Hello John,
I read that there was actually a majority of protestant inhabitants in Hinterpommern before WWI, polish catholics did not mind so much the foreign language, more the "modern" ideas, school for every child, and in the -b-eginning often bilingual. Children, especially in the Kaszub areas were needed in the fields and parents were often reluctant to realize the need for schooling. Evidently the concerns of german nationalist were not heard by the german government, since polish banks lauched a countermove and regained property in Hinterpommern while Germans moved on to Wolynia or other areas.
with regards,
Andrea
----Original Message Follows----
I read that there was actually a majority of protestant inhabitants in
Hinterpommern before WWI,
Yes. Catholics were a majority, however, in Pomerelia proper, where
most Cashubes lived.
Catholics were greatly antagonised by the Kulturkampf that Bismarck
had initiated against the Centre Party and its Polonophile
sympathisers in the Prussian East.
Most Pomeranian, as opposed to Pomerelian, Cashubes were Lutherans
as were their Slovincian cousins.
Evidently the concerns of german nationalist were not heard
by the german government, since polish banks lauched a countermove and
regained property in Hinterpommern while Germans moved on to Wolynia or
other areas.
Soon after their formation, financial restrictions were placed by the
Prussian government upon Polish Credit Unions that severely limited
their effectiveness. IIRC there was a steady transfer of land from
Poles to Germans in Posen at least.
The final stage of Germanisation was after 1939 when Polish citizens
had either to seek Volksdeutscher status or emigrate to the Government
General that was the rump of occupied Poland. For ethnic purposes,
Cashubes seem to have been classed as Germans (!) and in Danzig,
Foerster ensured that no questions were asked of gentile Danzig
citizens.
Cordially,
John (Rohde).
Of course this was an all German problem whereever
catholics lived. It had nothing to do with Germanization as
such. It had more to do with strengthening the state against
a powerful church as a culmination of a centuries old battle.
Fred
4788 Corian Court
Naples, FL 34114
239-775-7838; 609-284-6007 (cell)
FredRump@earthlink.net
"The road to hell was paved with good intentions."
The struggle had different aspects in different parts of Germany. In
the East it combined with the Polish Question. Clausewitz had
maintained that a reconstituted Poland would be an unacceptable rival
to the Kingdom of Prussia (though it is hard to see how it could have
been any great threat to Germany as a whole). This view dominated
Prussian State attitudes to their Polish subjects. The Eastern
territories were disproportionately important to the conservative,
noble landowning interest in the Kingdom and to the monarchy itself
that saw its main political and military support in that class. As
the Partition of Poland could never be undone, the aim was to
reconcile Poles to Prussian rule as loyal Prussian-Poles. Poles were
not willing to accept this.
Until I read Wagner's, "Germans, Poles and Jews in the Prussian
East" (Chicago), I hadn't realised the full extent of the legal
repression of the Poles. In violation of the 1815 Vienna settlement,
Polish was progressively excluded from higher education, secondary
schools and, eventually limited to one lesson, at best, a day IIRC.
The justification was that Poles were not loyal to Prussia - but
why should they have been? They had been illegally annexed to a
foreign state, had their social order and political customs
arbitrarilly abolished and now were supposed to like it!
That the attempted reform of the Polish state from the 1760s on,
threatened the rights of the German cities and the Lutheran nobility
is certainly the case. It served to justify the Partitions from a
Prussian point of view, though Old Fritz's concern for German
liberties, religious or otherwise can only have been pragmatic.
The feudal commonwealths of Poland and Germany were changing into
nation states and those of the "wrong" nationality were the victims of
that process, German or Pole.
Cordially,
John (Rohde).
OK, what's IIRC?
Fred
4788 Corian Court
Naples, FL 34114
239-775-7838; 609-284-6007 (cell)
FredRump@earthlink.net
"The road to hell was paved with good intentions."
If I Recall Correctly.
John.