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97-552: In the 19th century, a part of the Austrian Empire belonged to the German Confederation . In the revolutionary era of 1848–1850, it was discussed whether Austria or a part of Austria could belong to a new German federal state. In 1867–1871, the 'Lesser Germany' became reality: a federal state under leadership of Prussia and without Austria. After that, the term lost its significance because since then 'Germany'

194-473: A House of Deputies ( Abgeordnetenhaus ). But most nationalities of the monarchy remained dissatisfied. After the second war with Denmark in 1864, Holstein came under Austrian administration, and Schleswig and Lauenburg under Prussian administration. But the internal difficulties continued. Diets replaced the parliament in 17 provinces, the Hungarians pressed for autonomy, and Venetia was attracted by

291-734: A century, it was part of the Prussian Partition , with a brief exception during the Napoleonic Wars . When this area came under Prussian control, the feudal system was still in force. It was officially ended in Prussia ( see Freiherr vom Stein ) in 1810 (1864 in Congress Poland ), but lingered in some practices until the late 19th century. The situation was thus that (primarily) Polish serfs lived and worked side by side with (predominantly) free German settlers. Though

388-550: A decisive part in the overthrow of Napoleon in the campaigns of 1813–14. It participated in a second invasion of France in 1815, and put an end to Murat's regime in south Italy. The latter period of Napoleonic Wars featured Metternich exerting a large degree of influence over foreign policy in the Austrian Empire, a matter nominally decided by the Emperor. Metternich initially supported an alliance with France, arranging

485-533: A letter to his sister: "Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy for their condition, but if we want to survive we can only exterminate them." His dislike was firmly entrenched in traditions of Prussian mentality and history. There was little need for discussions in Prussian circles, as most of them, including the monarch, agreed with his views. Poles suffered from discrimination by

582-539: A new Austrian constitution which defined Austria as a centralist state. By then, the German National Assembly was already divided in 'Greater Germans' (often Catholics) and 'Lesser Germans'. The latter tendency became in March 1849 the majority. It voted for a German constitution that left open the accession of Austria, but elected the Prussian king to be German Emperor. It also made for the first time

679-584: A stable economy and reached an almost balanced budget, despite having a major deficit following the Napoleonic Wars. From March 1848 through November 1849, the Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements, most of which were of a nationalist character. Besides that, liberal and even socialist currents resisted the empire's longstanding conservatism. Although most of the revolution plans failed, some changes were made; significant lasting reforms included

776-511: A system which delegated the responsibilities of the Kreise among subordinate Amtsbezirke  [ de ] ('office districts'), a system which persisted until 1867. In the course of the post-1848 reforms Transylvania was also divided into Kreise in 1851 (re-divided in 1854 ); the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar was also divided into Kreise . German was

873-701: A then-failed attempts to expand borders of the Confederation through inclusion of the original nucleus of Prussian statehood ( East Prussia ), as well as through annexing into the Confederation the Prussian-ruled share of the dismembered Polish state, enjoying a degree of autonomy and consisting of Pomerelia (renamed West Prussia ), the Lauenburg and Bütow Land , as well as the Greater Poland (renamed Grand Duchy of Posen ). Attempts to annex

970-567: A very bad reputation among Czechs and subsequently led to the strengthening of the Czech national movement . However, Bach's relaxed ideological views (apart from the neo-absolutism) led to a great rise in the 1850s of economic freedom . Internal customs duties were abolished, and peasants were emancipated from their feudal obligations. In her capacity as leader of the German Confederation, Austria participated with volunteers in

1067-496: A whole. Further, Metternich opposed the weakening of France in the years after Napoleon, and viewed the new monarchy in Paris as an effective tool in keeping Russia at bay. From 1815 to 1848, Metternich steered Austria Imperial foreign policy, and indeed the mood of Europe, and managed to keep peace on the continent despite the growing liberal and radical movements inside most major powers. His resignation in 1848, forced by moderates in

