Curzon Line

The Curzon line was a boundary line proposed in 1919 by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon, as a border between Poland, to the west, and Russia and Ukraine, to the east. It was intended to represent an approximate ethnographic border between these countries, although whether it in fact did so has been hotly disputed by Poles ever since. This line was used in 1939 as the basis for the German and Soviet zones following their occupation of Poland, and again in 1945 as the basis for the permanent border between Poland and the Soviet Union.

[image:ac.polandmap.jpg|1944 Poland Map]]
A 1944 map showing the approximate course of the Curzon Line

below is unedited text awaiting incorporation into this article

The term was used for the first time during the Spa Conference in 1920 to designate a line suggested by the Supreme Council of the Allied and Associated Powers on December 8, 1919, in the following declaration:

"The Principal Allied and Associated Powers, recognizing that it is important as soon as possible to put a stop to the existing conditions of political uncertainty, in which the Polish nation is placed, and without prejudging the provisions, which must in the future define the eastern frontiers of Poland, hereby declare that they recognize the right of the Polish Government to proceed, according to the conditions previously provided by the Treaty with Poland of June 28, 1919, to organize a regular administration of the territories of the former Russian Empire situated to the West of the line described below."

 (The detailed description of the line follows.)

"The rights that Poland may be able to establish over the territories situated to the East of the said line are expressly reserved."

Poland had appealed to the Allied and Associated Powers to intervene in the Polish-Russian war, and they declared their readiness to do so, provided Poland signed an agreement submitted to her Government on July 10, 1920, under which Poland agreed to promote and to sign without any delay an armistice, the first condition of which would be the withdrawal of the Polish army from the line of battle to the line indicated by the Peace Conference on December 8, 1919.

Ethnography Survey of Eastern Poland

This territory was inhabited by 13,199,000 people (1939), or 37.3% of the whole population of the Polish Republic.

Northeastern Poland

The northeastern territory of Poland, between the boundary defined in the Treaty of Riga and the Ribbentrop-Molotov Line (marked on the map with the letter "A") comprises 53,732 square miles and has 5,803,900 inhabitants.

Classified according to the mother tongue of the population, there were:

- Poles: 1,867,700 (32.1 %), - Jews: 623,800 (10.6 %), - Ukrainians and Ruthenians: 1,324,700 (22.8 %), - White Ruthenians: 993,000 (17.1 %), - Russians: 118,900 (2.4 %), - Lithuanians: 75,800 (1.3 %), - Germans: 53,500 (0.9 %), - Others and not given: 746,500 (12.8 %). Total: 5,803,900 (100 %).

Wilno is the largest city and the cultural center of this area. The population of Wilno (195,100 inhabitants) was divided as follows:

- Poles: 128,600 (65.9 %), - Jews: 54,600 (28.0 %), - Ukrainians and Ruthenians: 200 (0.1 %), - White Ruthenians: 1,700 (0.9 %), - Russians: 7,400 (3.8 %), - Lithuanians: 1,600 (0.8 %), - Germans: 53,500 (0.9 %), - Others and not given: 400 (0.2 %). Total: 195,100 (100 %).

Southeastern Poland

Southeastern Poland, otherwise known as "Eastern Galicia" (marked on the map with the letter "B") comprises 23,874 square miles and had 6,208,000 inhabitants. This population was divided as follows:

- Poles: 2,926,300 (47.1%), - Jews - Ukrainians and Ruthenians: 2,814,300 (45,3%), - Russians: 1,100 (0.0%), - Germans: 31,00 (0.5%), - Others and not given: 13,700 (0.3%), Total: 6,208,100 (100%).

Lwow is the largest city of this territory and the center of its tradition and culture. It has 312,200 inhabitants, divided as follows:

- Poles: 198,200 (63.5%), - Jews: 75,300 (24.1%), - Ukrainians and Ruthenians: 35,100 (11.2%), - Russians: 500 (0.2%), - Germans: 2,500 (0.8%), - Others arid not given: 600 (0.2%). Total: 312,200 (100%)

Eastern Poland as a Whole

Covering the whole territory occupied by the Soviets in September 1939, under the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement (77,606 square miles), the figures according to the 1931 census are;

- Poles: 4,794,000 (39.9%), - Jews: 1,045,000 (8.4%), - Ukrainians and Ruthenians: 4,139,000 (34.4%), - White Ruthenians: 993,000 (8.5%), - Russians: 120,000 (1.0%), - Lithuanians: 76,000 (0.6%), - Germans: 85,000 (0.7%), - Czechs: 32,000 (0.3%) - Others and not given: 728,000 (6.0%).

It is estimated that eight years later, i. e., on August 31, 1939, that the number of Polish citizens on this same territory was 13,199,000.

Classified according to the mother tongue there were:

- Poles: 39.9%, - Lithuanians: 0.6%, - Jews: 8.4% - Germans: 0.7%, - Ukrainians and Ruthenians: 34.4%, - Czechs: 0.3%, - White Ruthenians: 8.5%, - Others and not given: 6.2%, - Russians: 1.0%.

Religion

Religious statistics for Eastern Poland are as follows:

- Catholics: 7,066,000 (58.8%), - Rom. Cath. (Latin rite): 4,016,000 (33.4%), - Greek Cath. (Uniate): 3,050,000 (25.4%), - Greek Orthodox: 3,529,000 (29.3%), - Protestants: 99,000 (0.8%), - Other Christians: 81,000 (0.7%), - Hebrew: 1,222,000 (10.2%), - Other non-Christians: 7,000 (0.1%), - Unknown and not given: 8,000 (0.1%). Total: 12,012,000 (100.0%).

from ukrainian encyclopaedia

Curzon Line. Conventional designation of a line running through Hrodna, Yalivka, Nemyriv, Brest, Dorohusk, Ustyluh, east of Hrubeshiv, through Kryliv, west of Peremyshl, to the Carpathian Mountains, which was to constitute the eastern border of Poland, including Poland's border with Ukraine. The Curzon Line was first designated as Poland's eastern border by the Allied Supreme Council on 8 December 1919. In July 1920, during the Soviet advance on Warsaw, the same line was proposed by the British foreign secretary, G. Curzon (hence the name ‘Curzon Line’), as the border between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Peace Treaty of Riga between Poland and the Soviet republics (1921) gave Poland some 135,000 sq km of territory east of the Curzon Line. On 23 August 1939 the Curzon Line was accepted (with corrections in favor of the USSR) as the German–Soviet boundary in the pact between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Finally, the Curzon Line was accepted as the Polish–Soviet boundary at the Yalta Conference (February 1945), this time with corrections in favor of Poland. It was later confirmed by a treaty between the USSR and Poland, signed in Moscow on 16 August 1945. In 1951, by mutual agreement between Poland and the USSR, further frontier adjustments were made.