Haren/Maczków as an actual independant state

[Kaloryferowy]

So as some of you may know between 1945 and 1948, the town of Haren in northwestern Germany, near the border with the Netherlands, was controlled by Stanisław Maczek's First Tank Division. It extended over 6,500 square kilometres to include the districts of Aschendorf, Meppen and Lingen as well as the counties of Bentheim, Bensbrück and Cloppenburg with all their villages. Thousands of Poles, most of whom were liberated from concentration camps and POW camps, moved here. Streets, villages, etc, were renamed to Polish names, and for a few years it basically became a Polish town.

However, three years later this occupation had concluded and the town was returned to its original German inhabitants.

Now my scenario for keeping Haren in the polish hands goes somewhat like this. The berlin blockade of 1948 happens a year earlier, in 1947. It goes roughly the same for soviets as it did IOTL but with an added consequence. In a retaliatory power play USA officially recognises the city of Maczków (along with the rest of the polish occupation zone) as a polish state.

And if so, how would this independent microstate, sandwiched between the Netherlands and Germany, develop? Economically, politically, etc.
I'm guessing it would end up being one of the founding members of the EU.

 

[Ato]

A very interesting idea. Maczków (Haren) by itself would probably not be viable as an independent state (or at least a NATO dependent state), which probably contributed to it's OTL temporary nature. However if the Allies are given a reason to be even harsher towards the Germans, perhaps a limited but abortive Wehrwolf terror campaign during the occupation, and as you suggested the timetable of confrontation with the Soviets is moved forward a year ot two, I could see agitation from nationalist poles for their own enclave carved out from the occupation zone being seriously considered, especially if the facts on the ground meant that such an enclave was already extant.

Though I think to be viable it would have to be extended all they way up the west bank of the Ems to the Dollard. This would leave create a Transnistrian-esque border march between the Netherlands and West Germany. Politically I think these West Poles would be very pro NATO, and EU integration. You might even see major NATO installations and headquarters being positioned there. I would also think that the West Poles would end up being a very heavily militarized society with high numbers of their population being part of their Free Polish Army.
Economically the West Polish enclave would probably highly dependant on subsidy from other European powers and the USA, which probably be done just to stick it to the Communists, and would likely be achieved by the aforementioned positioning of major NATO bases in the enclave.
It like b comes the seat of the Polish government in exile, though now that it occupies what it consider to be polish territory it probably just calls itself the true Polish Government, and refers to communist Poland as provinces under Soviet occupation. For their part the Soviets likely refuse to recognise them and refers to the enclave as a militarised puppet of the US (which it kind of would be). This might lead to a long running dispute at international events where if one Poland is invited, the other refuses to attend.

The end of the cold war will be an interesting time, as though there will probably be a strong urge to return to the homeland after the iron curtain falls, the West Poles will be much better off economically than their ex -communist relatives and many people would have put down deep enough roots not to want to move. Though the enclave would likely see a significant downturn when major NATO troop drawdowns in Germany remove much of the states, economic driving force.

I could see moves made to unify with the Republic of Poland but they would likely come to nothing. The unified Germans might offer them membership as a their own Land in the BRD, and it might be considered if only on the basis of the deep economic links that would have formed between the enclave and West Germany over the previous fourty years. Though ultimately I think four decades of Polish nationalism in the enclave and significant revanchist feeling in Germany that the enclave should be returned and the Poles go home would scupper that idea too.
Ultimately they either have to transition to some sort of high tech service economy or throw themselves at the mercy of EU subsidies, something the EU might be quite willing to do considering their central location. I could see significant EU offices moving in to replace the jobs lost by the NATO bases.

 

[Kaloryferowy]

A very interesting idea. Maczków (Haren) by itself would probably not be viable as an independent state (or at least a NATO dependent state), which probably contributed to it's OTL temporary nature. However if the Allies are given a reason to be even harsher towards the Germans, perhaps a limited but abortive Wehrwolf terror campaign during the occupation, and as you suggested the timetable of confrontation with the Soviets is moved forward a year ot two, I could see agitation from nationalist poles for their own enclave carved out from the occupation zone being seriously considered, especially if the facts on the ground meant that such an enclave was already extant.

Though I think to be viable it would have to be extended all they way up the west bank of the Ems to the Dollard. This would leave create a Transnistrian-esque border march between the Netherlands and West Germany. Politically I think these West Poles would be very pro NATO, and EU integration. You might even see major NATO installations and headquarters being positioned there. I would also think that the West Poles would end up being a very heavily militarized society with high numbers of their population being part of their Free Polish Army.
Economically the West Polish enclave would probably highly dependant on subsidy from other European powers and the USA, which probably be done just to stick it to the Communists, and would likely be achieved by the aforementioned positioning of major NATO bases in the enclave.
It like b comes the seat of the Polish government in exile, though now that it occupies what it consider to be polish territory it probably just calls itself the true Polish Government, and refers to communist Poland as provinces under Soviet occupation. For their part the Soviets likely refuse to recognise them and refers to the enclave as a militarised puppet of the US (which it kind of would be). This might lead to a long running dispute at international events where if one Poland is invited, the other refuses to attend.

The end of the cold war will be an interesting time, as though there will probably be a strong urge to return to the homeland after the iron curtain falls, the West Poles will be much better off economically than their ex -communist relatives and many people would have put down deep enough roots not to want to move. Though the enclave would likely see a significant downturn when major NATO troop drawdowns in Germany remove much of the states, economic driving force.

