| Province of West Prussia | |
|---|---|
| Province ofPrussia | |
| 1773–1829 1878–1919 | |
 Coat of arms | |
 West Prussia (red), within theKingdom of Prussia (blue), within theGerman Empire, as of 1878 | |
 West Prussia | |
| Anthem | |
| Westpreußenlied "Song of West Prussia" (1878–1919) | |
| Capital | Marienwerder (1773–1793, 1806–1813) Danzig (1793–1806, 1813–1919) |
| Demonym | West Prussian |
| Area | |
• 1910 | 25,534 km2 (9,859 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 1910 | 1,703,474 |
| History | |
• Established | 1773 |
• Division by Napoleon | 1806 |
• Restored | 1815 |
| 1824–1878 | |
| 1919 | |
• Disestablished | 1919 |
| Political subdivisions | Danzig Marienwerder |
| Today part of | Poland |
TheProvince of West Prussia (German:Provinz Westpreußen;Kashubian:Zôpadné Prësë;Polish:Prusy Zachodnie) was aprovince ofPrussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of theKingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed fromRoyal Prussia of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth annexed in theFirst Partition of Poland. West Prussia was dissolved in 1829 and merged withEast Prussia to form theProvince of Prussia, but was re-established in 1878 when the merger was reversed and became part of theGerman Empire. From 1918, West Prussia was a province of theFree State of Prussia withinWeimar Germany, losing most of its territory to theSecond Polish Republic and theFree City of Danzig in theTreaty of Versailles. West Prussia was dissolved in 1919, and its remaining western territory was merged withPosen to formPosen-West Prussia, and its eastern territory merged with East Prussia as theRegion of West Prussia district.
West Prussia's provincial capital alternated betweenMarienwerder (present-day Kwidzyn,Poland) andDanzig (Gdańsk, Poland) during its early existence. West Prussia was notable for its ethnic and religious diversity due to immigration and cultural changes, with the population becoming mixed over the centuries. Since the earlyMiddle Ages the bulk of the region was inhabited byWest Slavic Lechitic tribes (Pomeranians in thePomerelia region andMasovians inKulmerland), while the actualOld Prussians (Pomesanians andPogesanians) populated only the remaining part of the territory lying to the east of theVistula River. The Teutonic Order's conquest of the region resulted inGerman colonization in the 14th century. As a result ofGermanisation, Germans became in the middle of the 19th century the most numerous ethnic group in West Prussia as a whole, remaining as such until the dissolution of the province in 1920, though their distribution was uneven: their majority was concentrated in Danzig, the western lands of the province, along the Vistula river, and in the Pomesanian and Pogesanian portion of the province located east of the Vistula, with a small admixture of Poles (Gedanians and Powiślans). Meanwhile,Poles (Kociewians, Borowians and Chełminians) as well asKashubians continued to predominate in parts of Pomerelian territories west of Vistula and in parts of theChełmno Land, forming altogether around 36% of the population of the province as a whole. There were also sizeable minorities ofMennonites andJews settling in the region.
The landscape of West Prussia consisted of the lower reaches of theVistula River (German:Weichsel,Polish:Wisła) near its mouth on theBaltic Sea, and neighboring lands to the west and east.
In the west, the province shared a border with easternmostBrandenburg, and comprised those lands between the provinces ofPosen andPomerania. This region of the province was characterized by theBaltic Uplands, with southward flowing rivers joining theNoteć (German:Netze). TheBrda (German:Brahe) drains much of this area, joining the Vistula after passing throughBydgoszcz (German:Bromberg). Numerous large expanses of woodland, including theTuchola Forest, were located in this part of the province. Further north near the sea is theKashubian Lake District, where the highest point of the former province,Wieżyca (German:Turmberg), reaches 329 meters above sea level. The headwaters of Pomeranian rivers such as theSłupia (German:Stolpe) andŁeba (German:Leba) are located in these uplands.
In the north was the Baltic coast, consisting of agraded shoreline with landmarks such as theHel Peninsula stretching 35 kilometers into theGdańsk Bay, and theVistula Fens where that river meets the sea. The Vistula delta encompasses a heavily cultivated area of approximately 2,000 square kilometers of land, much of it below sea level.Gdańsk (German:Danzig), the largest city of the province, was found at the northwestern end of the delta. TheNogat river, a distributary of the Vistula, flows to the northeast past the city ofMalbork (German:Marienburg) and into theVistula Lagoon. Further east nearElbląg (German:Elbing), the border withEast Prussia crossed theVistula Spit, Vistula Lagoon, and theElbląg Upland.
