Editing Szczecin (section)

==== Post-war ====
[[File:0907 Pomnik Czynu Polaków Szczecin SZN 1.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Monument to the Polish Endeavor]], dedicated to three Generations of Poles in [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship|Western Pomerania]]: the pre-war Poles in Szczecin, the Poles who rebuilt the city after [[World War II]], and the modern generation]]

While in 1945 the number of pre-war inhabitants dropped to 57,215 on 31 October 1945, the [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|systematic expulsion of Germans]] started on 22 February 1946 and continued until late 1947, in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. In December 1946 about 17,000 German inhabitants remained, while the number of Poles living in the city reached 100,000.<ref name=Dok/> To ease the tensions between settlers from different regions, and help overcome fear caused by the continued presence of the Soviet troops, a special event was organised in April 1946 with 50,000 visitors in the partly destroyed city centre.<ref name=mcnamara3>{{cite book|last=McNamara|first=Paul|chapter=Competing National and Regional Identities in Poland's Baltic|title=History of Communism in Europe|volume=3|year=2012|isbn=9786068266275|pages=30–31; p. 31 |others=Bogdan C. Iacob |publisher=Zeta Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70ECBQAAQBAJ}}</ref> Settlers from Central Poland made up about 70% of Szczecin's new population.<ref name=musekamp20>{{cite book|last=Musekamp|first=Jan|chapter=Der Königsplatz in Stettin als Beispiel kultureller Aneignung nach 1945|title=Wiedergewonnene Geschichte. Zur Aneignung von Vergangenheit in den Zwischenräumen Mitteleuropas|volume=22|series=Veröffentlichungen des Deutschen Polen-Instituts Darmstadt|editor1-first=Peter Oliver|editor1-last=Loew|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-last=Pletzing|editor3-first=Thomas|editor3-last=Serrier|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|year=2006|isbn=3-447-05297-X|language=de|pages=19–35; p. 20}}</ref> In addition to Poles, Ukrainians from [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union]] settled there.<ref name=musekamp20/> Also Poles repatriated from [[Harbin]], China and [[Greeks]], [[refugees of the Greek Civil War]], settled in Szczecin in the following years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://szczecin.tvp.pl/42971441/wyjatkowa-wystawa-o-historii-w-chinskiej-mandzurii-i-jej-finale-w-szczecinie|title=Wyjątkowa wystawa o historii w chińskiej Mandżurii i jej finale w Szczecinie|website=TVP3 Szczecin|author=Przemysław Plecan|access-date=15 May 2021|language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kubasiewicz|first=Izabela|editor-last1=Dworaczek|editor-first1=Kamil|editor-last2=Kamiński|editor-first2=Łukasz|year=2013|title=Letnia Szkoła Historii Najnowszej 2012. Referaty|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|pages=117–118|chapter=Emigranci z Grecji w Polsce Ludowej. Wybrane aspekty z życia mniejszości}}</ref> In 1945 and 1946, the city was the starting point of the northern route used by the Jewish underground organisation [[Brichah]] to channel Jewish [[displaced person]]s from [[Central and Eastern Europe]] to the [[American occupation zone of Germany|American occupation zone]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Königseder|first=Angelika|chapter=Durchgangsstation Berlin. Jüdische Displaced Persons 1945–1948|title=Überlebt und unterwegs. Jüdische Displaced Persons im Nachkriegsdeutschland|editor-last=Giere|editor-first=Jacqueline|publisher=Campus Verlag|year=1997|isbn=3-593-35843-3|language=de|pages=189–206; pp. 191–192|display-editors=etal}}</ref>

