Kresy Zachodnie

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This article is part of the series: Territorial changes of Poland in the 20th century History of Poland
Lines
Curzon Line
Oder-Neisse line
Areas
Kresy Wschodnie
Kresy Zachodnie
Recovered Territories
Historical Eastern Germany
Zaolzie
See also
History of Poland

Kresy Zachodnie - (Polish for "Western Borderlands") - term used by Poles, mostly in historical context, to refer to western parts of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that, after Partitions of Poland were annexed by Prussia. This name refers specifically to the regions of Eastern Pommerania, Greater Poland, Warmia, and occasionally Upper Silesia.

This term, styled after Kresy Wschodnie (Eastern Borderlands), was first used by Jan Zachariasiewicz in his novel Na kresach published in 1860, but it did not enter common usage.

The 19th century history of these regions was quite different from the rest of the former Commonwealth. There were uprisings in 1806, 1846, and 1848 but the main battle between the Polish majority and large German minority was for economic domination in these provinces.

After World War I, most of this area became part of the Second Polish Republic as a result of the Greater Poland and Silesian Uprisings and decisions by the victorious Allies.

During the interwar period interbellum most inhabitants of this area supported the politics of Narodowa Demokracja political movement. Polish dictator Józef Piłsudski was treated with considerable reserve or with open enmity. This was due to his collaboration with the Central Powers in World War I, and a perception that during the years when an independent Poland was being created Piłsudski was more interested in fighting for the eastern Kresy Wschodnie to become part of the new state than in fighting for the western Kresy Zachodnie.

After 1945, the name Kresy Zachodnie was also used for the former German Recovered Territories, which were resettled in large part by Poles from Kresy Wschodnie.