Province of Posen

Coordinates: 52°24′N 16°55′E / 52.400°N 16.917°E / 52.400; 16.917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Province of Posen
Provinz Posen (German)
Prowincja Poznańska (Polish)
Province of Prussia
1848–1920
Flag of Province of Posen
Flag
Coat of arms of Province of Posen
Coat of arms

Posen (red) within Prussia (white) and the German Empire (white, beige and red)
CapitalPoznań
Area
 • Coordinates52°24′N 16°55′E / 52.400°N 16.917°E / 52.400; 16.917
 
• 1910
28,970 km2 (11,190 sq mi)
Population 
• 1910
2,099,831
History 
• Established
1848
• Disestablished
1920
Political subdivisions
Bromberg
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Grand Duchy of Posen
Posen–West Prussia
Poznań Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Today part ofPoland

The Province of Posen (

Posen-West Prussia
in 1922.

Posen (present-day Poznań, Poland) was the provincial capital.

Geography

The land is mostly flat, drained by two major watershed systems; the Noteć (German: Netze) in the north and the Warta (Warthe) in the center. Ice Age glaciers left moraine deposits and the land is speckled with hundreds of "finger lakes", streams flowing in and out on their way to one of the two rivers.

geese, but a fair number of sheep
were herded.

The 29,000 km2 (11,000 sq mi) area roughly corresponded to the historic region of

Freiherr vom Stein) in 1810 (1864 in Congress Poland
), but lingered in some practices until the late 19th century. The situation was thus that (primarily) Polish serfs lived and worked side by side with (predominantly) free German settlers. Though the settlers were given initial advantages, in time their lots were not much different. Serfs worked for the noble lord, who took care of them. Settlers worked for themselves and took care of themselves, but paid taxes to the lord.

Typically, an estate would have its

windmills dotted the landscape, reminding one of the earliest settlers, the Dutch
, who began the process of turning unproductive river marshes into fields. This process was finished by the German settlers employed to reclaim unproductive lands (not only marshland) for the host estate owners.

History

Germanisation measures increased under Oberpräsident Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell, who had replaced Duke-governor Antoni Radziwiłł
.

A first

March Revolution of 1848
and triumphantly carried through the streets.

At the same time, a Polish national committee gathered at Poznań and demanded independence. The Prussian Army under General Friedrich August Peter von Colomb at first retired. King Frederick William IV of Prussia as well as the new Prussian commissioner, Karl Wilhelm von Willisen, promised a renewed autonomy status.

However, both among the German-speaking population of the province as well as in the Prussian capital,

Greater Germany, and the Province of Gniezno
, which would have been given to the Poles and remain outside of Germany. Because of the protest of Polish politicians, this plan failed and the integrity of the duchy was preserved.

Nevertheless, when the Prussian troops had finally crushed the Greater Polish revolt, after a series of broken assurances, on 9 February 1849 the Prussian authorities renamed the duchy as the Province of Posen. In spite of that, the territory formally remained outside of the

William II
.

With the unification of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the Province of Posen became part of the German Empire, and the city of Posen was officially named an imperial residence city. Bismarck's hostility towards the Poles was already well known, as in 1861 he had written in a letter to his sister: "Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy for their condition, but if we want to survive we can only exterminate them."[4] His dislike was firmly entrenched in traditions of Prussian mentality and history. There was little need for discussions in Prussian circles, as most of them, including the monarch, agreed with his views.[5] Poles suffered from discrimination by the Prussian state; numerous oppressive measures were implemented to eradicate the Polish community's identity and culture.[6][7]

The Polish inhabitants of Posen, who faced discrimination and even forced Germanization, favored the French side during the Franco-Prussian War. France and Napoleon III were known for their support and sympathy for the Poles under Prussian rule[8][9] Demonstrations at news of Prussian-German victories manifested Polish independence feelings and calls were also made for Polish recruits to desert from the Prussian Army, though these went mostly unheeded. Bismarck regarded these as an indication of a Slavic-Roman encirclement and even a threat to unified Germany.[10] Under German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck renewed Germanisation policies began, including an increase of the police, a colonization commission, and the Kulturkampf. The German Eastern Marches Society (Hakata) pressure group was founded in 1894 and in 1904, special legislation was passed against the Polish population. The legislation of 1908 allowed for the confiscation of Polish-owned property. The Prussian authorities did not permit the development of industries in Posen, so the duchy's economy was dominated by high-level agriculture.