Szczecin was rebuilt, and the city's industry was expanded. At the same time, Szczecin became a major Polish industrial centre and an important seaport (particularly for [[Silesia]]n coal) for Poland, [[Czechoslovakia]] and [[East Germany]]. Cultural expansion was accompanied by a campaign resulting in the "removal of all German traces".<ref name=musekamp2223>{{cite book|last=Musekamp|first=Jan|chapter=Der Königsplatz in Stettin als Beispiel kultureller Aneignung nach 1945|title=Wiedergewonnene Geschichte. Zur Aneignung von Vergangenheit in den Zwischenräumen Mitteleuropas|volume=22|series=Veröffentlichungen des Deutschen Polen-Instituts Darmstadt|editor1-first=Peter Oliver|editor1-last=Loew|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-last=Pletzing|editor3-first=Thomas|editor3-last=Serrier|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|year=2006|isbn=3-447-05297-X|language=de|pages=19–35; pp. 22–23}}</ref> In 1946, [[Winston Churchill]] prominently mentioned the city in his [[Iron Curtain]] speech: "From Stettin in the Baltic to [[Trieste]] in the [[Adriatic]] an iron curtain has descended across the Continent".<ref>British Information Services [https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/FO371-51624.jpg excerpt of Churchill's speech]</ref><ref>Peter H. Merkl, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dduIXz8kpEsC&dq=Winston+Churchill+Iron+curtain+Szczecin&pg=PA338 German Unification]'', Penn State Press, 2004, p.{{nbsp}}338</ref>

[[File:Strajk w stoczni szczecinskiej 1980.jpg|thumb|[[Szczecin Shipyard]] workers' strike against the [[Polish United Workers' Party|communist government authorities]] in Poland, August 1980]]

The city witnessed [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] revolts in 1956,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.szczecin.uw.gov.pl/?type=article&action=view&id=14767|title=Upamiętnienie wydarzeń z 10 grudnia 1956 r|website=szczecin.uw.gov.pl|date=10 December 2019|access-date=21 April 2023|language=pl}}</ref> [[Polish 1970 protests|1970]] and 1980.<ref name=pr>{{cite web|url=https://www.polskieradio.pl/39/156/Artykul/674436,Porozumienie-szczecinskie-krok-ku-wolnosci|title=Porozumienie szczecińskie: krok ku wolności|website=PolskieRadio.pl|access-date=15 May 2021|language=pl}}</ref> On 30 August 1980, first of the four ''[[August Agreements]]'', which led to the first legalisation of the trade union [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]], was signed in Szczecin.<ref name=pr/> The introduction of [[Martial law in Poland|martial law]] in December 1981 met with a strike by the dockworkers of Szczecin shipyard, joined by other factories and workplaces in a [[general strike]]. All these were suppressed by the authorities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naszemiasto.stetinum.pl/pl/wiadomosci/kalendarium/Dzis_rocznica_wprowadzenia_stanu_wojennego|title=Dziś rocznica wprowadzenia stanu wojennego – Szczecin|trans-title=Today is the anniversary of the imposition of martial law – Szczecin|publisher=Naszemiasto.stetinum.pl|access-date=3 June 2011}}{{dead link|date=March 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.13grudnia81.pl/sw/galeria-1/szczecin/6067,Manifestacje-studenckie.html |title=Wprowadzenie stanu wojennego w Szczecinie – Wiadomości – Szczecin |publisher=Sedinum.stetinum.pl |date=13 December 2009 |access-date=2011-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222123959/http://www.13grudnia81.pl/sw/galeria-1/szczecin/6067,Manifestacje-studenckie.html |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> Pope [[John Paul II]] visited the city on 11{{nbsp}}June 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gs24.pl/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/SZCZECIN/542492938 |title=Papież w Szczecinie |author=Monika Stefanek |date=11 April 2008 |publisher=GS24.pl – Serwis Głosu Szczecińskiego |access-date=19 April 2011 |language=pl}}</ref> Another wave of strikes in Szczecin broke out in [[1988 Polish strikes|1988]] and 1989, which eventually led to the [[Polish Round Table Agreement|Round Table Agreement]] and first [[Contract Sejm|semi-free elections in post-war Poland]].

Szczecin has been the capital of the [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship]] since 1999.