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1164-634: Is a notable disparity between German statistics gathered by the Prussian administration, and the Polish estimates conducted after 1918. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the number of German speakers in the Province of Posen was approximately 38.5% (which included colonists, military stationed in the area and German administration), while after 1918 the number of Germans in the Poznan Voivodship, which closely corresponded to province of Posen,

1261-550: Is also referred to as the " Age of Metternich ". During this period, Metternich controlled the Habsburg monarchy 's foreign policy. He also had a major influence in European politics. He was known for his strong conservative views and approach in politics. Metternich's policies were strongly against revolution and liberalism. In his opinion, liberalism was a form of legalized revolution. Metternich believed that absolute monarchy

1358-521: Is usually identified as this Lesser Germany. The other term, Greater Germany, remained in use for those who sought to incorporate Austria or the German-speaking parts of Austria into Germany. This became a political issue in the aftermath of World War One and then again in 1938–1945. During the Cold War, when Germany was divided, a unified Germany was called ' Gesamtdeutschland '. Since 1815,

1455-654: The Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and countries. This confederation, under French influence, de facto put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, Francis proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him. The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was not recognized by George III of the United Kingdom who

1552-524: The First War of Schleswig (1848–1850). Sardinia allied itself with France for the conquest of Lombardy–Venetia . Austria was defeated in the 1859 armed conflict. The Treaties of Villafranca and Zürich removed Lombardy, except for the part east of the Mincio river, the so-called Mantovano . The Constitution of 1861 , also known as "February Patent", created a House of Lords ( Herrenhaus ) and

1649-559: The Habsburg Monarchy would have had to be separate in terms of constitution, government and administration. The Austrian Emperor would have been the head of both parts, formed as separate states in a personal union only. Austria rejected demands for such a division of its imperial territory, as it viewed a personal union as insufficient to ensure integrity of the monarchy. In March 1849, the Austrian Emperor issued

1746-667: The Middle Ages , when the first settlers arrived in the course of the Ostsiedlung . Although many of those had been Polonized over time, a continuous immigration resulted in maintaining a large German community . The 18th century Jesuit -led Counter-Reformation enacted severe restrictions on German Protestants. At the end of the 18th century when Prussia seized the area during the Partitions of Poland , thousands of German colonists were sent by Prussian officials to Germanize

1843-614: The Napoleonic Wars , except for a period between 1809 and 1813, when Austria was first allied with Napoleon during the invasion of Russia and later neutral during the first few weeks of the Sixth Coalition War . Austria and its allies emerged victorious in the war, leading to the Congress of Vienna , which reaffirmed the empire as one of the great powers of the 19th century. The Kingdom of Hungary —as Regnum Independens—was administered by its own institutions separately from

1940-520: The Prussian Army , though these went mostly unheeded. Bismarck regarded these as an indication of a Slavic-Roman encirclement and even a threat to unified Germany. Under German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck renewed Germanisation policies began, including an increase of the police, a colonization commission, and the Kulturkampf . The German Eastern Marches Society ( Hakata ) pressure group

2037-636: The Prussian deportations , they alienated decisively and irrevocably the Polish majority living in these territories from the Hohenzollerns as well as eroded any confidence or loyalty of Poles towards the State of Prussia. In the peace treaty with Austria, and already before with France, Prussia promised not to expand the North German state to southern Germany. Austria still tried to be a player in

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2134-853: The Second Polish Republic after the latter was established. There was also Polonization of local Catholic Germans . Another reason of the disparity is that some border areas of the province, inhabited mostly by Germans (including Piła ), remained in Germany after 1918. According to Polish authors, the real share of Poles in 1910 was 65% (rather than 61.5% claimed by official census). Area: 28,970 km Population Prussian provinces were subdivided into government regions ( Regierungsbezirke ), in Posen: These regions were again subdivided into districts called Kreise . Cities would have their own "Stadtkreis" (urban district) and

2231-849: The United Kingdom , while geographically, it was the third-largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire and the First French Empire . The empire was proclaimed by Francis II in 1804 in response to Napoleon 's declaration of the First French Empire, unifying all Habsburg possessions under one central government. It remained part of the Holy Roman Empire until the latter's dissolution in 1806. It continued fighting against Napoleon throughout