At the end of World War I, the fate of the province was undecided. The Polish inhabitants demanded the region be included in the newly independent

Posen-West Prussia[1] with Schneidemühl as its capital. This province was dissolved in 1938, when its territory was split between the neighboring Prussian provinces of Silesia, Pomerania and Brandenburg. In 1939, the territory of the former province of Posen was annexed by Nazi Germany and made part of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen). By the time World War II ended in May 1945, it had been overrun by the Red Army
.

1919 German army permit to enter the Polish territory of Posen, just ceded to Poland.

Following Germany's defeat in World War in 1945, at

Poland or the Soviet Union. All historical parts of the province came under Polish control, and the remaining ethnic German population was expelled
by force.

Dissolution after 1918

Division of the province between Poland and Weimar Germany after World War I
Posen Area in 1910 in km2 Share of territory Population in 1910 After WW1 part of: Notes
Given to: 28,992 km2 [11] 100% 2,099,831 Divided between:
Poland 26,111 km2 [12] 90% [13] 93% [13]
Poznań Voivodeship
Germany 2,881 km2 10% 7%
Posen-West Prussia[14]
 [Note 1]

Religious and ethnic composition

Main articles: Kulturkampf and Prussian Settlement Commission
Province of Posen, 1905, Polish-speaking areas according to Prussian census shown in yellow

This region was inhabited by a

Germanization policies, the population became more German until the end of the 19th century, when the trend reversed (in the Ostflucht). This was despite efforts of the government in Berlin to prevent it, establishing the Settlement Commission
to buy land from Poles and make it available for sale only to Germans.

The province's large number of resident Germans resulted from constant immigration since the

Jesuit-led Counter-Reformation enacted severe restrictions on German Protestants. At the end of the 18th century when Prussia seized the area during the Partitions of Poland
, thousands of German colonists were sent by Prussian officials to Germanize the area.

During the first half of the 19th century, the German population grew due to state sponsored

Catholic Germans in Posen joined with ethnic Poles in opposition to anti-Catholic Kulturkampf measures[citation needed]. Following the Kulturkampf, the German Empire for nationalist reasons implemented Germanisation programs. One measure was to set up a Settlement Commission
to attract German settlers to counter the Polish population's higher growth. However, this failed, even when accompanied by additional legal measures. The Polish language was eventually banned from use in schools and government offices as part of the Germanisation policies.

Ethnolinguistic composition of the Province of Posen
year 1815[16] 1819[17] 1837[18] 1846[19] 1890[20] 1910[21]
total population[22] 798,000 883,972 1,158,608 1,343,135 1,751,642 2,099,831
% Polish-speaking

(including bilinguals)[23]

 73% 77.0% 65.3% 71.7% 60.1% 61.5% (or 65%)[21]
% German-speaking

(including most of Jews)

25% 17.5% 28.3% 28.3% 39.9% 38.5% (or 35%)[21]

There is a notable disparity between German statistics gathered by the Prussian administration, and the Polish estimates conducted after 1918. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the number of German speakers in the Province of Posen was approximately 38.5% (which included colonists, military stationed in the area and German administration), while after 1918 the number of Germans in the Poznan Voivodship, which closely corresponded to province of Posen, was only 7%. According to

Catholic Germans. Another reason of the disparity is that some border areas of the province, inhabited mostly by Germans (including Piła), remained in Germany after 1918.[26][27] According to Polish authors, the real share of Poles in 1910 was 65% (rather than 61.5% claimed by official census).[21]

Statistics

Area: 28,970 km2

Population

Divisions

Regierungsbezirke Posen (pink) and Bromberg (green) and Kreise subdivisions

Prussian provinces were subdivided into government regions (Regierungsbezirke), in Posen:

These regions were again subdivided into districts called Kreise. Cities would have their own "Stadtkreis" (urban district) and the surrounding rural area would be named for the city, but referred to as a "Landkreis" (rural district). In the case of Posen, the Landkreis was split into two: Landkreis Posen West, and Landkreis Posen East.

Language situation in the province of Posen according to the Prussian census of 1910.

