Strip of land that gave Poland access to the Baltic Sea.
Transferred to the newly constituted state of Poland as part of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the corridor, 20 to 70 mi (30 to 110 km) wide, separated eastern Prussia from the main part of Germany. The Germans resented the transfer, though the region had been historically Polish before the partitions of Poland and was inhabited by a Polish majority. When Poland refused to accede to Adolf Hitler 's demands for extraterritorial highways across the corridor and cession of the free port city of Danzig (Gda 0144; sk), Germany seized the pretext to invade Poland (1939), beginning World War II.