In the southeast, the course of the Vistula river forms a wide, flat plain, with adjacent escarpments sometimes exceeding 60 meters in height above the river valley. This area includes the fertileChełmno Land (German:Kulmerland), with historic cities such asChełmno (German:Kulm),Toruń (German:Thorn), andGrudziądz (German:Graudenz). The Chełmno Land stretched eastward to the border with East Prussia, partially bound on the south by the path of the riverDrwęca (German:Drewenz), which formed part of the province's southeastern border withCongress Poland and theRussian Empire.
The region ofPomerelia orGdańsk Pomerania, historically Polish and never inhabited byOld Prussians, was forcibly occupied by themonastic state of the Teutonic Knights in 1308, following an invasion of Poland under the pretext of helping the KingWładysław I Łokietek to quell a rebellion, with subsequent Teutonic atrocities against the Polish population, such as theSlaughter of Gdańsk. The possession of Danzig and Pomerelia by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław I andCasimir the Great in legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333.[1] Both times, as well as in 1339, the Teutonic Knights were ordered by the Pope to return Pomerelia and other lands back to Poland, but did not comply.[1] These events resulted in a series ofPolish–Teutonic Wars throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. Under the Teutonic rule, an influx of western, mainly German-speaking farmers, traders and craftsmen was encouraged. Subsequent rebellions organized by the local population against the Teutonic state, initially by theLizard Union and later by thePrussian Confederation, both pledging allegiance to the Polish king, caused theThirteen Years' War which ultimately led to theSecond Peace of Thorn, when most of the region and was reclaimed by Poland and henceforth formedRoyal Prussia, consisting of the originally PolishPomerelia andChełmno Land, expanded by the addition of parts of the formerlyOld Prussian territories ofPomesania,Pogesania andWarmia. The region had initially a degree ofautonomy with an own local legislature, thePrussian Estates, and maintaining its own laws, customs and rights, but was ultimately re-absorbed directly into theCrown of the Kingdom of Poland, following theUnion of Lublin in1569. The locally spoken language differed among social classes, with the aristocracy and urbanburghers initially highly Germanised as a result of earlier Teutonic policies, but gradually Polonized in the later years, while the peasantry continued as predominantly Kashubian- and Polish-speaking.[2] A small area in the west of Pomerelia, theLauenburg and Bütow Land, was granted to the rulers of Pomerania as a Polishfief before it was reintegrated with Poland in 1637, and later again transformed into a Polishfief, which it remained until theFirst Partition of Poland.
East Prussia aroundKönigsberg, on the other hand, remained with theState of the Teutonic Knights, who were reduced to vassals of the Polish kings. Their territory wassecularised to become the LutheranDuchy of Prussia according to the 1525Treaty of Kraków and thePrussian Homage. The duchy was later ruled inpersonal union with the ImperialMargraviate of Brandenburg from 1618. TheHohenzollern rulers ofBrandenburg-Prussia were able to remove the Polish suzerainty by the 1657Treaty of Wehlau, taking advantage of theRusso-Swedish Deluge, shortly thereafter transforming their possessions into a kingdom. This development turned out to be fatal to the Polish monarchy, as the two parts of the risingKingdom of Prussia were separated by Polish land. Subsequently, the newly established kingdom entered into an alliance with Austria and Russia, invading Polish territories.
Even though some German authors viewed the establishment of West Prussia as a historic reunification of the lands of theTeutonic State, officially, the Prussian government shunned from justifying the annexation by such argument. The reason was that theTeutonic Order still called for reestablishment of their rule over East- and West Prussia.[3]
In the 1772First Partition of Poland the Prussian kingFrederick the Great took the occasion to annex most of Royal Prussia. The addition gave Prussia a land connection between theProvince of Pomerania andEast Prussia, cutting off the Polish access to theBaltic Sea and rendering East Prussia more readily defensible in the event of war with theRussian Empire. The annexed voivodeships ofPomerania (i.e.Pomerelia) excluding the City of Danzig,Malbork (German:Marienburg) andChełmno (German:Kulm) excluding the City of Thorn (Polish:Toruń) were incorporated into the province of West Prussia the following year, along with the formerly East PrussianMarienwerder Kreis.Ermland (Polish:Warmia) became part of East Prussia while the annexed parts ofGreater Poland andKuyavia formed a separateNetze District located to the south. ThePartition Sejm ratified the cession on 30 September 1773, complemented by renouncement by the Polish king of his royal title in regard to Prussia. Thereafter, Frederick finally started to style himself "Kingof Prussia" rather than "Kingin Prussia." Both abovementioned exempted cities were ultimately captured by the Kingdom of Prussia upon theSecond Partition of Poland in1793.