2328-531: The first Minister-President of the Austrian Empire. The liberal Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire forced Metternich's resignation. Metternich is remembered for his success in maintaining the status quo and the Habsburg influence in international affairs. No Habsburg foreign minister following Metternich held a similar position within the empire for such a long time nor held such a vast influence on European foreign affairs. Historians generally consider

2425-569: The "royal" part referred to the Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary. However, during World War I Austria-Hungary issued military stamps for use in occupied regions, with the text "K.u.K. Feldpost" or K.u.K. Militärpost. The Napoleonic Wars dominated Austrian foreign policy from 1804 to 1815. The Austrian army was one of the most formidable forces the French had to face. After Prussia signed a peace treaty with France on 5 April 1795, Austria

2522-614: The 1815 Congress of Vienna , including the local government reorganizations from the Revolutions of 1848 to the 1860 October Diploma : The old Habsburg possessions of Further Austria (in today's France, Germany and Switzerland) had already been lost in the 1805 Peace of Pressburg. From 1850, Croatia , Slavonia , and the Military Frontier constituted a single land with disaggregated provincial and military administration, and representation. Administratively, most of

2619-518: The Anglo-French coalition. Having abandoned its alliance with Russia, Austria was diplomatically isolated following the war, which contributed to Russia's non-intervention in the 1859 Franco-Austrian War , which meant the end of Austrian influence in Italy; and in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War , with the loss of its influence in most German-speaking land. Crown lands of the Austrian Empire after

2716-528: The Austrian Army to preparedness for another war. Johann Philipp von Stadion, the foreign minister, personally hated Napoleon due to an experience of confiscation of his possessions in France by Napoleon. In addition, the third wife of Francis I, Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este , agreed with Stadion's efforts to begin a new war. Klemens Wenzel von Metternich , located in Paris, called for careful advance in

2813-459: The Austrian Empire was legally a single state, although the overarching structure and the status of its component lands at first stayed much the same as they had been under the composite monarchy. This was especially demonstrated by the status of the Kingdom of Hungary , a country that had never been a part of the Holy Roman Empire and which had always been considered a separate realm – a status that

2910-584: The Austrian Empire with other European powers whose monarchs had a similar interest in preserving conservative political direction, Metternich was able to establish the Austrian Empire's influence on European politics. Also, because Metternich used the fear of revolutions among European powers, which he also shared, he was able to establish security and predominance of the Habsburgs in Europe. Under Metternich, nationalist revolts in Austrian north Italy and in

3007-549: The Austrian foreign minister, other congresses would meet to resolve European foreign affairs. These included the Congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), Carlsbad (1819), Troppau (1820), Laibach (1821), and Verona (1822). The Metternich congresses aimed to maintain the political equilibrium among the European powers and prevent revolutionary efforts. These meetings also aimed to resolve foreign issues and disputes without resorting to violence. By means of these meetings and by allying

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3104-451: The Austrian government was not willing to live with the consequences of a German federal state. The German National Assembly refused to accept all of Austria, as this would have burdened the new state with the nationality conflicts of Austria. Only the part of Austria that was already federal territory was welcome, even if it included a large ethnic minority (the Czechs ). The Hungarian part of

3201-444: The Confederation. The territory within the confederation was called bundeszugehörig (belonging to the confederation), the other bundesfremd (foreign to the confederation). Only Bundesgebiet (federal territory = territory within the boundaries of the confederation) was protected by the military provisions of the German Confederation. In March 1848, revolution broke out in Germany and other European countries. The Federal Assembly,

3298-465: The Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austria was the leading member of the German Confederation. Following the Congress, the major European powers agreed to meet and discuss resolutions in the event of future disputes or revolutions. Because of Metternich's main role in the architecture of the Congress, these meetings are also referred to as the "Metternich congress" or "Metternich system". Under Metternich as

