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| Pomerania Province Pommern | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province ofBrandenburg-Prussia Province of theKingdom of Prussia State of theHoly Roman Empire until 1806 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1653–1815 | |||||||||||||||||
 Pomerania ("East Pomerania", orange), withinBrandenburg-Prussia | |||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Kołobrzeg (1653–1668) Stargard (1668–1722) Stettin (Szczecin, 1722–1815) | ||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
| • Coordinates | 53°25′49″N14°33′03″E / 53.43028°N 14.55083°E /53.43028; 14.55083 | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 1786 | 438,700 | ||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | 1653 | ||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1815 | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
TheProvince of Pomerania was a province ofBrandenburg-Prussia, the laterKingdom of Prussia. After theThirty Years' War, the province consisted ofFarther Pomerania. Subsequently, theLauenburg and Bütow Land,Draheim, andSwedish Pomerania south of thePeene river were joined into the province. The province was succeeded by theProvince of Pomerania set up in 1815.
The namePomerania comes fromSlavicpo more meaningthe land at a sea.[1]
Farther Pomerania was made aprovince of Prussia (Brandenburg-Prussia) after thePeace of Westphalia ended theThirty Years' War in 1648. During the war, the nobleHouse of Pomerania (Griffins), ruling Pomerania since the 1120s asDukes of Pomerania, became extinct in the male line with the death ofBogislaw XIV in 1637. Throughout the existence of the Griffin duchy, Brandenburg claimed overlordship and was asserted of Pomerania inheritance in numerous treaties. Yet, Sweden had been one of the most important players in the war and as such, it was awarded some of its territorial gains in Pomerania (Swedish Pomerania), after the war by the Peace of Westphalia, thwarting Brandenburg-Prussia's ambitions for inheritance of the whole former Duchy of Pomerania.
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During theSecond Northern War (1654–1660),Brandenburg-Prussia and thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth concluded theTreaty of Wehlau on 19 September 1657, and the subsequentTreaty of Bromberg. The Commonwealth therein gave Brandeburg-Prussia theLauenburg and Bütow Land as a fief, and also pawnedDraheim to Brandenburg.[2]
ThePeace of Oliva on 3 May 1660, confirmed Brandenburg's rights in the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as well as in Draheim.[2]
Swedish Pomerania was occupied by Denmark and Brandenburg in the Brandenburg-Swedish theater of theScanian War from 1675 to 1679, whereby Denmark claimedRügen and Brandenburg the rest ofPomerania. Sweden reestablished control after thePeace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 28 June 1679.[3]
This temptedFrederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, to utter "Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor! [Let someone arise from my bones as an avenger]".[4]
The strip of land on the east side of the Oder, except forGollnow andAltdamm, was given to Brandenburg. Gollnow and Altdamm were held by Brandenburg as a pawn in exchange for reparations, until these were paid in 1693.[3]
During theGreat Northern War,Stettin was sieged byRussian andSaxon forces led by princeMenschikov, and surrendered on 29 September. According to theTreaty of Schwedt on 6 October,Menschikov was paid his war costs byPrussia, and Stettin was occupied by Holstein and Brandenburg troops.[5]
On 12 June 1714, kingFriedrich Wilhelm I ofBrandenburg-Prussia concluded a treaty with theRussian Empire confirming her gains in SwedishIngermanland,Karelia andEstonia, and in turn received Russian confirmation of his gains in southern Swedish Pomerania.[5]
On 22 November 1714, King Charles XII of Sweden returned from Turkey to lead the Swedish defense in Pomerania in person. In turn, Holstein's forces in Stettin were arrested as a Swedish ally by Prussia. In February 1715, Charles seizedWolgast in an advance to reestablish Swedish control inWestern Pomerania.[5]
On 1 May 1715,Prussia officially declared war on Sweden. In the same month,Hanover and Denmark joined the Russian-Prussian treaty of 1714. The allied forces subsequently occupied all of Pomerania except forStralsund. In theBattle of Stralsund Charles XII of Sweden led the defense until 22 December 1715, when he evacuated toLund.[5]
In theTreaty of Stockholm, concluded on 21 January 1720, Prussia was allowed to retain its conquest, including Stettin. By this, Sweden ceded the parts east of theOder River that had been won in 1648 as well as Western Pomerania south of thePeene river (Old Western Pomerania orAltvorpommern) and the islands ofWollin andUsedom toBrandenburg-Prussia in turn for a 2 millionTaler payment.[5]
The capital was then moved toStettin.