The Polish administrative and legal code was replaced by the Prussian system, and 750 schools were built from 1772 to 1775.[4] BothProtestant and Roman Catholic teachers taught in West Prussia, and teachers and administrators were encouraged to be able to speak both German and Polish.Frederick II of Prussia also advised his successors to learn Polish, a policy followed by the Hohenzollern dynasty untilFrederick III decided not to letWilliam II learn Polish.[4] Despite this, Frederick II (Frederick the Great) looked askance upon many of his new citizens. In a letter from 1735, he calls them "dirty" and "vile apes".[5] He had nothing but contempt for theszlachta, the numerous Polish nobility, and wrote that Poland had "the worst government in Europe with the exception ofOttoman Empire".[6] He considered West Prussia less civilized thanColonial Canada[7] and compared thePoles to theIroquois.[6] In a letter to his brotherHenry, Frederick wrote about the province that "it is a very good and advantageous acquisition, both from a financial and a political point of view. In order to excite less jealousy I tell everyone that on my travels I have seen just sand, pine trees, heath land and Jews. Despite that there is a lot of work to be done; there is no order, and no planning and the towns are in a lamentable condition."[8] Frederick invited German immigrants to redevelop the province.[4][9] Many German officials also regarded the Poles with contempt.[7] According to the Polish historian Jerzy Surdykowski, Frederick the Great introduced 300,000 German colonists.[10] According toChristopher Clark, 54 percent of the annexed area and 75 percent of the urban population were German-speaking Protestants.[11] Further Polish areas were annexed in theSecond Partition of Poland in 1793, now including the cities of Danzig (Gdańsk) and Thorn (Toruń).
After the defeat of Prussia by the NapoleonicFrench Empire at the 1806Battle of Jena-Auerstedt followed by theTreaties of Tilsit, West Prussia lost its southern territory in the vicinity of Thorn and Kulm (Chełmno) to the short-livedDuchy of Warsaw; it also lost Danzig, which was aFree City from 1807 until 1814. After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Danzig, Kulm, and Thorn were returned to West Prussia by resolution of theVienna Congress. Some of the areas of Greater Poland annexed in 1772 that had formed the Netze District were added to West Prussia as well (the remainder became part of theGrand Duchy of Posen).
TheCongress of Vienna established theGerman Confederation (German:Deutscher Bund), an association of 39 German-speaking states in Central Europe under the nominal leadership ofAustrian Empire, as a replacement for the dissolvedHoly Roman Empire. Its boundaries largely followed those of its predecessor, the Holy Roman Empire, defining the territory of Germany for much of the 19th century.
Except for theLauenburg and Bütow Land and the formerStarostwo of Draheim, the Prussian lands which had been outside the Empire remained outside the Confederation, namely the former Ducal Prussia and those territories gained during the partitions of Poland. This included both predominantly Polish- or Kashubian-speaking areas (former Greater Poland and Pomerelia within West Prussia and theGrand Duchy of Posen) and German-speaking areas (Malbork Land within West Prussia and most ofEast Prussia). A failed attempt to include these lands in theGerman Empire (1848–49) was undertaken by theFrankfurt Parliament.
In 1815, the province was administratively subdivided into theRegierungsbezirkeDanzig andMarienwerder. From 1829 to 1878, West Prussia was combined with East Prussia to form theProvince of Prussia, after which they were re-established as separate provinces. In 1840, King Frederick William IV of Prussia sought to reconcile the state with the Catholic Church and the kingdom's Polish subjects by granting amnesty to imprisoned Polish bishops and by re-establishing Polish instruction in schools in districts having Polish majorities.
With rise ofnationalism, the Hohenzollern-ruled territory increasingly became a target of aggressiveGermanisation efforts, German settlement, anti-Catholic campaigns (Kulturkampf), as well asdisfranchisement and expropriations of Poles, and was finally annexed into Germany following theNorth German Confederation Treaty (1866). The Polish historianAndrzej Chwalba cites Germanization measures that included:
At the time ofGerman Unification in 1871, theKingdom of Prussia was the largest and dominant part of theNorth German Confederation, the predecessor of the newly-formedGerman Empire.