Data is from Prussian censuses, during a period of state-sponsored

Germanization, and includes military garrisons. It is often criticized as being falsified.[28]

Ethnic Structure of the Province of Posen (1910 census) [22]
District Name in Polish Population German % Polish % Bilingual %
Province of Posen - 2,099,831 806,720 38.4% 1,278,890 60.9% 11,823 0.6%
Bromberg Region - 763,947 379,488 49.7% 378,831 49.6% 4,956 0.6%
City of Bromberg Bydgoszcz 57,696 46,720 81.0% 9,350 16.2% 1,557 2.7%
Bromberg Bydgoszcz 96,473 58,783 60.9% 37,049 38.4% 590 0.6%
Czarnikau Czarnków 42,287 30,016 71.0% 12,027 28.4% 179 0.4%
Filehne Wieleń 33,653 23,504 69.8% 9,918 29.5% 217 0.6%
Gnesen Gniezno 56,250 21,461 38.2% 34,643 61.6% 129 0.2%
Hohensalza Inowrocław 77,294 28,394 36.7% 48,599 62.9% 258 0.3%
Kolmar in Posen Chodzież 76,020 61,600 81.0% 13,957 18.4% 427 0.6%
Mogilno Mogilno 49,253 14,274 29.0% 34,659 70.4% 194 0.4%
Schubin Szubin 48,304 21,035 43.5% 26,799 55.5% 403 0.8%
Strelno Strzelno 37,620 7,437 19.8% 30,109 80.0% 67 0.2%
Wirsitz Wyrzysk 67,219 34,235 50.9% 32,446 48.3% 495 0.7%
Witkowo Witkowo 29,094 4,814 16.5% 24,164 83.1% 91 0.3%
Wongrowitz Wągrowiec 52,574 16,309 31.0% 35,955 68.4% 216 0.4%
Znin Żnin 40,210 10,906 27.1% 29,156 72.5% 133 0.3%
Posen Region - 1,335,884 427,232 32.0% 900,059 67.4% 6,867 0.5%
Adelnau Odolanów 36,306 4,681 12.9% 31,537 86.9% 87 0.2%
Birnbaum Międzychód 28,887 14,069 48.7% 14,513 50.2% 264 0.9%
Bomst Babimost 63,120 30,980 49.1% 31,794 50.4% 214 0.3%
Fraustadt Wschowa 28,914 19,663 68.0% 8,902 30.8% 332 1.1%
Gostyn Gostyń 48,326 6,528 13.5% 41,720 86.3% 70 0.1%
Grätz Grodzisk Wielkopolski 36,483 5,997 16.4% 30,280 83.0% 191 0.5%
Jarotschin Jarocin 51,626 9,236 17.9% 42,168 81.7% 197 0.4%
Kempen Kępno 37,050 5,933 16.0% 30,697 82.9% 236 0.6%
Koschmin Koźmin Wielkopolski 33,519 5,719 17.1% 27,685 82.6% 58 0.2%
Kosten Kościan 47,325 5,149 10.9% 42,091 88.9% 50 0.1%
Krotoschin Krotoszyn 46,874 15,822 33.8% 30,709 65.5% 324 0.7%
Lissa Leszno 44,579 27,451 61.6% 16,659 37.4% 426 1.0%
Meseritz Międzyrzecz 53,306 41,059 77.0% 12,207 22.9% 0 0.0%
Neutomischel Nowy Tomyśl 34,292 15,700 45.8% 18,481 53.9% 109 0.3%
Obornik Oborniki 55,880 22,450 40.2% 33,139 59.3% 245 0.4%
Ostrowo Ostrów Wielkopolski 43,887 9,713 22.1% 33,970 77.4% 165 0.4%
Pleschen Pleszew 37,362 6,200 16.6% 30,965 82.9% 128 0.3%
City of Posen Poznań 156,691 65,319 41.7% 89,351 57.0% 1,311 0.8%
Posen West Poznań, Zach. 43,129 7,374 17.1% 35,474 82.3% 236 0.5%
Posen Ost Poznań, Wsch. 49,119 14,102 28.7% 34,795 70.8% 174 0.4%
Rawitsch Rawicz 50,523 21,253 42.1% 29,150 57.7% 92 0.2%
Samter Szamotuły 66,856 17,071 25.5% 49,589 74.2% 143 0.2%
Schildberg Ostrzeszów 37,290 5,470 14.7% 31,100 83.4% 718 1.9%
Schmiegel Śmigiel 36,383 6,626 18.2% 29,544 81.2% 207 0.6%
Schrimm Śrem 57,483 10,017 17.4% 47,088 81.9% 366 0.6%
Schroda Środa Wielkopolska 49,176 6,201 12.6% 42,870 87.2% 92 0.2%
Schwerin Skwierzyna 21,620 19,729 91.3% 1,722 8.0% 142 0.7%
Wreschen Września 39,878 7,720 19.4% 31,859 79.9% 290 0.7%

The German figure includes the German-speaking Jewish population.