After theBattle of Zorndorf in 1759 (Seven Years' War),Russian troops made their way into Pomerania and laid a siege onKolberg. When Kolberg withstood, the Russian troops ravagedFarther Pomerania. Sweden and Russia invaded Brandenburgian Pomerania throughout the years 1760 and 1761. Kolberg was again made a target, withstood a second siege,but not the third one in 1761. In the winter of the same year, the Russian troops made Farther Pomerania their winter refuge. In 1762, Prussia made peace with Sweden and Russia.[6]
The province of Pomerania was left ravaged and the civilian death toll amounted to 72,000.[7] About 20 percent of the population in the province of Pomerania died, atrocities were committed and a food shortage followed.[8]
TheSwedish forces leftKolberg and were replaced byBrandenburgian troops on 6 June 1653. Three days later, theprince elector called the nobility to assemble at aLandtag inStargard, that constituted on 19 July 1654, to decide on the further administrative system of the province.[9]
The Landtag decrees along with a constitution ("Regimentsverfassung") were issued on 11 July 1654.[10]
Kolberg was made the new capital. Troops were to be permanently garrisoned in the town, this was to be paid for by the province. The province was to be governed by a "Regierung" (government, led by a president and a chancellor, four other members, general administration, in charge of the police, border patrol, enforcement of ducal rights), a "Kammer" (chamber, also "Amtskammer"), a "Rentei", for administration of the domains), a "Hofgericht" (court) and a "Konsistorium" (ecclesiastical administration). The first president wasEwald von Kleist. Because the president was also occupied with diplomatic missions and representation of the province in Berlin, the chancellor was instead supervising the province's administration.[11]
The province was divided into seven knightly districts, also the territories of eight local noble houses (Flemming, Borcke, Wedel, Dewitz, Osten-Blücher, Manteuffel and Glasenapp, so-called "schloßgesessene Familien", i.e. palace-owning families), and theCounty of Naugard. Furthermore, there were the ducal domains ("Amt")Kolbatz,Friedrichswalde,Marienfließ,Treptow,Stolp andRügenwalde, and the towns ofPyritz,Stargard,Treptow an der Rega,Greifenberg,Belgard,Neustettin,Schlawe,Stolp,Rügenwalde,Kolberg andKöslin. The secularized territory of theKammin diocese ("Stift Cammin") had a separate status.[11]
The population was represented in the "Landständische Vertretung" by 25 "Landrat" officials. The knightly districts assigned nine, the noble families six, the towns five and Stift Cammin also five. The prince-elector had to approve the assignments.[11]
Brandenburg-Prussia set up a combined military institution, the war commissionary for her Pomeranian province andNeumark. It was led byWedego von Bonin as thekriegskommissar. Initially only active during wartime, it became a permanent institution in 1660. The Kriegskommissariat was subject only to the prince-elector (later king) and not to the provincial government. It was represented in the urban communities by "Steuerkommissar" and in the rural districts by "Kriegskommissar" (later "Kreisdirektor") officials. These commissioners collected contributions (war tax) and supervised garrison. Tus, the Kriegskommisariat became a central institution in the province's financial and economical administration.[12]
In 1714, the former position of "Landrat" was abolished, and replaced with that of "Prussian Landrat". The office was assigned to the former Kreisdirektor. Already before the reform, the positions of Kreisdirektor (initially Kriegskommissar) and Landrat of a district had often been held by the same man.[12]
Based on an order of Prussian kingFrederick William I, Amtskammer and Kriegskommissariat were fused into the "Kriegs- und Domänenkammer" (war and domain chamber), in 1722. This new chamber moved fromStargard, which had been capital since 1668, toStettin, which had been acquired by Prussia and merged into the Pomeranian province in 1720. The chamber was responsible for all administrative fields of the province except for justice (that was within the responsibility of the government and the court) and ecclesial administration (handled by the Konsistorium). A second chamber (though under superiority of the Stettin chamber) was set up in 1764 inKöslin for the eastern districts.[12]
On 15 September 1733, Prussian kingFrederick William I ordered another administrative reform. The most important change was the application of the "Kantonsreglement" order. This order split the province into small military districts ("Kanton") based on the civilian ones. All peasants of a canton were enrolled by the Prussian army, and assigned to the Prussianinfantry unitsInfanterieregiment 7, 8, 17, 22 or30, or thecavalry unitsDragonerregiment 1, 2 or5. The enrollment did not depend on actual warfare, but was permanent. Also, the rural nobility was enlisted into the army as potential officers. Those chosen (by the king himself) for a military career were trained in Berlin, and received not only military, but a broad education.[12]