In the German census of 1910, the population of West Prussia was put at 1,703,474, of whom around 64 percent listed their first language as German, 28 percent Polish and 7 percent Kashubian. According to Polish authors the real share of Poles and Kashubians was 43% (rather than 35.5% as in official figures), but many of them were counted as Catholic Germans by Prussian census clerks.[14]
In 1910, ethnicPoles were between 36% and 43% of West Prussia's populace.[14] After theTreaty of Versailles in 1919, most of pre-war West Prussia's territory (62%) and population (57%, the majority of whom were Polish) was granted to theSecond Polish Republic or theFree City of Danzig (8% of territory, 19% of population), while parts in the west (18% of territory, 9% of population) and east (12% of territory, 15% of population) of the former province remained inWeimar Germany.[15] The western remainder formedGrenzmark Posen-West Prussia in 1922, while the eastern remainder became part ofRegierungsbezirk West Prussia withinEast Prussia.
The1920 East Prussian plebiscite was also held in the eastern part of West Prussia, which was known as theMarienwerder Plebiscite Area, and included partially or fully, the districts ofMarienwerder,Stuhm,Rosenberg andMarienburg. The residents of this region voted by a majority of 92.4% to remain with Germany.[16]
| West Prussia | Area in 1910 inkm2 | Share of territory | Population in 1910 | After WW1 part of: | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Given to: | 25,580 km2[17] | 100% | 1,703,474 | Divided between: | |
| Poland | 15,900 km2[17] | 62%[18] | 57%[18] | Pomeranian Voivodeship | [Note 1] |
| Free City Danzig | 1,966 km2 | 8% | 19% | Free City of Danzig | |
| Germany | 2,927 km2 | 11% | 15% | East Prussia | [Note 2] |
| 4,787 km2 | 19% | 9% | Posen-West Prussia[19] | [Note 3] |
In 1939, the region was invaded, then included in theReichsgau Danzig-West Prussia withinNazi Germany duringWorld War II and settled with 130,000 German colonists,[20] while between 120,000 and 170,000 Poles and Jews were removed by the Germans throughexpulsion, massacres, enslavement or killed inextermination camps.[21] As in all other areas, Poles and Jews were classified as "Untermenschen" by the German state, with their fate being slavery and extermination, the latter in particular duringIntelligenzaktion Pommern, as well as in theStutthof concentration camp. Later in the war, many West Prussian Germans fled westward as theRed Army advanced on theEastern Front. All of the areas occupied by Nazis were restored to Poland according to the post-warPotsdam Agreement in 1945, along with further neighbouring areas of former Nazi Germany and areas that had been part of Germany before. The vast majority of the remaining German population of the region that had not fled was subsequentlyexpelled westward. Many German civilians were deported tolabor camps likeVorkuta in theSoviet Union, where a large number of them perished or were later reported missing. In 1949, the refugees established the non-profitLandsmannschaft Westpreußen to represent West Prussians in theFederal Republic of Germany.
Perhaps the earliest estimations onethnic ornational structure of West Prussia are from 1819. At that time West Prussia had 630,077 inhabitants, including 327,300 Poles (52%), 290,000 Germans (46%) and 12,700 Jews (2%).[22]
| Ethnic group | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | |
| Poles (Polen) | 327,300 | 52% |
| Germans (Deutsche) | 290,000 | 46% |
| Jews (Juden) | 12,700 | 2% |
| Total | 630,077 | 100% |
Karl Andree, "Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht" (Leipzig 1831), gives the total population of West Prussia as 700,000 – including 50% Poles (350,000), 47% Germans (330,000) and 3% Jews (20,000).[23]
The population more than doubled during the next seven decades, reaching 1,433,681 inhabitants (including 1,976 foreigners) in 1890.