3395-610: The Empire in September 1805. On 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by General Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the city of Ulm . The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers and many cannons. Napoleon's army won another victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Francis was forced into negotiations with the French from 4 to 6 December 1805, which concluded with an armistice on 6 December 1805. The French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to ally themselves with

3492-462: The French and assert their formal independence from the Empire. On 10 December 1805, Maximilian IV Joseph , the prince-elector and Duke of Bavaria , proclaimed himself king, followed by the Duke of Württemberg Frederick III on 11 December. Charles Frederick , Margrave of Baden , was given the title of Grand Duke on 12 December. Each of these new states became French allies. Francis II agreed to

3589-584: The German question. In summer 1870, war broke out between France and the North German Confederation. The south German states were loyal to their military conventions with the North. Austria did not dare to support France because of its weak position after the war of 1866 and because of the German-speaking inhabitants sympathizing with the German cause. Finally, the Austrian government accepted

3686-485: The German states had belonged to the German Confederation. Its territory was defined essentially after the Holy Roman Empire . As a consequence, the two dominant member states belonged to the confederation only partially, leaving their vast territories such as the original Prussia (renamed East Prussia ), the Prussian and Austrian shares of the partitioned Poland, or the Hungarian part of the Austrian Empire, outside of

3783-546: The German states were forcibly crushed. At home, he pursued a similar policy to suppress revolutionary and liberal ideals. He employed the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, which used strict censorship of education, press and speech to repress revolutionary and liberal concepts. Metternich also used a wide-ranging spy network to dampen down unrest. Metternich operated very freely with regard to foreign policy under Emperor Francis I's reign. Francis died in 1835. This date marks

3880-598: The Grand Duchy to an ordinary Province of Posen . In an unexpected turn of events, the Prussian king refused, however, to accept in April the offered crown of the nascent German Empire (1848–1849) , primarily due to his negative perception of the form of the planned empire as designed by the Frankfurt Constitution, thus causing abortion of the efforts to establish the state. Nevertheless, he followed in

3977-632: The Greater Polish revolt, after a series of broken assurances, on 9 February 1849 the Prussian authorities renamed the duchy as the Province of Posen. In spite of that, the territory formally remained outside of the German Confederation (and thus Germany) until the German Confederation was dissolved and the North German Confederation was established, which occurred in 1866 . Nevertheless, the Prussian Kings retained

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4074-673: The Kulturkampf, the German Empire for nationalist reasons implemented Germanisation programs. One measure was to set up a Settlement Commission to attract German settlers to counter the Polish population's higher growth. However, this failed, even when accompanied by additional legal measures. The Polish language was eventually banned from use in schools and government offices as part of the Germanisation policies. (including bilinguals) (including most of Jews) There

4171-488: The Metternich era as a period of stability : the Austrian Empire fought no wars nor did it undergo any radical internal reforms. However, it was also thought of as a period of economic growth and prosperity in the Austrian Empire. The population of Austria rose to 37.5 million by 1843. Urban expansion also occurred and the population of Vienna reached 400,000. During the Metternich era, the Austrian Empire also maintained

4268-482: The Posen duchy into two parts: the Province of Posen, which would have been given to the German population and annexed to a newly created Greater Germany , and the Province of Gniezno , which would have been given to the Poles and remain outside of Germany. Because of the protest of Polish politicians, this plan failed and the integrity of the duchy was preserved. Nevertheless, when the Prussian troops had finally crushed

4365-574: The Prussian capital, anti-Polish sentiments arose. While the local Posen ( Poznań ) Parliament voted 26 to 17 votes against joining German Confederation, on 3 April 1848 the Frankfurt Parliament ignored the vote, unsuccessfully attempting its status change to a common Prussian province, as well as its incorporation into the German Confederation . The Frankfurt parliamentarian Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Jordan vehemently spoke against Polish autonomy. The assembly at first attempted to divide

4462-598: The Prussian state; numerous oppressive measures were implemented to eradicate the Polish community's identity and culture. The Polish inhabitants of Posen, who faced discrimination and even forced Germanization, favored the French side during the Franco-Prussian War . France and Napoleon III were known for their support and sympathy for the Poles under Prussian rule Demonstrations at news of Prussian-German victories manifested Polish independence feelings and calls were also made for Polish recruits to desert from

