Germanisation: Encyclopedia II - Germanisation - Historical Germanisation

Germanisation - Historical Germanisation

In wider sense, Germanisation refers to the process of acculturation of Slavic speakers and Baltic speakers, populating, after conquests or by cultural contact in the early dark ages, areas of the modern eastern Germany to the line of Elbe. The process was performed by elimination of the leading group and pushing most of Slavic speakers into status of serfs yet in Middle Ages. In East Prussia, extermination, enslavment and forced resettlements of the Prussians by Teutonic Order and Prussian state, especially after the 1525 rebellion, but also acculturation to immigrants from various European countries (Poles, French, Germans) contributed to the eventual extinction of the Prussian language in the 17th century.

A complex process took place in Bohemia after the 1620 defeat of Bohemian Protestants. The Protestant Bohemian king elected against the Habsburgs by the Bohemian estates in 1619 and defeated in 1620 by Catholic forces was the German prince Frederick V of the Palatinate. Among the Bohemian Lords being punished and expropriated after the Fredick's defeat in 1620 were German und Czech speaking landowners as well. Thus this conflict was overwhelmingly more a conflict within a feudal system than a clash of different nations. Although the Czech language lost its significance (as a written languange) in the aftermath of the events, it is questionable whether this was primarily intended by the Habsburg rulers, who were thinking in religious and feudal categories.

Germanisation was started to be followed by noteworthy countermeasures only in the 19th century by the rise of nationalism that occurred in the late 18th and 19th centuries in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Pomerania, Lusatia and Slovenia.As a result of Germanisation some attempts to overcome centuries of German dominance were using German langugau, for instance the first modern grammar of the Czech language by Josef Dobrovský (1753-1829) was published in German: "Ausführliches Lehrgebäude der böhmischen Sprache" (1809) due to fact that Czech language was not custom in academic scholarship.

In the German colonies, the policy of having German as official language led to the forming of German-based pidgins and German-based creole languages, such as Unserdeutsch.

Germanisation in Prussia has following phases -Germanisation attempts pursued by Frederick the Great in Silesia, later extended to territories of Partitioned Poland

-easing of Germanisation policy in the period 1815–30

-intensification of Germanisation and persecution of Poles in the Grand Duch of Posen by E.Flotwell in 1830-1841

-the process of Germanisation is stoped during the period of 1841-1849

-again restarted during years of 1849-1870

-intensified by Bismarck during his Kulturkampf

-slight easing of the persecution of Poles during 1890-1894

-continuation and intensifcation of activity aiming at destroying Polish nation restarted in 1894 and pursued till the end of First World War

In the era German Confederation (1815-1866) the German-Polish relations were of dual nature. Poles undoubtedly were suppressed in Prussia after it had taken over Polish territories during Partitions of Poland already in the late 18th century. The Eastern provinces of Prussia were not part of the German Confederation, to which deliberately belonged only the Western parts of Prussia. Polish struggle against the Russians in 1830/31 attracted some sympathy. Especially in the Southwest of Germany (in the kingdom of Württemberg and the Greatduchy of Baden) liberal und democratic minded citizens formed the socalled Polenvereine ("Poland societies"), intended to support the gallant Polish struggle for freedom und to take care for exiled Poles. These societies were regarded with suspicion by the authorities, as they were obviously not only aimed against Russia, but also against Prussia, which didn't have much sympathy among the population of the constitutional monarchies in southern Germany.

Germanisation policies of Kingdom of Prussia, Imperial Germany and Nazi Germany were aimed to expand the German language and culture in areas populated by non-Germans, the eradication of Polish national identity, and integration of conquered territories into German states[1]. It was pursued by state legislation and government actions. For instance Johann Georg Forster in his private letters dismissed the idea that the Poles were part of European culture, comparing them to primitive tribes and portraying Poland as an underdeveloped, uncivilized land awaiting the importation of Kultur from truly civilized countries. But he never published this idea, which is in contrast to Forster's usual concept of every nation being alike in its value. One example of Germanisation was aimed at national minorities in the Prussian state. Frederick the Great nourished a particular hatred and contempt for Poles. He spoke of the Poles as "slovenly Polish trash," "the Iroquois of Europe" and "a barbarous people sunk in ignorance and stupidity." The consequences were that nobility of Polish origin were obliged to pay higher taxes than that of German heritage, the Polish language was persecuted in Prussia, and Polish monasteries were viewed as "lairs of idleness" and their property often seized by Prussian authorities.It must be stated, that the secularisation of clerical properity was common in a lot of European countries of the era (e.g. Austria, Bavaria) without respect to the monasteries' nationality, however in Prussia Polish monasteries were singled out. Catholicism among Poles was stigmatized in Protestant Prussia.

