Gdynia has a history of thousands of years. Formerly, the city was a small fishing village on the Baltic Sea to the west of Gdansk.
After the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the town with other parts of the then-German Empire, were ceded to Poland and became known as "Polish Corridor". At Versailles, also, the Gdansk city and surrounding area were declared Free State Danzig (of which Gdynia was not a part) under the League of Nations and under Poland's control.
Poland subsequently built a huge military and commercial harbour at Gdynia. By 1934, the Gdynia harbour had overtaken the former largest Prussian harbour at Gdansk in terms of size. Poland also built up its military presence significantly in the area.
It was occupied by German forces from 1939 to 1945 and named Gotenhafen. It was recaptured in March 1945 by the Russians. Its modern German name is Gdingen.
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