Polish uprising in the province of Poznan (1848)
The Polish uprising in the Posen Province of 1848 ( Polish Powstanie wielkopolskie 1848 roku ) is an uprising in the Polish-speaking part of the Posen Province (central and eastern part of the province) during the revolutionary movements of 1848, which was quickly suppressed by the Prussian army . However, it had various long-term effects. One of them was the end of the last prerogatives of the Grand Duchy of Poznan in the Prussian state. The opinion that a violent overthrow was not possible became more and more popular among the Poles. Instead, the concept of organic work within the existing legal system was used.
In Germany there had been great sympathy for Poland in the pre-March period . During the revolution there were lively debates on the question of poses . According to the Frankfurt National Assembly , the German-speaking areas of the Prussian province should be allowed to join Germany. The part that was to be given to the Poles became smaller and smaller over time. After the revolution, however, the old state was restored.
prehistory
This was preceded by the Cracow uprising in 1846 , the planned Polish uprising in the province of Poznan, and subsequently the Polish trial in Berlin in 1847 . As early as the beginning of 1848, in the province of Posen, national-Polish efforts began to show again, especially among the nobility. In March 1848 some intellectuals called for the independence of Poland in an appeal to the Prussian king. Immediately after the start of the March Revolution in Berlin, the prisoners from 1847 were freed and there were scenes of fraternization between the Poles and the German revolutionaries in Berlin. This pro-Poland mood initially seemed favorable to the independence movement. The liberated in Berlin formed a revolutionary committee under Ludwik Mierosławski . This announced that the uprising plans of 1846 would be continued.
Beginning of the uprising
As soon as the news of the events in Berlin became known in Poznan, a Polish national committee began to form there on March 20, and the red and white Polish cockades were demonstratively put on. When the Prussian general Friedrich August Peter von Colomb refused to put on the badge, the crowd reacted with a hail of stones. Only now did the general put on the badge. From Poznan, news of the movement spread throughout the province. In Poznan, President Carl Moritz von Beurmann felt compelled by leading Polish aristocrats to allow a meeting with the aim of drafting a petition to the king.
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This writing was brought to Berlin on March 21, 1848 by a delegation led by Archbishop Leon Michał Przyłuski . The Scriptures said that the thought had prevailed among the entire Polish population that the hour of Poland's rebirth had come. However, contrary to their mandate, the group did not negotiate independence, but a reorganization of the Grand Duchy of Poznan in the Polish sense. The occupation troops were to be replaced by Polish units, and the administration was also to pass into Polish hands. The National Committee immediately published appeals in Polish and German.
Some of the prisoners freed in Berlin, including Karol Libelt , joined the National Committee in Poznan . On March 21st, the National Committee initiated the formation of local committees in the various towns and cities of the province. District commissioners were appointed at the same time. These had the task of collecting property taxes and organizing a national army. The archbishop instructed the clergy to carry out the instructions of the National Committee.
At times there were riots against Germans and Jews in the middle and eastern districts of the Grand Duchy.
On March 24th the National Committee declared the end of all class differences. The farmers were also promised to reduce their burdens in the future. On April 1, all mandatory payments to the landlords were declared ineffective. After the victory, all soldiers involved in the war should receive land grants.
Everywhere in the province the Prussian eagle was replaced by the Polish eagle. In many places the Prussian mayors and district administrators were deposed. The treasury coffers went into Polish hands. Polish officials took the place of the Prussian officials. Even before the commission under the Poznan Archbishop had arrived in Berlin, the clergy in the churches announced that Poland had been re-established.
The Prussian authorities in the provinces were on the defensive during this phase, also because of the revolutionary turnaround in Berlin. The Prussian troops withdrew to some bases. On the part of the German population in the province, there were initially scenes of fraternization.
In Poznan, the National Committee began to form a Polish legion. Ludwik Mierosławski, who was liberated in Berlin, took over her command. As a result, excavations were carried out at various locations. At the beginning of April 1848, the Polish troops are said to have numbered 9,000 men. However, only about half were armed with rifles, most of them only carried scythes. The troops hardly had any heavy weapons. The Polish units were primarily directed against Russia. This corresponded to the call of the Polish National Committee of March 21st against "Asiaticism", i. H. against Russia. Mierosławski even planned an offensive against the Russian Empire at times. The troops were concentrated in three large camps on the border with the Russian-ruled Kingdom of Poland .
After the Polish embassy arrived in Berlin on March 24th, Friedrich Wilhelm IV promised a national reorganization. A Polish army was to be formed and the civil servants to be filled with Poles. A newly appointed President should also be from Poland. A reorganization commission was set up in Poznan on March 27th. Eight Poles and two Germans were represented at the proposal of the Polish National Committee. Among other things, it was decided to set up a Polish army corps and introduce the Polish language as the official language.
Countermovements
As a result, anti-Polish sentiment began to spread among the German residents of the province. Emissaries were also sent to Berlin from this side. There was an organizational formation and the formation of a German defense force. The majority of the Jewish residents joined the Germans. After the Polish National Committee refused to accept Germans and Jews, a German National Committee was formed in Poznan. The Germans had a particularly strong influence in the Netzedistrikt and sought to separate them from the Grand Duchy.
At first, there was a pro-Poland atmosphere within Germany, also in the pre-parliament and the Prussian United State Parliament . It was initially unclear whether Posen would be represented in the Frankfurt National Assembly. The estates of the Grand Duchy of Poznan meeting in Berlin rejected integration into the German Confederation by a majority on April 6th . A minority, however, strongly advocated it.