Frederick the Great started Germanisation efforts in territories of Silesia acquired in 1740-1745. They were later expanded on territories gained by Prussia in Partitions of Poland-Gdansk Pomerania, Warmia, and certain regions of Greater Poland. Prussian authorities settled German speaking ethnic groups in Polish territories after the partitions of Poland. Similiar policy was pursued by Austria in Galicia, untill 1867 when it gained autonomy.

Later the means of the policy was eradication of non-German languages from public life and from the schools. Later in the German Empire Poles were (together with Danes, Alsatians, German Catholics and Socialists) portrayed as "Reichsfeinde" ("foes to the empire"). In addition in 1885 the Prussian Settlement Commission financed from budget was set up to buy land from non-German hands and distribute it among German farmers. Since 1908 the committee was entitled to force the landowners to sell the land. Other means included Prussian deportations 1888: deportation of non-Prussian nationals living in Prussia for longer times (mostly Poles and Jews) and the ban on building houses by non-Germans (see Drzymała's van). Germanisation policy in schools also took form of torture of Polish children by Prussian officials (see Września).Germanisation stimulated resistance, especially by self-education and solidarity between the minority members. In 1910 Maria Konopnicka in responce to increasing persecution of Polish people by Germans wrote her famous song called Rota, that instantly became one of national symbols for Poles, with its sentence known to every Pole:The German will not spit in our face,Nor will he Germanize our children. Thus the forced German efforts to eradicate Polish culture, language and people met not only in failure, but managed to enforce Polish national identity and strenghtened efforts of Poles to regain freedom from German occupation.

International meeting of socialists held at Brussels in 1902 has condemned the Germanisation of Poles in Prussia naming it "barbarous".[2] .

Similar Germanisation also happened for the Lithuanians (Lietuvininks) living in East Prussia, numbers of whom, once making up a majority of population in large areas of East Prussia (these areas are reffered to as Lithuania Minor), decreased by much during 16th-20th centuries; policy of Germanisation was tightened during the 19th century; in the early 20th century Lithuanian majority remained only in the northernmost parts of the province (Memelland and some areas south of it).

Similar development happened with Courlandians, but this ethnic group never had a large population.

Another form of Germanisation was the relation between German state and Polish coal miners in the Ruhr area. Due to migration within the German Empire an enormous stream of Polish nationals of about 350 thousand people made their way to the Ruhr in the late 19th century, where they worked in the coal and iron industry. German authorities viewed them as potential danger and a threat that could work to restore Polish state and as "suspected political and national" element. All polish workers had special cards and were under constant observation by German authorities. In addition antipolish stereotypes were promoted, such as postcards with jokes about Poles, presenting them as irresponsible people. Many Polish traditional and religious songs were forbidden by Prussian authorities [3]. Their citizens rights were also limited by German state[4]. To defend their interests and ethnic identity Poles formed their own organisations out of which the Sokól sports clubs and the workers' union Zjednoczenie Zawodowe Polskie (ZZP) are the most well known. Polish press (Wiarus Polski) and a Polish bank (Bank Robotnikow) were other remarkable features of the Polish at the Ruhr. At first the Polish workers - different from German workers - had supported the Catholic centre party. Since the beginning of the 20th century their support more and more shifted towards the social democrats[5]. In 1905 Polish and German workers organised their first common strike. Under the "Namensänderungsgesetz" (law of changing surnames) a significant number of "Ruhr-Poles" change their surnames and Christian names to "germanised" forms, in order to evade ethnic discrimination. As the Prussian authorities during the Kulturkampf suppress catholic services in Polish language by Polish priests, the Poles have to rely on German catholic priests. This fact contributes much to germanise the Poles, as they have to learn German to attend the services. The local dialect of the Ruhr area ("Ruhrdeutsch") still contains words derived from the Polish language, which have been germanised in the linguistic sense. Among other things the Poles of the Ruhr also contributed much to German football. The club Schalke 04 had a very strong Polish influence up to the 1930s with Fritz Szepan and Ernst Kuzorra, both of Mazurian origin being outstanding players, running for the German national team as well.