4559-646: The Russian Empire in November 1804. This convention was to assure mutual cooperation in the case of a new war against France. Austrian unwillingness to join the Third Coalition was overcome by British subsidies, but the Austrians withdrew from the war yet again after a decisive defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz. Although the Austrian budget suffered from wartime expenditures and its international position

4656-654: The abolition of serfdom , cancellation of censorship and a promise made by Ferdinand I of Austria said to implement a constitution throughout the whole Empire. After the death of Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg in 1852, the Minister of the Interior Baron Alexander von Bach largely dictated policy in Austria and Hungary. Bach centralized administrative authority for the Austrian Empire, but he also endorsed reactionary policies that reduced freedom of

4753-496: The approval of the national movement. Several proposals were made to reform the German Confederation, most notably in 1863 at the Frankfurter Fürstentag . At this moment, the networks of the political elites in Lesser Germany were already quite separate from the Austrian ones. In April and June 1866, Prussia proposed to convert the German Confederation into a federal state without Austria. Bavaria refused to become Prussia's junior partner in this project. But nevertheless Prussia sought

4850-562: The area. During the first half of the 19th century, the German population grew due to state sponsored colonisation . In the second half, the Polish population grew gradually due to the Ostflucht and a higher birthrate among the Poles. In the Kulturkampf , mainly Protestant Prussia sought to reduce the Catholic impact on its society. Posen was hit severely by these measures due to its large, mainly Polish Catholic population. Many Catholic Germans in Posen joined with ethnic Poles in opposition to anti-Catholic Kulturkampf measures . Following

4947-526: The case of the war against France. The defeat of French army at the Battle of Bailén in Spain on 27 July 1808 triggered the war. On 9 April 1809, an Austrian force of 170,000 men attacked Bavaria . Despite military defeats of the Austrian army —especially the Battles of Marengo , Ulm , Austerlitz and Wagram —and consequently lost territory throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (the Treaties of Campo Formio in 1797, Luneville in 1801, Pressburg in 1806, and Schönbrunn in 1809), Austria played

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5044-433: The confrontation with Austria that was unwilling to accept Prussia as its equal within the confederation. The Austro-Prussian War of summer 1866 ended with a Prussian victory and the dissolution of the German Confederation. Prussia established a federal state in Northern Germany, called the North German Confederation, expanded through addition of the original Prussian nucleus (the East Prussia ), as well as annexing into it

5141-403: The court, and revolutionaries in the streets, may have caused the spread of the revolutions throughout the monarchy. It is stipulated that Metternich's departure emboldened liberal factions in Austria and Hungary, but this cannot be confirmed for certain. During the Crimean War , Austria maintained a policy of hostile neutrality towards Russia , and, while not going to war, was supportive of

5238-437: The crown lands excluding Hungary, Croatia, Slavonia, Transylvania, Lombardy–Venetia and the Military Frontier were divided into Kreise (' circles '), an administrative division introduced under Maria Theresa in the 18th century. Following the revolutions of 1848 a brief attempt was made to introduce modern-style political districts (in addition to the Kreise ), but the reforms of Bach in 1853/54 instead instituted

5335-421: The decline of Metternich's influence in the Austrian Empire. Francis' heir was his son Ferdinand I, but he suffered from health issues. Ferdinand's accession preserved the Habsburg dynastic succession, but he was not capable of ruling. The leadership of the Austrian Empire was transferred to a state council composed of Metternich, Francis I's brother Archduke Louis, and Count Franz Anton Kolowrat , who later became

5432-407: The evolution and the creation of a Lesser Germany in December 1870. Austrian Empire Timeline The Austrian Empire , officially known as the Empire of Austria , was a multinational European great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs . During its existence, it was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the Russian Empire and