Presidents

The province was headed by presidents (German: Oberpräsidenten).

Term Name
1815–1824 Joseph Zerboni de Sposetti
1825–1830 Johann Friedrich Theodor von Baumann
1830–1840 Eduard Heinrich Flottwell
1840–1842 Adolf Heinrich Graf von Arnim-Boitzenburg
1843–1850 Carl Moritz von Beurmann
1850–1851 Gustav Carl Gisbert Heinrich Wilhelm Gebhard von Bonin (First term)
1851–1860 Eugen von Puttkamer 1800–1874
1860–1862 Gustav Carl Gisbert Heinrich Wilhelm Gebhard von Bonin (Second term)
1862–1869 Carl Wilhelm Heinrich Georg von Horn
1869–1873 Otto Graf von Königsmarck
1873–1886 William Barstow von Guenther
1886–1890 Robert Graf von Zedtlitz-Trützschler
1890–1899 Hugo Freiherr von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
1899–1903 Karl Julius Rudolf von Bitter
1903–1911 Wilhelm August Hans von Waldow-Reitzenstein
1911–1914 Philipp Schwartzkopf
1914–1918 Joh. Karl Friedr. Moritz Ferd. v. Eisenhart-Rothe

Notable people

(in alphabetical order)
(see also Notable people of Grand Duchy of Posen)

  • Stanisław Adamski (1875–1967), Polish priest, social and political activist of the Union of Catholic Societies of Polish Workers (Związek Katolickich Towarzystw Robotników Polskich), founder and editor of the 'Robotnik' (Worker) weekly
  • Leo Baeck (1873–1956), German rabbi, scholar, and theologian
  • Tomasz K. Bartkiewcz (1865–1931), Polish composer and organist, co-founder of the Singer Circles Union (Związek Kół Śpiewackich)
  • Wernher von Braun (1912 –1977) German rocket engineer and space architect; a leading figure in the development of rocket technology, from the V1 & V2 to the Saturn rocket that powered the first Moon landing, and credited as being the "Father of Rocket Science"
  • Czesław Czypicki (1855–1926), Polish lawyer from Kożmin, activist for the singers' societies
  • Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish peasant
  • Ferdinand Hansemann (1861–1900), Prussian politician, co-founder of the German Eastern Marches Society
  • Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934), German field marshal and statesman, last President of Germany before Adolf Hitler
  • Straż
    (Guard) society
  • Józef Krzymiński (1858–1940), Polish physician, social and political activist, member of parliament
  • Milosław
  • Bernd Baron von Maydell (1934–2018), German lawyer and author
  • Władysław Niegolewski (1819–85), Polish liberal politician and member of parliament, insurgent in 1846, 1848 and 1863, cofounder of TCL and CTG
  • Cyryl Ratajski (1875–1942), president of Poznań 1922–34
  • Arthur Ruppin (1876–1943), pioneering sociologist, Zionist thinker and leader, co-founder of Tel Aviv
  • Sokół (Falcon) magazine
  • Antoni Stychel (1859–1935), Polish priest, member of parliament, president of the Union of the Catholic Societies of Polish Workers (Związek Katolickich Towarzystw Robotników Polskich)
  • Roman Szymański (1840–1908), Polish political activist, publicist, editor of Orędownik magazine
  • Alfred Trzebinski (1902–1946), SS-physician at several Nazi concentration camps executed for war crimes
  • Aniela Tułodziecka (1853–1932), Polish educational activist of the Warta Society (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Wzajemnego Pouczania się i Opieki nad Dziećmi Warta)
  • Piotr Wawrzyniak (1849–1910), Polish priest, economic and educational activist, patron of Union of the Earnings and Economic Societies (Związek Spółek Zarobkowych i Gospodarczych)