Polish tabloid press insits on Polish players facing discrimination and insults from Germanic sportsmen as allegedly shown by the example of Dietmar Kühbauer who was said to have refused to hold an interview with Adam Ledwon, saying he "stinks of Poland". The incident later turned out to be a complete lie out of Anti-Austrianism and Ledwon shamefully apologized to Kühbauer for the outright unfair behavior of his countrymen.

During the Weimar Republic there was not a single Polish school in Germany, despite the fact that 1.500.000 Poles were left within the German state after Poland was recreated. Poles were reckognised as minority only in Upper Silesia.In all areas that were inhabited by Polish people German officials persectuted Polish activists and organisation. The peace treaties after the First World War did contain an obligation for Poland to protect her national minorities (Germans, Ukrainians and other), whereas no such clause was introduced in retorsion by the victors in the peace treaty of Versailles with Germany.

In the Nazi era, the days of minorities in Germany were numbered. "Racially acceptable" children were often taken from their families, in order to be brought up as Germans[6]. In occupied Poland its estimated that a number ranging from 50.000 to 200.000 children were kidnaped from their families in order to be germanised[7]. It's estimated that at least 10.000 of them were murdered in the process, and only 10-15 % returning to their families after the war[8]. Obligatory Hitlerjugend membership made dialog between old and young next to impossible, as use of languages other than German was discouraged by officials. Members of minority organisations were sent to concentration camps by German authorities or have been executed.

In modern Germany only (Danes, Frisians and the Slavic Sorbs) are classified as traditional ethnic minorities and are guaranteed cultural autonomy. Descendants of Polsh migrant workers and miners have mingled with the local population by intermarriage and are culturally no more identifiable as Poles. It's different with modern und present day immigration form Poland to Germany after the fall of the iron curtain. These immigrants usually are Polish citizens and live as foreigners in Germany. Some of them believe that to reveal Polish identity in Germany is dangerous for social status, as cases of hostility and discrimination against Poles exist. In outdated opinion polls Poles did rank lower than Turks or Russians, and 87 percent of German youth regard Polish people as "worse than themselves"[9]. As a result of this for many immigrant Poles, Polish ethnicity is not the prime category through which they wish to characterize themselves or want to be evaluated by others[10] as it could impact their lives in negative way. Representatives from organisations of Poles living in Germany, complain about unfair treatment compared to the benefits German minority receives in Poland. This point is disputable, as the Germans in Poland are Polish citizens, whereas the Poles that lately migrated to Germany usually stay Polish citizens and as such are correctly treated as other foreigners form the EU.

Concerning the Danes, there is a treaty between Denmark and Germany from 1955 regulating the status of the German minority in Denmark and vice versa. Concerning the Frisians, the land Schleswig-Holstein passed a special law for preserving the language. The cultural autonomy of the Sorbs is a matter of the constitutions of Saxony and Brandenburg. Nevertheless most of the Sorbs are bilingual and the Lower Sorbian language is regarded as endangered, as the number of native speakers is dwindling.

Germanisation - Examples

Oletzko County was a historic East Prussian county with its capital at Oletzko. The county was populated by Mazurs, a Polish ethnic group. In the process of Germanization, the number of Polish-speaking people declined steadily:
1818 - over 90% of population
1852 - 65%
1861 - 58%
1890 - 46%
1900 - 33.5% (Prussian census)

In 1888, the Polish language was completely banned from schools at all levels.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Historical Germanisation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki