {{legend|#e80000|70% - 80% Polish}}  {{legend|#ff2a00|60% - 70% Polish}}  {{legend|#ff5b00|50% - 60% Polish}}  {{legend|#fff600|20% - 50% Polish}}  {{legend|#fdff74|5% - 20% Polish}}  ]]
The ethnic situation was one of the reasons for returning the area to the restored Poland.<ref>''The Danzig Dilemma; A Study in Peacemaking by Compromise''{{snd}}"This report was origin of the famous Polish corridor to the Baltic which the Commission proposed on ethnographic grounds as well as to give Poland her promised free and secure access to the sea", John Brown Mason, page 50</ref> The majority of the population in the area was Polish.<ref name="katyn">Anna M. Cienciala, Natalia Sergeevna Lebedeva, Wojciech Materski, Maia A. Kipp, ''Katyn: A Crime without Punishment'', Yale University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0-300-10851-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9sh2-7_biKwC&dq=%22Polish+Corridor%22&pg=PA15 Google Print, p.15]</ref> As the Polish commission report to the [[Supreme War Council|Allied Supreme Council]] noted on 12 March 1919: "Finally the fact must be recognized that 600,000 Poles in West Prussia would under any alternative plan remain under German rule".<ref>''The Danzig Dilemma; a Study in Peacemaking by Compromise: A Study in Peacemaking by Compromise''. John Brown Mason. page 49</ref> Also, as [[David Hunter Miller]] from president [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s group of experts and academics (known as [[The Inquiry]]) noted in his diary from the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]: "If Poland does not thus secure access to the sea, 600,000 [[Polish people|Poles]] in [[West Prussia]] will remain under [[Partitions of Poland|German rule]] and 20,000,000 Poles in Poland proper will probably have but a hampered and precarious commercial outlet".<ref name="Hunter Miller">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/MyDiaryAtConferenceOfParis-Vol4/Miller--MyDiaryAtConferenceOfParis-Vol4#page/n239/mode/2up|title=My Diary at Conference of Paris|last=Hunter Miller|first=David|publisher=Appeal Printing Company|year=1924|volume=IV|location=New York|pages=224–227}}</ref> The Prussian census of 1910 showed that there were 528,000 Poles (including West Slavic [[Kashubians]], who had supported the Polish national lists in [[Elections in Germany|German elections]]<ref>''Gdańskie Zeszyty Humanistyczne: Seria pomorzoznawcza'' Page 17, Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna (Gdańsk). Wydział Humanistyczny, Instytut Bałtycki, Instytut Bałtycki (Poland) – 1967</ref><ref>''Położenie mniejszości niemieckiej w Polsce 1918–1938'' Page 183, Stanisław Potocki – 1969</ref><ref>Rocznik gdański organ Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauki i Sztuki w Gdańsku – page 100, 1983</ref><ref>''Do niepodległości 1918, 1944/45, 1989: wizje, drogi, spełnienie'' page 43, Wojciech Wrzesiński – 1998</ref>) in the region, compared with 385,000 Germans (including troops and officials stationed in the area).<ref name="international608">"Principles and Problems of International Relations" page 608 H. Arthur Steiner – 1940</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=80r6Mbnxf8IC&q=Appendix&pg=PA243| title = (Appendix B. German Population of Western Poland by Province and Country)| isbn = 0813130417| last1 = Blanke| first1 = Richard| publisher = University Press of Kentucky}}</ref> The province of [[West Prussia]] as a whole had between 36% and 43% ethnic Poles in 1910, depending on the source (the lower number is based directly on German 1910 census figures, while the higher number is based on calculations according to which a large part of those people counted as [[Catholic Germans]] in the official census in fact identified as Poles).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/polesunderprussi00kozi/page/4|title=The Poles under Prussian rule|last=Kozicki|first=Stanislas|publisher=Polish Press Bur.|year=1918|location=London|pages=5}}</ref> The Poles did not want the Polish population to remain under the control of the German state,<ref>''The Danzig Dilemma a Study in Peacemaking by Compromise'' by John Brown Mason Stanford University Press 1946, page 49</ref> which had in the past treated the Polish population and other minorities as second-class citizens<ref>''A History of Modern Germany, 1800–2000'' page 130, Martin Kitchen Blackwell Publishing 2006</ref> and had pursued [[Germanisation|Germanization]]. As Professor [[Lewis Bernstein Namier]] (1888–1960){{snd}}born to Jewish parents in [[Lublin Governorate]] ([[Russian Empire]], former [[Congress Poland]]) and later a British citizen,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-q_kl6sbnoC&q=+Namier+&pg=PA128|title=Anti-Semitism before the Holocaust |access-date=2010-12-21 |author=Albert S. Lindemann |publisher=Pearson |year=2000 |page=128 |isbn=978-0-582-36964-1}}<br />
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0121vD9STIMC&q=namier+niemirowski&pg=PA852|title=Encyclopedia of historians and historical writing |access-date=2009-07-06 |author=Kelly Boyd |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-884964-33-6}}</ref> a former member of the [[Directorate of Military Intelligence (United Kingdom)|British Intelligence Bureau]] throughout World War I<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u1npAAAAIAAJ&q=namier+propaganda&pg=PA166|title=British Propaganda and the State in the First World War |access-date=2009-07-06 |author=Gary S. Messinger |publisher=Manchester University Press ND|year=1992 |isbn=978-0-7190-3014-7}}</ref> and the British delegation at the [[Versailles conference]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQs_TCzLWpkC&q=namier+peace+conference&pg=PA41|title=Two Worlds of International Relations |access-date=2009-07-06 |author=Christopher Hill, Pamela Beshoff |publisher=Routledge|year=1994 |isbn=978-0-415-06970-0}}</ref> known for his [[Anti-Polish sentiment|anti-Polish]]<ref name="Niepodległość page 58">Niepodległość, Tom 21 Pilsudski Institute of America Instytut Józefa Piłsudskiego Poświecony Badaniu Najnowszej Historii Polski., 1988 page 58</ref> and [[Anti-German sentiment|anti-German]]<ref name="taylor">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ajptaylorradical0000wrig|url-access=registration|quote=Namier.|title=A.J.P. Taylor, Radical Historian of Europe|first1=Chris|last1=Wrigley|page=[https://archive.org/details/ajptaylorradical0000wrig/page/70 70]|publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006|isbn=1-86064-286-1}}</ref><ref name="crozier">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2hBXzB7XaYC&q=namier+germanophobia&pg=PA226|title=The causes of the Second World War |first= Andrew J. |last=Crozier|year=1997 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9780631186014 }}</ref> attitude{{snd}}wrote in the ''[[Manchester Guardian]]'' on November 7, 1933: "The Poles are the Nation of the Vistula, and their settlements extend from the sources of the river to its estuary.&nbsp;... It is only fair that the claim of the river-basin should prevail against that of the seaboard."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y702017As5MC&q=Lewis+Bernstein+Namier+In+the+Margin+of+History%E2%80%8E In the Margin of History, p. 44] by [[Lewis Bernstein Namier]]</ref>

