THE MODERN POLISH FRONTIERS 369Galicia. In 1918-19, it was immediately accepted as the natural frontier between
Poland and Czechoslovakia. In more than four hundred miles, there were only
three gaps in the watershed — at Spisz, at Orawa, and at Cieszyn. Each of these
teacups gave rise to protracted storms.^5
The district of Spisz - in Czech, Spis; in Slovak, Spissko; in Magyar, Szepes',
in German, Zips', in Latin, Scepusium - lay in the valley of the upper Poprad, a
tributary of the Vistula which cuts a deep defile through the main Carpathian
chain to the east of Podhale. Its medieval history can be traced to 1108, when it
passed into Hungarian possession as the dowry of Krzywousty's daughter,
Judith. In 1412, thirteen towns in the northern part of the district - Nowa Wies,
Wlochy, Podegrodzie, Poprad, Wielka, Sobota, Straze, Maciejowice, Biala,
Wierzbow, Lubica, Ruskinowice, Twarozna — were returned to the Polish
Crown as security for a loan that was never repaid; and for the next three cen-
turies they were ruled by a Polish Starosta as an enclave within the Kingdom of
Hungary. In modern history, Spisz figured as the first territory to be seized by
the Habsburgs in 1769 in anticipation of the First Partition. It was on these
grounds, to right the ancient wrong, that it was claimed by the Polish Delegation
to the Peace Conference in Paris. From the ethnic point of view, the local popu-
lation was extremely mixed. The Gorale (Highlanders) of the mountain villages
regarded themselves as a race apart, and cared little for the lowland politicians
whether they came from Warsaw, Budapest, Bratislava, or Prague. The towns
contained a strong contingent of German-speaking Saxons, and an important
residue of ex-Hungarian soldiers and officials. From the practical point of view,
the problem had been pre-empted by the uninvited presence of the
Czechoslovak Army. After several fruitless attempts to arbitrate in this and
other disputes, the Allied Powers decided on 28 July 1920 to impose a settlement
on Poland and Czechoslovakia. As part of their judgement, five-sixths of the dis-
trict of Spisz was awarded to Czechoslovakia, and only one-sixth to Poland.
The Poles were loath to submit; and refused to release the village of Jaworzyna
until a further ruling by the League of Nations in December 1923 went against
them. The division of Spisz, as ordained by the Allied Powers, was effective
from March 1924 to October 1938, and was revived in 1945.
The district of Orawa - in Czech, Orava; in Slovak, Oravsko; in Magyar,
Arva — lay some forty miles to the west astride a river of the same name flowing
into the southern watershed. The settlement of 28 July 1920 left only one village,
Jabtonka, on the Polish side.
The Duchy of Cieszyn (in Czech Tesin, in German Tescheri) sat in the centre
of the Moravian Gate. It controlled the only low-level route across the mountains
between the Black Sea and Bavaria. In the era before 1918, it formed the eastern
half of the Duchy of Troppau and Teschen, commonly known as the province of
'Austrian Silesia'. At Bogumin (in Czech Bohumin, in German Oderberg), it
commanded a key junction on the transcontinental Berlin to Baghdad Railway.
At Karwina (Karvinna), there was a valuable coalfield, and at Witkowice
(Vitkovice) and Trzyniec (Tfynec) important steel-mills, recently acquired by a