In Prussia, the conservative circles were regaining influence. These as well as Friedrich Wilhelm IV rejected a war against Russia. France also acted negatively. As early as March 25, 1848, the Prussian military began, in part by circumventing the government of Ludolf Camphausen , with military countermeasures. The Landwehr was mobilized in Lower Silesia and Pomerania , and regular troops also moved in from Silesia. On March 31, an ordinance was passed prohibiting the Poles from armed. The state of siege was declared on April 3.
As early as April 4, the number of Prussian troops near Posen was 15,000. Their number doubled to 30,000 by April 9th. These were initially not used.
The Polish side responded by forming a secret provisional government.
In addition, the government in Berlin continued to show willingness to compromise. The Prussian government sent General Wilhelm von Willisen to carry out the reorganization . This declared the Polish committees dissolved and ordered the end of the Polish troops. At the same time, a new reorganization commission was set up, which accommodated the Polish wishes. After negotiations with the Polish National Committee, Willisen finally agreed to form a future Polish National Army, exceeding his competencies.
An agreement was reached that during the partial dissolution of the Polish troops, all military operations on the Prussian side would cease. The Polish units were meanwhile about 15,000 strong, which were concentrated in five camps.
As a result, the plan of dividing the province into a German and a Polish part came up. In fact, on April 14, the king approved the separation of the German parts and the connection to the German Confederation.
Fights and crackdowns
There was strong resistance to the demobilization plans among the Polish troops. The internal tensions between the Polish nobility and the rest of the population proved to be problematic. Ludwik Mierosławski also spoke out against it without actively opposing the agreement.
The Prussian military under General Colomb was looking for an excuse to disband the Polish camps. The Polish side was mistaken and the dissolution of the troops was stopped. Since April 19, Prussian troops used force against the Poles. On the news of the victorious advance of the Prussian troops, the Polish National Committee disbanded on April 30th. The fact that the Polish commander-in-chief Ludwik Mierosławski won a battle near Miloslaw and, with a force of around 5000 men , persuaded Alexander Adolf von Hirschfeld to withdraw temporarily near Sokołowo on May 2 , could no longer avert the defeat of the Polish troops, also as a result of Polish desertions Soldiers. From Gnesen a Prussian army, 12,000 strong with fifteen guns, advanced against Mierosławski. This was finally cut off from the rest of the country and found itself defeated. He resigned on May 6th. On May 9th, his successor, Colonel Augustyn Brzeżański, capitulated in Wartha . Other troops continued to resist. The guerrilla war ended in May 1848.
consequences
One consequence of the defeat was that there was a growing opinion among Poles that violent resistance would not lead to success. The concept of organic work within the existing state and legal system became more important. The League Polska was formed as the main organization . Participation in the Prussian state elections was also part of the legality course. Since then there has been a Polish parliamentary group in the Prussian House of Representatives , and Poles were also represented in the Herrenhaus .
In Germany, the uprising brought an end to the enthusiasm for Poland in Vormärz, as it had shown in the Polish clubs , for example . In July 1848 there was a debate in the Frankfurt National Assembly , in which Wilhelm Jordan spread anti-Polish stereotypes in a speech and called for the integration of the whole province of Poznan into the German nation-state with the right of the stronger. The parliamentarians approved the motion with 341 votes against 31. Only parts of the staunch democrats held on to support Polish freedom.
In the Prussian state parliament, the new MP Otto von Bismarck spoke out against coming to terms with the Poles. There was no reorganization of the province. Instead, the Prussian constitution of November 1849 no longer provided special rights for Posen. The Grand Duchy of Posen was ruled as a normal Prussian province from then on. However, after the final liquidation of the revolution in 1851, she left the German Confederation. In 1852, German was introduced as the sole court language, and Polish was only allowed in schools in the first grades and in the subject of religion.
literature
- R. Hepke: The Polish uprising and the German counter-movement in Posen in the spring of 1848. Berlin and Posen 1848, ( e-copy ).
- Manfred Alexander: Small history of Poland. Bonn 2006. ISBN 3-89331-662-0 . P. 215f.
- Krzystof Makowski: The Grand Duchy of Poznan in the revolutionary year of 1848. In: Rudolf Jaworski, Robert Luft (ed.): 1848/49. Revolutions in East Central Europe. Munich 1996. ISBN 3-486-56012-3 . Pp. 149-172.
- Heinrich Wuttke : City book of the country Posen. Leipzig 1864, p. 237ff.
- District Citizens' Committee to Rogasen (ed.): The history of the uprising in the province of Posen using the files of the Royal District Councilor's Office in Obernik. Poznan 1848, ( e-copy ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Krzystof Makowski: The Grand Duchy of Poznan in the revolutionary year of 1848 . In: Rudolf Jaworski, Robert Luft (Ed.): 1848/49. Revolutions in East Central Europe . Oldenbourg, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-486-56012-3 , pp. 149-172, here p. 166.
- ↑ Krzysztof Makowski "Poles, Germans And Jews In The Grand Duchy Of Poznan In 1848: From Coexistence To Conflict" ( Memento from July 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ^ Krzystof Makowski: The Grand Duchy of Poznan in the revolutionary year of 1848 . In: Rudolf Jaworski, Robert Luft (Ed.): 1848/49. Revolutions in East Central Europe . Oldenbourg, Munich 1996, pp. 149–172, here p. 159.
- ↑ a b c Krzystof Makowski: The Grand Duchy of Posen in the revolutionary year of 1848 . In: Rudolf Jaworski, Robert Luft (Ed.): 1848/49. Revolutions in East Central Europe . Oldenbourg, Munich 1996, pp. 149–172, here p. 160.