According to the German census of 1910, in areas that became Polish after 1918, 42% of the populace were Germans (including German military,officials andcolonists), while the Polish census of 1921 found 19% of Germans in the same territory.[24]
Contemporary sources in late 19th and early 20th centuries gave the number of Kashubians between 80,000 and 200,000.[25]
Note: Prussian provinces were subdivided into districts calledKreise (singularKreis, abbreviatedKr.). Cities would have their ownStadtkreis (urban district) and the surrounding rural area would be named for the city, but referred to as aLandkreis (rural district).
| District (Kreis) | Regierungsbezirk | Polish name | Population | German | % | Polish / Kashubian / Bilingual | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berent | Danzig | Powiat kościerski | 55,976 | 23,682 | 42.3% | 32,287 | 57.7% |
| Danziger Höhe | Powiat Gdańskie Wyżyny | 53,506 | 47,397 | 88.6% | 6,071 | 11.3% | |
| Danziger Niederung | 36,345 | 36,008 | 99.1% | 327 | 0.9% | ||
| Stadtkreis Danzig | Powiat grodzkiGdańsk | 170,337 | 164,343 | 96.5% | 5,521 | 3.2% | |
| Dirschau | Powiat tczewski | 42,723 | 27,865 | 65.2% | 14,846 | 34.7% | |
| Landkreis Elbing | Powiat elbląski | 38,611 | 38,558 | 99.9% | 48 | 0.1% | |
| Stadtkreis Elbing | Powiat grodzkiElbląg | 58,636 | 58,330 | 99.5% | 248 | 0.4% | |
| Karthaus | Powiat kartuski | 69,891 | 19,319 | 27.6% | 50,568 | 72.4% | |
| Marienburg | Powiat malborski | 62,999 | 61,050 | 96.9% | 1,924 | 3.1% | |
| Neustadt | Powiat wejherowski | 61,620 | 30,932 | 50.2% | 30,661 | 49.8% | |
| Preußisch Stargard | Powiat starogardzki | 65,427 | 17,165 | 26.2% | 48,250 | 73.7% | |
| Putzig | Powiat pucki | 26,548 | 7,970 | 30% | 18,561 | 69.9% | |
| Total (Danzig) | Danzig | Rejencja gdańska łącznie | 742,619 | 532,619 | 71.7% | 209,312 | 28.2% |
| Briesen | Marienwerder | Powiat wąbrzeski | 49,506 | 24,007 | 48.5% | 25,487 | 51.5% |
| Culm | Powiat chełmiński | 50,069 | 23,345 | 46.6% | 26,709 | 53.3% | |
| Deutsch Krone | Powiat wałecki | 62,182 | 61,143 | 98.3% | 1,022 | 1.6% | |
| Flatow | Powiat złotowski | 69,186 | 50,648 | 73.2% | 18,531 | 26.8% | |
| Landkreis Graudenz | Powiat grudziądzki | 48,818 | 28,755 | 58.9% | 20,046 | 41.1% | |
| Stadtkreis Graudenz | Powiat grodzkiGrudziądz | 40,325 | 34,193 | 84.8% | 6,076 | 15.1% | |
| Konitz | Powiat chojnicki | 63,723 | 28,032 | 44% | 35,670 | 56% | |
| Löbau | Powiat lubawski | 59,037 | 12,119 | 20.5% | 46,911 | 79.5% | |
| Marienwerder | Powiat kwidzyński | 68,426 | 42,465 | 62.1% | 25,944 | 37.9% | |
| Rosenberg | Powiat suski | 54,550 | 50,194 | 92% | 4,321 | 7.9% | |
| Schlochau | Powiat człuchowski | 67,157 | 56,648 | 84.4% | 10,488 | 15.6% | |
| Schwetz | Powiat świecki | 89,712 | 42,233 | 47.1% | 47,465 | 52.9% | |
| Strasburg | Powiat brodnicki | 62,142 | 21,097 | 33.9% | 41,026 | 66% | |
| Stuhm | Powiat sztumski | 36,527 | 20,923 | 57.3% | 15,583 | 42.7% | |
| Landkreis Thorn | Powiat toruński | 59,317 | 27,751 | 46.8% | 31,493 | 53.1% | |
| Stadtkreis Thorn | Powiat grodzkiToruń | 46,227 | 30,505 | 66% | 15,576 | 33.7% | |
| Tuchel | Powiat tucholski | 33,951 | 11,265 | 33.2% | 22,656 | 66.7% | |
| Total (Marienwerder) | Marienwerder | Rejencja kwidzyńska łącznie | 960,855 | 565,323 | 58.8% | 395,004 | 41.1% |
| Total (West Prussia) | - | - | 1,703,474 | 1,097,942 | 64.5% | 604,316 | 35.5% |
It systematically Germanicized "eastern" place names and public signs, fostered Germancultural imperialism, and provided financial and other inducements for German farmers, officials, clergy, and teachers to settle and work in the east. After Bismarck's fall in 1890, Kaiser Wilhelm II actively encouraged all this. Not only did he provide large benefactions...
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