The Free City of Danzig (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''Ville libre de Dantzig''; German: ''Freie Stadt Danzig''; Polish: ''Wolne Miasto Gdańsk''), sometimes referred to as the Republic of Danzig (

: ''République de Dantzig''; German: ''Republik Danzig''), was a semi-independent city-state established by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

on 9 September 1807, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars following the capture of the city in the siege of Danzig in May. After the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, Danzig was re-incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. Duchy of Warsaw and Republic of Danzig

Prussia had acquired the City of Danzig in the course of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. After the defeat of King

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

at the 1806

Battle of Jena–Auerstedt The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (; older spelling: ''Auerstädt'') were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Pruss ...

, according to the Franco-Prussian Treaty of Tilsit of 9 July 1807, the territory of the free state was carved out from lands that made up part of the West Prussia province. It consisted of the city of Danzig (now

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Poland) along with its rural surroundings on the mouth of Vistula including Oliva, together with the Hel Peninsula and its

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

as well as the southern half of the Vistula Spit up to Narmeln. The Republic was officially proclaimed on 21 July 1807, after the

troops had handed over the city on May 27. Prussia and the Kingdom of Saxony under Frederick Augustus I, also Duke of Warsaw, were appointed guarantee powers. Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre, commander of the Danzig siege, received the honorific title of ' from the hands of Napoleon, however, the actual ruler of the city was the French governor General Jean Rapp. The citizens had to accommodate Napoleon's forces and to pay large tributes in the preparation of the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

in 1812. After the French retreat, the

Imperial Russian The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

forces laid siege to the city from late January to 29 November 1813, and the remaining 40,000 French soldiers finally withdrew on 2 January 1814. Although the Prussian authorities made it the capital of West Prussia and the administrative centre of the , the autonomy of the city was significantly reduced.

See also