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Gdask  (g-dänsk, -dnsk, -dnsk) also Dan·zig (dnsg, däntsk)

A city of northern Poland near the mouth of the Vistula River on the Gulf of Gdask, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. An old Slavic settlement, Gdask was a part of the Hanseatic League after the 13th century and was later ruled by Poland and Prussia before it was made a free city again by the Treaty of Versailles (1919). Hitler's demand that Gdask be returned to Germany led to his invasion of Poland and the beginning of World War II (September 1939). The city was liberated by the Russians in 1945 and subsequently restored to Poland. It is a major port and shipbuilding center. Population: 458,000.