==== Economic reasons ====

The Poles held the view that without direct access to the [[Baltic Sea]], Poland's economic independence would be illusory.<ref name="thorburn54">''Out of the Ashes'' James Thorburn Muirhead 1941, page 54</ref> Around 60.5% of Polish import trade and 55.1% of exports went through the area.<ref>The Crises of France's East Central European Diplomacy, 1933–1938 – p.&nbsp;40. Anthony Tihamer Komjathy – 1976</ref> The report of the Polish Commission presented to the [[Allied Supreme Council]] said: 
<blockquote>1,600,000 Germans in [[East Prussia]] can be adequately protected by securing for them freedom of trade across the corridor, whereas it would be impossible to give an adequate outlet to the inhabitants of the new Polish state (numbering 25,000,000) if this outlet had to be guaranteed across the territory of an alien and probably hostile Power.<ref>''The Danzig dilemma: a study in peacemaking by compromise'' by John Brown Mason, Stanford University Press, 1946, page 49</ref></blockquote>

The [[United Kingdom]] eventually accepted this argument.<ref name="thorburn54" /> The suppression of the Polish Corridor would have abolished the economic ability of Poland to resist dependence on Germany.<ref>Review of Reviews page 67. Albert Shaw, 1931</ref> As [[Lewis Bernstein Namier]], Professor of Modern History at the [[University of Manchester]] and known for both his "legendary hatred of Germany"<ref name="taylor" /> and [[Anti-German sentiment|Germanophobia]]<ref name="crozier" /> as well as his anti-Polish attitude<ref name="Niepodległość page 58"/> directed against what he defined as the "aggressive, antisemitic and warmongerily imperialist" part of Poland,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aabj_oBCsrMC&q=namier+polish&pg=PA206|title=Citizens of Empire: Jews in the Service of the British Empire (1906–1949)|first1=Stephanie|last1=Chasin|publisher=[[University of California]]|year=2008|isbn=9781109022278|page=206}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> wrote in a newspaper article in 1933:
<blockquote>The whole of Poland's transport system ran towards the mouth of the Vistula.&nbsp;... 90% of Polish exports came from her western provinces.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gTA34DxHx4AC&q=Bernard+Newman+the+new+europe The New Europe, page 91] - by [[Bernard Newman (author)|Bernard Newman]], 1942</ref>&nbsp;... Cutting through of the Corridor has meant a minor amputation for Germany; its closing up would mean strangulation for Poland."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Namier |first=Lewis Bernstein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y702017As5MC&q=Lewis+Bernstein+Namier+In+the+Margin+of+History%E2%80%8E |title=In the Margin of History |date=1969 |publisher=Books for Libraries Press |isbn=978-0-8369-0050-7 |page=44 |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

By 1938, 77.7% of Polish exports left either through Gdańsk (31.6%) or the newly built port of [[Gdynia]] (46.1%)<ref>Przegląd zachodni: Volume 60, Issues 3–4 Instytut Zachodni - 2004, page 42</ref>

==== The Inquiry's opinion ====

[[David Hunter Miller]], in his diary from the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]], noted that the problem of Polish access to the sea was very difficult because leaving the entirety of [[Pomerelia]] under German control meant cutting off millions of Poles from their commercial outlet and leaving several hundred thousand Poles under German rule, while granting such access meant cutting off East Prussia from the rest of Germany. [[The Inquiry]] recommended that both the Corridor and Danzig should have been ceded directly to Poland.

<blockquote>It is believed that the lesser of these evils is preferable, and that the Corridor and Danzig should [both] be ceded to Poland, as shown on map 6. East Prussia, though territorially cut off from the rest of Germany, could easily be assured railroad transit across the Polish corridor (a simple matter as compared with assuring port facilities to Poland), and has, in addition, excellent communication via [[Königsberg]] and the Baltic Sea. In either case a people is asked to entrust large interests to the [[League of Nations]]. In the case of Poland they are vital interests; in the case of Germany, aside from [[Prussian nationalism|Prussian sentiment]], they are quite secondary".<ref name="Hunter Miller"/></blockquote>

In the end, The Inquiry's recommendations were only partially implemented: most of [[West Prussia]] was given to Poland, but Danzig became a [[Free City of Danzig|Free City]].