Exploitation of the Vistula River from earliest times to the outbreak of World War II

Abstract

Since the earliest times, the Vistula River has been an artery used for movement of people, commodities and cultures. The settlement network that began to develop along it constituted the foundation of the emerging Polish state in the Early Middle Ages. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights appeared downriver. After the outbreak of Prussia and Gdańsk Pomerania, they formed a state with a powerful economy and army. During their reign along the Vistula River (Wisła), many castles and fortified towns guarding its particular sections were erected. After the end of the Thirteen Years’ War (1466), almost the whole river with its tributaries was incorporated within the limits of Poland or countries recognising its authority. From the middle of the 16th century to the mid-17th century, the Vistula River performed the role of the main Polish trade route for many products sent to Western European countries through Gdańsk. The city was then experiencing the apogee of its magnificence. Cereals were the most important commodity back then. The gentry – the producers – and many towns intermediating in trade were growing rich thanks to the good economic situation. Then, the rich folklore of raftsmen immortalised by poets and pictured by painters came into being. In the 18th century, changes in agriculture in Western European countries and increasing competition caused depression in the export of Polish cereals. In addition, the partitions of Poland affected its balance. Because of this, the Vistula River flowed through three states: Austria, Russia and Prussia. All of them conducted separate policies concerning the river, which caused its decline as an important European water artery. In the 19th century, it remained unregulated. Germans performed the most works in the lower course of the river, while Russians did the least in its middle course. In the period of Second Polish Republic, the revived state had new needs, thus river development was not its priority investment. Museums in Tczew and Wyszogród present the history of the Vistula River.