Prussian Settlement Commission: Difference between revisions

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The Settlement Commission (German: Ansiedlungskommission) was a department that operated between 1886 and 1918, set up by Otto von Bismarck to increase land ownership of Germans at the expense of Poles in the German Empire's eastern provinces of West Prussia and Posen, through the use of economic and political methods, as part of the country's policy of Germanisation.

Goals and funding

The Settlement Commission purchased land in West Prussia and the Province of Posen to distribute it to German settlers. The original goal of the Commission was to remove Polish owners from the land completely^{[citation needed]}. The first budget of the Commission was 100,000,000 marks. At later times, even larger funds were made available to purchase lands from Poles. At the same time, laws were enacted that discriminated against Poles, making it more difficult for them to continue profitable operations and to rehabilitate failed operations.

Accomplished settlement

From April 26, 1886 until January 1, 1901, the Settlement Commisson had purchased 147,475 ha (3.64% of the Province of Posen and 1.65% of West Prussia), settled with 4277 families (about 30,000 persons), of which 2715 families were not native to these provinces.^[1] After this, the original budget of 100,000,000 marks was exhausted.^[2]

The Commission in the end purchased 613 estates from German owners and 214 from Poles, functioning to bail-out German debtors as often as fulfilling its declared mission. Up to 1914 22,000 German peasant families had settled in the purchased land ^[3] and throughout its 32 years of existence the Commission was able to buy 8% of the total land in Posen - West Prussia ^[4]. Altogether 21,866 families were settled, bringing the number of German colonists to 154,000^[5]. In 1913, 450 new villages were founded, areas of 438,560 ha were purchased, of which 124,903 ha were purchased from Poles.

5,400 families were Germans from the other parts of the partitioned Poland, Congress Poland (Russian Empire province) and Galicia (Austrian province).^[6] The Commission created numerous modern settlements, especially around city of Bromberg (Polish: Bydgoszcz).

Political measures

In 1904 the Prussian Government sought to restrict the right of ethnic Poles to acquire land, even though they were German citizens, but this attempt was stoped by a decision of the Prussian Administrative High Court.^[7] Due to the overall failure of the policy, the Prussian diet in 1908 passed a law permitting the forcible expropriation of Polish landowners by the Settlement Commission. In 1912 the first and only four Polish large estates of 1,656 hectares were expropriated.^[8]

Polish reaction

The creation of the Commission stimulated Poles to take countermeasures, that gradually turned into a Polish-German economic competition. Organized Polish countermeasures and the population decline of the Germans (vs. the increase of the Poles) resulted in a failure to make much difference in the percentages of land ownership (see Ostflucht).

Outcome

The Settlement Commission's goal to Germanise Polish territories failed and with the fall of German Empire in 1918 (at the end of World War I), the Commission ceased to function. By then, the total ethnic Polish population was greater then the Commission began operations.^[9]. After the war, the reestablished Polish government did not allow the colonists to keep their lands.^[10] Between 1918 and 1939, the German population in these areas declined by another 70%, and the land owned by Germans by 45%^[11].

References

^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 6. Auflage 1905–1909, online at [1]
^ [2]
^ Volker Rolf Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics, p. 106, 2004, ISBN 1845450116
^ Richard Blanke, Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland, 1918-1939, p. 51, ISBN 0813118034
^ Andrzej Chwalba - Historia Polski 1795-1918 page 461
^ Jochen Oltmer, Migration und Politik in der Weimarer Republik, p.142, 2005, ISBN:352536282X
^ Volker Rolf Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics, p. 106, 2004, ISBN 1845450116
^ John Komlos Selected Cliometric Studies on German Economic History, p.156, 1997, ISBN 3515068996
^ Blanke, Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland, 1918-1939, p.240, 1993, ISBN 0813118034
^ Ethno-nationality, Property Rights in Land and Territorial Sovereignty in Prussian Poland, 1886-1918: Buying the land from under the Poles' feet? by Scott M. Eddie University of Toront[3]
^ Blanke, Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland, 1918-1939, p.240, 1993, ISBN 0813118034