I could see moves made to unify with the Republic of Poland but they would likely come to nothing. The unified Germans might offer them membership as a their own Land in the BRD, and it might be considered if only on the basis of the deep economic links that would have formed between the enclave and West Germany over the previous fourty years. Though ultimately I think four decades of Polish nationalism in the enclave and significant revanchist feeling in Germany that the enclave should be returned and the Poles go home would scupper that idea too.
Ultimately they either have to transition to some sort of high tech service economy or throw themselves at the mercy of EU subsidies, something the EU might be quite willing to do considering their central location. I could see significant EU offices moving in to replace the jobs lost by the NATO bases.

I do feel a full transnistrian type border maybe too optimistic of a scanerio, mostly due to the combined protest from both Germany and Netherlands. I think the encalve wouldnt go further north then Neukampferfehn. Lets say that the size of the enclave is 7500km2, giving any more to what would be considered at the time an temporary entity might not go over well. I also doubt that the nation will be heavily militarized society. At its best the polish division in control of Maczków had 18 000 crew members, so the bulk of the population would be the local german population and displaced polish citizens from germany and other western countries (moving so many germans en masse likely wouldnt be very popular in the states due to the similarities to what the soviets were doing in Poland and Eastern Germany and the polish division didnt have enough manpower to conduct the operation alone). In the end i think Haren would likely develop its own national identity a mix of german and polish cultures with a largely bilingual society.

As for economics I do agree with you. Countries of this size typicaly focus on either banking or high tech. Failing that they would likely be reliant from subsidies.

Time for a bit of storytelling
On the eve of cold war a new hope for the polish citizenry arrives. Outraged by the attempt to block western Berlin president Truman organized a retaliatory action. On october 9th general Stanisław Maczek receives a telegram. Inside is the order to form a idependant polish state inside western Germany, approved by 16 NATO mambers. This new entity was to be formed on the land of former german counties of Oldenburg, Leer, Emsland, Bentheim and Cloppenburg with the city of Maczków (formerly Haren) as the nations capital. The announcement of a new Poland has been met with cautious scepticism from many displaced polish citizens. Many viewed this new entity as temporary and were unwilling to travel there only to be forced out a few years later. Despite this general attitude hundreds of thousands poles still chose to travel the newly formed country. This first wave of displaced polish citizens marked the begining of the story of this enclave as a independant nation. In three months the first constitution has been written, based largely on the french and dutch models. Thanks to american subsidies the country was on its way to becoming a fully fledged nation. The city of Maczków was undergoing a rapid transformation, many building redone to fit the architectorial style of the second polish republic. Making use of natural resources of the land the first power grid was constructed, one running on petroleum. In February the first presidencial election took place. In a symbolic ceremony gen. Maczek relinquished all his emergency powers, paving way for the president and his cabinet.

So what happens next?

 

[marcinL]

I think that something the size of Andora (or San Marino) would be more plausible, and the territory could be some sort of an indefinite lease, with a symbolic payment. The entire enterprise would be rather symbolic, anyway. Perhaps Leer would be better than Haren as it has a sea port.

 

[Kaloryferowy]

I think that something the size of Andora (or San Marino) would be more plausible, and the territory could be some sort of an indefinite lease, with a symbolic payment. The entire enterprise would be rather symbolic, anyway. Perhaps Leer would be better than Haren as it has a sea port.

True its main objective is to be a symbol (at least in the eyes of America). Though I do think thats precisely why an San Marino size nation wont cut it. For one it wont house even a percantage of the displaced population which will not give it any more legitimacy. Secondly its a show of strenght, it needs to be visible for best effect. Soviets wont care there is a single city under a polish banner but a functioning enclave the size of flanders might do the trick.

I do concede that Leer might be a better option for a capitol

Now for the economic side of Republic of Poland:
The president Ludwig Maurycy Landau had been left with the herculean task of creating a nation in a foreign land. A quick assesment revealed that the new found nation had not been blessed with many natural resources to draw from, sporting only a medium sized amounts of Petroloum. While their export could boost their future economy the source was not big enough to sustain them on its own. The port in Leer was also a benefit to the nation however its size largely limited its capabilities. The location was too narrow to allow larger naval vessels to dock. The nation did have a significant resource, one that Landau was keen to utilize. Over 1,5 million poles, most former displaced citizens lucky enough to end up on the allied side by the end of the war. Ludwig and his cabinet spent the next eight years (managing to win his second term by a wide margin) spending american subsidies funding education. For many years the Republic of Poland had been a source of cheap labour. The country enjoyed a significant economical growth, sitting comfortably behind western Germany. Overtime, as the country grew richer their main export became more specialized, with a higher profit margins. RoP became a notable european exporter of technological goods with many famous brands like Unitra, Wilk or FSO having their main headquarters here.


*I wanted to give this alt country a happy ending of sort so I steered it out to be a economic hybrid between south korea/taiwan. To make this economic growth believable i had to ressurect Landau, a noted economist who was saddly killed by Gestapo during ww2. In this scenario he and his family narrowly escape, waiting out the war in Italy under false names. His background as an economist and his notable achievements serving in the polish underground made him perfect for the role of the nations first new president.