5529-420: The host estate owners. Greater Poland became Prussian in 1772 ( Netze District ) and 1793 ( South Prussia ) during the First and Second Partition of Poland . After Prussia's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars , the territory was attached to the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 upon the Franco-Prussian Treaty of Tilsit . In 1815 during the Congress of Vienna , Prussia gained the western third of the Warsaw duchy, which

5626-495: The humiliating Treaty of Pressburg , signed in Pressburg (today Bratislava , Slovakia) on 26 December 1805, in which he recognised these new titles and ceded large amounts of territory to Napoleon's German allies and the French Satellite Kingdom of Italy . In practice this meant the dissolution of the long-lived Holy Roman Empire and a reorganization under a Napoleonic model of the German states. Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806,

5723-455: The immediate aftermath with further steps to unify Germany, but on his own absolutist terms, initially through a project that was later called the ' Erfurt Union '. Austria was not invited to become part of this version of Lesser Germany. Joseph von Radowitz , adviser to the Prussian king and actual leader of the project, tried to bind Austria and the Union together in a confederation. Austria rejected these attempts and made Prussia give up for

5820-407: The leading insurgents around Karol Libelt and Ludwik Mierosławski were reported to the Prussian police and arrested for high treason . Their trial at the Berlin Kammergericht court gained them enormous popularity even among German national liberals , who themselves were suppressed by the Carlsbad Decrees . Both were released in the March Revolution of 1848 and triumphantly carried through

5917-465: The marriage between Napoleon and Francis I's daughter, Marie-Louise; however, by the 1812 campaign, he had realised the inevitability of Napoleon's downfall and took Austria to war against France. Metternich's influence at the Congress of Vienna was remarkable, and he became not only the premier statesman in Europe but the virtual ruler of the Empire until 1848—the Year of revolutions —and the rise of liberalism equated to his political downfall. The result

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6014-511: The now unified Italy. After the Austrian army was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the German Confederation was dissolved, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was adopted. By this act, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Empire of Austria as two separate entities joined on an equal basis to form the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The frequent abbreviation K.u.K. ( Kaiserliche und Königliche , "Imperial and Royal") does not refer to that dual monarchy but originated in 1745, when

6111-423: The only organ of the German Confederation, elected a National Assembly to work out a constitution for a German federal state. The German National Assembly also installed a provisional head of state (the uncle of the Austrian Emperor) and government. Initially, it was universally accepted that the federal territory of Austria should be a part of the new German state. During the course of 1848, it became evident that

6208-400: The predominantly Polish-speaking Prussian-held share of Poland, namely the territories of Province of Posen , West Prussia and the Lauenburg and Bütow Land which were not included in its predecessor, the German Confederation. Although hailed as a German success at the time, the annexations were in fact a Pyrrhic victory , because along with the ensuing Germanisation , the Kulturkampf and

6305-431: The press and abandoned public trials. He later represented the Absolutist (or Klerikalabsolutist ) party, which culminated in the concordat of August 1855 that gave the Roman Catholic Church control over education and family life. This period in the history of the Austrian Empire would become known as the era of neo-absolutism, or Bach's absolutism. The pillars of the so-called Bach system ( Bachsches System ) were, in

6402-422: The primary language of higher education in the empire. Province of Posen The Province of Posen ( German : Provinz Posen ; Polish : Prowincja Poznańska ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland . The province was established following the Poznań Uprising of 1848 as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen , which in turn

6499-467: The region be included in the newly independent Second Polish Republic , while the German minority refused any territorial concessions. Another Greater Poland Uprising broke out on 27 December 1918, a day after Ignacy Jan Paderewski 's speech. The uprising received little support from the Polish government in Warsaw . After the success of the uprising, Posen province was until mid-1919 an independent state with its own government, currency and military. With

6596-452: The rest of the empire. After Austria was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was adopted, joining the Kingdom of Hungary and the Empire of Austria to form Austria-Hungary . Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt (1797–1799) and Regensburg (1801–1803). On 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess (German: Reichsdeputationshauptschluss )

6693-405: The settlers were given initial advantages, in time their lots were not much different. Serfs worked for the noble lord, who took care of them. Settlers worked for themselves and took care of themselves, but paid taxes to the lord. Typically, an estate would have its manor and farm buildings, and a village nearby for the Polish laborers. Near that village, there might be a German settlement. And in