Notes

  1. ^ Western fringes of Prussian Greater Poland remained in Germany after 1918. This area included all of county Skwierzyna and portions of counties Wschowa, Babimost, Międzyrzecz, Chodzież, Wieleń and Czarnków (Netzekreis). It contained 12 towns: Piła, Skwierzyna, Bledzew, Wschowa, Szlichtyngowa, Babimost, Kargowa, Międzyrzecz, Zbąszyń, Brójce, Trzciel and Trzcianka. The area was home to significant Polish minority.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 3-406-54986-1
  2. ^ Andrzej Chwalba - Historia Polski 1795-1918 Wydawnictwo Literackie 2000 Kraków
  3. ISBN 3-525-35165-8
  4. ^ Hajo Holborn: A History of Modern Germany: 1840-1945, Volume 3, page 165
  5. ^ Bismarck Edward Crankshaw pages 1685-1686 Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011
  6. ^ Jerzy Zdrada - Historia Polski 1795-1918 Warsaw Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN 2007; pages 268, 273-291, 359-370
  7. ^ Andrzej Chwalba - Historia Polski 1795-1918 Wydawnictwo Literackie 2000 Kraków pages 175-184, 307-312
  8. ^ Bismarck: A Political History, Edgar Feuchtwange, page 157r
  9. ^ Zarys dziejów wojskowości polskiej w latach 1864-1939 Mieczysław Cieplewicz Wydawn. Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1990, page 36
  10. ^ Clark, Christopher (2006). Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947. Harvard University Press. p. 579.
  11. ^ "Gemeindeverzeichnis Deutschland".
  12. ^ Weinfeld, Ignacy (1925). Tablice statystyczne Polski: wydanie za rok 1924 [Poland's statistical tables: edition for year 1924]. Warsaw: Instytut Wydawniczy "Bibljoteka Polska". p. 2.
  13. ^ a b Nadobnik, Marcin (1921). "Obszar i ludność b. dzielnicy pruskiej [Area and population of former Prussian district]" (PDF). Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny. 1 (3). Poznań – via AMUR - Adam Mickiewicz University Repository.
  14. ^ "Die Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen Übersichtskarte". Gonschior.de.
  15. ^ Preußische Ansiedlungskommission
  16. ^ Historia 1789-1871 Page 224. Anna Radziwiłł and Wojciech Roszkowski.
  17. ^ Hassel, Georg (1823). Statistischer Umriß der sämmtlichen europäischen und der vornehmsten außereuropäischen Staaten, in Hinsicht ihrer Entwickelung, Größe, Volksmenge, Finanz- und Militärverfassung, tabellarisch dargestellt; Erster Heft: Welcher die beiden großen Mächte Österreich und Preußen und den Deutschen Staatenbund darstellt; Nationalverschiedenheit 1819: Polen - 680,100; Deutsche - 155,000; Juden - 48,700. Verlag des Geographischen Instituts Weimar. p. 43.
  18. ^ Plater, Leon (1846). Opisanie historyczno-statystyczne Wielkiego Księstwa Poznańskiego. Jan N. Bobrowicz, Leipzig. p. 71.
  19. ISBN 978-3-87969-267-5.[permanent dead link
    ]
  20. ^ Scott M. Eddie, Ethno-nationality and property rights in land in Prussian Poland, 1886-1918, Buying the land from under the Poles' feet? in S. Engerman, Land rights, ethno-nationality and sovereignty in history, 2004, p.57, [1]
  21. ^ a b c d Kozicki, Stanislas (1918). The Poles under Prussian rule. London: Polish Press Bur. pp. 3–4.
  22. ^ a b Leszek Belzyt: Sprachliche Minderheiten im preußischen Staat 1815–1914. Archived 2018-04-20 at the Wayback Machine Marburg 1998, S.17
  23. ISBN 3-87969-267-X
  24. ^ "Dzieje Wielkopolski" (red. Witold Jakóbczyk)[permanent dead link]
  25. ^ Transnationalism in the Prussian East: From National Conflict to Synthesis, 1871–1914. By Mark Tilse. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. page 38
  26. ISBN 0-8131-1803-4
    . Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  27. ISBN 0-275-97269-0
  28. ^ Spisy ludności na ziemiach polskich do 1918 r Archived 2009-06-28 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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