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{POV|date=August 2008}}
 [[Image:Collaegium Maius Poznan front.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Building of Settlement Commission in Poznań, today ''Collegium Maius'']]
-The '''Settlement Commission''' ({{lang-de|Ansiedlungskommission}}) was a department that operated between [[1886]] and [[1918]], set up by [[Otto von Bismarck]] to increase land ownership of [[Germans]] at the expense of [[Poles]] in the Polish-populated [[German Empire]]'s eastern provinces of [[West Prussia]] and [[Province of Posen|Posen]], through the use of economic and political methods, as part of the country's official policy of [[Germanisation]].
+The '''Settlement Commission''' ({{lang-de|Ansiedlungskommission}}) was a department that operated between [[1886]] and [[1918]], set up by [[Otto von Bismarck]] to increase land ownership of [[Germans]] at the expense of [[Poles]] in the [[German Empire]]'s eastern provinces of [[West Prussia]] and [[Province of Posen|Posen]], through the use of economic and political methods, as part of the country's policy of [[Germanisation]].
-==Political background==
-In [[1904]] the [[Prussia| Prussian Government]] sought to restrict the right of ethnic Poles to acquire land, even though they were German citizens, but this attempt was stopped by a decision of the Prussian Administrative High Court.<ref>Volker Rolf Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics, p. 106, 2004, ISBN 1845450116</ref> Due to the overall failure of the policy, the Prussian diet in 1908 passed a law permitting the forcible expropriation of Polish landowners by the Settlement Commission. In 1912 the first and only four Polish large estates of 1,656 hectares were expropriated.<ref>John Komlos Selected Cliometric Studies on German Economic History, p.156, 1997, ISBN 3515068996</ref>
 ==Goals and funding==
@@ Line 18: / Line 13: @@
 The Commission in the end purchased 613 estates from German owners and 214 from Poles, functioning to bail-out German debtors as often as fulfilling its declared mission. Up to 1914 22,000 German peasant families had settled in the purchased land <ref>Volker Rolf Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics, p. 106, 2004, ISBN 1845450116</ref> and throughout its 32 years of existence the Commission was able to buy 8% of the total land in Posen - West Prussia  <ref>Richard Blanke, Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland, 1918-1939, p. 51, ISBN 0813118034</ref>. Altogether 21,866 families were settled, bringing the number of German colonists to 154,000<ref> Andrzej Chwalba - Historia Polski 1795-1918 page 461</ref>. In 1913, 450 new villages were founded, areas of 438,560 ha were purchased, of which 124,903 ha were purchased from Poles.
-,400 families were Germans from the other parts of the partitioned Poland, [[Congress Poland]] ([[Russian Empire]] province) and [[Galicia]] ([[Austria]]n province).<ref>Jochen Oltmer, Migration und Politik in der Weimarer Republik, p.142, 2005, ISBN 352536282X</ref>
+,400 families were Germans from the other parts of the partitioned Poland, [[Congress Poland]] ([[Russian Empire]] province) and [[Galicia]] ([[Austria]]n province).<ref>Jochen Oltmer, Migration und Politik in der Weimarer Republik, p.142, 2005, ISBN:352536282X</ref>
 The Commission created numerous modern settlements, especially around city of Bromberg ([[Polish language|Polish]]: ''[[Bydgoszcz]]'').
+==Political measures==
+In [[1904]] the [[Prussia| Prussian Government]] sought to restrict the right of ethnic Poles to acquire land, even though they were German citizens, but this attempt was stoped by a decision of the Prussian Administrative High Court.<ref>Volker Rolf Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics, p. 106, 2004, ISBN 1845450116</ref> Due to the overall failure of the policy, the Prussian diet in 1908 passed a law permitting the forcible expropriation of Polish landowners by the Settlement Commission. In 1912 the first and only four Polish large estates of 1,656 hectares were expropriated.<ref>John Komlos Selected Cliometric Studies on German Economic History, p.156, 1997, ISBN 3515068996</ref>
 ==Polish reaction==
-The creation of the Commission stimulated Poles to take countermeasures, that gradually turned into a Polish-German economic competition, with the Polish side opening their own businesses and factories, the most important of these was [[H. Cegielski - Poznań S.A.]]. Organized Polish countermeasures and the [[population decline]] of the Germans (vs. the increase of the Poles) resulted in a failure to make much difference in the percentages of land ownership (see [[Ostflucht]]).
+The creation of the Commission stimulated Poles to take countermeasures, that gradually turned into a Polish-German economic competition. Organized Polish countermeasures and the [[population decline]] of the Germans (vs. the increase of the Poles) resulted in a failure to make much difference in the percentages of land ownership (see [[Ostflucht]]).
 == Outcome ==