After the great losses of the previous wars, Prussia began rebuilding and resettling her war-torn province in 1718. Programs were devised for financial aid to rebuild houses, e.g. people were paid 23% of a house's cost if they built it with fire-proof material, and vacant residential areas were granted rent free to those willing to erect buildings. There were also cases where those building a house were granted free citizenship, were exonerated from garrison duties, or were given the necessary timber for free. Also, public buildings were renewed or built new by the Prussian administration.[13]
Swamps in theRandowbruch andUckermark regions were drained and settled with colonists from the Low Countries from 1718. In 1734 part of this region became therefore known as "Royal Holland". Dutch colonists were also settled in other parts of Pomerania. Also, Protestants from the otherwise CatholicSalzburg region arrived Prussia via the Pomeranian ports. While most went on to settle in other parts of Prussia, some settled in Pomerania.[13]
To improve access to the port ofStettin, theSwine river was deepened andSwinemünde was founded on the river's mouth in 1748. A similar project inStolp failed due to financial shortfalls.[14]
Throughout the 1750s, the vastOderbruch swamps were drained to provide farmland.[14]
KingFrederick the Great appointedFranz Balthasar von Brenckenhoff to rebuild the war-torn Prussian portion of Pomerania. Even before theSeven Years' War, theInner Colonisation ofFarther Pomerania had been begun by princeMoritz of Anhalt-Dessau. Brenckenhoff, after providing some humanitarian aid in 1763 (especially horses and wheat from the military and money for seed and life stock), introduced programs for financial aid, tax reduction, and low-rate credits and thus managed to have most of the farms that had been destroyed rebuild in 1764.[7][15]
In the years following, new farmland was made available by clearance of woodlands and draining of swamps (e.g.Thurbruch,Plönebruch,Schmolsiner Bruch) and lakes (e.g.Madüsee,Neustettiner See) as well as levee construction at some rivers (e.g.Ihna,Łeba).[7]
To compensate for the wartime population losses, new colonists were attracted. In the 1740s, colonists were invited from thePalatinate,Württemberg,Mecklenburg andBohemia. Most came from the Palatinate, while the Bohemians soon returned to their homeland as a result of housing shortages. In 1750, recruitment of settlers started inDanzig,Elbing,Warsaw,Augsburg,Frankfurt am Main,Nuremberg, Hamburg andBrussels.Protestant craftsmen from Roman Catholic Poland settled in the towns. The colonists were freed of certain taxes and services such as military service. Between 1740 and 1784, 26,000 colonists arrived in Prussian Pomerania, and 159 new villages were founded. Most colonists originated in the Palatinate, Mecklenburg and Poland.[16]
In 1786, the population of Prussian Pomerania (Farther Pomerania andWestern Pomerania south of the Peene river) reached 438,700.[17]
AfterPrussia lost theBattle of Jena-Auerstedt in late 1806, French troops marched north into the Pomeranian province. FortifiedStettin surrendered without battle, and the province became occupied by the French forces. Only fortifiedKolberg resisted, and the Frenchlaid siege in March 1807.Ferdinand von Schill was among the defendants. The siege was not successful and was lifted only when Prussia surrendered toNapoleon Bonaparte in thePeace of Tilsit on 2 July.[18]
The terms of surrender included high war contributions (25,000,000Taler from the Province of Pomerania alone). The agreed on withdrawal of the French troops was delayed repeatedly. In November 1808, the French troops left the province except for Stettin, which forced the provincial government to move toStargard in 1809. The Kriegs- und Domänenkammer was renamed Royal-Prussian government ("Königlich Preußische Regierung"), while the former government ("Regierung") was renamed Supreme State Court ("Oberlandesgericht").[19]
The reforms ofvom Stein (1807) andKarl August von Hardenberg (1811) abolishedserfdom.[19]
In 1812, French troops invadedSwedish Pomerania, and also occupied Prussian Pomerania again. The Prussian troops took quarter in Kolberg. AfterLudwig Yorck von Wartenburg, who commanded a Prussian corps with a significant Pomeranian share, had left the coalition with France in theConvention of Tauroggen of 30 December 1812, the Prussian military called the Pomeranians to arms in February 1813. Also in February, Russian troops reachedFarther Pomerania. In March, all French forces leftPomerania, except for Stettin, which was held by the French until 5 December 1813. After the war, Prussia after diplomatic efforts of Hardenberg in theCongress of Vienna gained Swedish Pomerania by paying 2,6 millionTaler to Denmark and granting her theDuchy of Lauenburg, and paying an additional 3,5 million Taler to Sweden on 7 June 1815. On 23 October, Swedish Pomerania was merged into the Prussian province, both now constituting theProvince of Pomerania.[19]
