Poles in Transnistria
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Polish diaspora |
The history of Polish people in Transnistria goes back centuries when the communities along the lower
History
Beginnings
There is a lack of clarity as to whether Transnistria was part of Kievan Rus' beginning in the 11th century, and if so, to what degree. After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' because of the Mongol Invasions, this area came under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century as part of Podolia. Much of Transnistria remained a part of Bracław Voivodeship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Second Partition of Poland in 1793.
In 1504 the Crimean Khanate conquered the southernmost portion of Transnistria south of the Iagorlîc/Jagorlyk river along with the rest of the Yedisan region which remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire until 1792. Thus the border between the two states was set on the Iagorlîc river, referred to as the Iahurlîc in Moldavian chronicles,[1] and in Polish source as Jahorlik or Jahorłyk[2]
Polish Colonization
Because of the massive slave raids and invasions launched by the Crimean Khanate, much of the southern region of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was sparsely populated. To remedy this, the 16th and 17th centuries Polish kings, in particular Stephen Báthory and Sigismund III Vasa, sponsored large-scale Polish colonization of Podolia, which includes the territories of modern Transnistria. Polish magnates were given large tracts of sparsely settled lands, while Polish petty gentry managed the estates and served as soldiers. Serfs were enticed to move into these territories by a temporary 20 year exemption from serfdom. Although most serfs were from western Ukrainian lands, a significant number of Polish serfs from central Poland also settled these estates. The latter tended to assimilate into Ukrainian society and some of them even took part in the Cossack uprisings against the landlords. Polish magnates from Ukraine played a significant political and social role within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as did the native nobility in these areas which Polonized over time.
Polish rule at this time involved the expansion of
Incorporation into the Russian Empire
At the time of the
Under the Russian Empire, Polish society tended to stratify. The Polish magnates prospered under the Russian Empire, at the expense of the serfs and of the poorer Polish nobility whom they pushed from the land. The wealthy magnates tended to oppose the Polish insurrections, identified with their Russian landlord peers, and often moved to St. Petersburg. The Polish national movement in Ukrainian lands thus tended to be led by members of the middle and poorer gentry, who formed secret societies in places with large Polish populations.[3] As a result of an anti-Russian insurrection in 1830, the Polish middle and poorer nobility were stripped of their legal noble status by the Russian government, and Russification policies were enacted. These Polish nobles, legally reduced to the status of peasants, often assimilated into the Ukrainian language and culture.[4] Many of the poorer Polish nobles who became Ukrainianized in language, culture and political loyalty constituted an important element of the growing Ukrainian national movement.[4] In spite of the ongoing migration of Poles from central Poland into Ukrainian lands,[3] by the end of the nineteenth century only three percent of the total population of these territories reported that Polish was their first language.[4]
Between the World Wars
After
The area that would become Transnistria was organized into the
After World War II until the collapse of the USSR
The number of Poles in all of the regions within the
Present
The
As a consequence of the Russian and Soviet policies towards Polish culture, only a small percentage of Poles in Transnistria today speak Polish. Some Transnistrian politicians such as former First Lady Nina Shtanski and Yevgeni Zubov are open about their Polish roots.[6]
Since 2013, Stowarzyszenie Kultury Polskiej "Jasna Góra" - the "
See also
- Moldova–Poland relations
- Polish minority in Soviet Union
- Demographics of Transnistria
- Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)
References
- ^ Sava, p.5
- ^ [Geographical_Dictionary_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland], 1880–1902, b.III p.372 http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_III/372
- ^ a b c d e Poles in Ukraine. Entry: Encyclopedia of Ukraine, pp. 86-94 Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto Press
- ^ a b c d (2003). Timothy Snyder. The Reconstruction of Nations. New Haven: Yale University Press
- ^ "Narodziny czy odrodzenie? Polska tożsamość w Mołdawii", Jarosław Derlicki, Instytut Archeologii i Etnografii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, vol XLVII, 2003, no.1-2, pp. 171-184
- ^ a b Kosienkowski, Marcin (2012-10-05). "POLSKA I NADDNIESTRZE: CZAS NA WSPÓŁPRACĘ?". New Eastern Europe. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "2004 Transnistria Census info". Archived from the original on 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
- ^ Stowarzyszenie Kultury Polskiej "Jasna Góra" Archived 2013-07-03 at archive.today
External links
- Jutrzenka, a newsletter of Poles in Moldova (published since 1996; online since 2004)