6790-489: The signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, most of the province, composed of the areas with a Polish majority, was ceded to Poland and was reformed as the Poznań Voivodeship . The majority-German populated remainder (with Bomst , Fraustadt , Neu Bentschen , Meseritz , Tirschtiegel (partially), Schwerin , Blesen , Schönlanke , Filehne , Schloppe , Deutsch Krone , Tütz , Schneidemühl , Flatow , Jastrow , and Krojanke —about 2,200 km (850 sq mi))

6887-423: The streets. At the same time, a Polish national committee gathered at Poznań and demanded independence. The Prussian Army under General Friedrich August Peter von Colomb at first retired. King Frederick William IV of Prussia as well as the new Prussian commissioner, Karl Wilhelm von Willisen , promised a renewed autonomy status. However, both among the German-speaking population of the province as well as in

6984-434: The territories populated with Poles were based on an assessment that future successful Germanisation of these lands would be feasible, in contrast to the Hungarian lands. The planned annexations elicited an immediate armed response of the Poles in the form of the Greater Poland uprising (1848) and were as a result abandoned for the time being. In spite of their failure at the time, the assembly did succeed, however, in demoting

7081-766: The time World War II ended in May 1945, it had been overrun by the Red Army . Following Germany's defeat in World War in 1945, at Stalin 's demand all of the German territory east of the newly established Oder–Neisse line of the Potsdam Agreement was either turned over to the Poland or the Soviet Union . All historical parts of the province came under Polish control, and the remaining ethnic German population

7178-465: The time being its union plans in late 1850. Except for Hungary, the Austrian Empire remained a part of the re-established German Confederation, while Prussia still tried to improve its position within the confederation and even cherished its union plans. Around 1860, the German question became dynamic again. Austria came out weakened by the Italian War of the previous year while Prussia sought to gain

7275-469: The title Emperor of the French and established the First French Empire . Initially Francis II/I continued to hold both titles but abdicated the throne of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. This new empire or " Kaiserthum " ( lit.   ' Kaiser -dom ' ) comprised all the lands of the Habsburg monarchy , which had until then been legally separate realms in personal union (a composite monarchy ) under Francis and his predecessors. By contrast,

7372-438: The title "Grand Duke of Posen" until the German and Prussian monarchy finally expired in 1918, following the abdication of William II . With the unification of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the Province of Posen became part of the German Empire , and the city of Posen was officially named an imperial residence city. Bismarck's hostility towards the Poles was already well known, as in 1861 he had written in

7469-520: The woods, there would be a forester's dwelling. The estate owners, usually of the nobility, owned the local grist mill , and often other types of mills or perhaps a distillery . In many places, windmills dotted the landscape, reminding one of the earliest settlers, the Dutch , who began the process of turning unproductive river marshes into fields. This process was finished by the German settlers employed to reclaim unproductive lands (not only marshland) for

7566-430: The words of Adolf Fischhof , four "armies": a standing army of soldiers, a sitting army of office holders, a kneeling army of priests and a fawning army of sneaks . Prisons were full of political prisoners, like Czech nationalist journalist and writer Karel Havlíček Borovský who was forcibly expatriated (1851–1855) to Brixen . This exile undermined Borovský's health and he died soon afterwards. This affair earned Bach

7663-472: Was expelled by force. This region was inhabited by a Polish majority, with German and Jewish minorities and a smattering of other ethnic groups. Almost all the Poles were Roman Catholic , and most of the Germans were Protestant . The small numbers of Jews were primarily in the larger communities, mostly in skilled crafts, local commerce and regional trading. The smaller a community, the more likely it

7760-710: Was about half of former South Prussia. Prussia then administered this province as the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen , which lost most of its exceptional status already after the 1830 November Uprising in Congress Poland , as the Prussian authorities feared a Polish national movement which would have swept away the Holy Alliance system in Central Europe . Instead Prussian Germanisation measures increased under Oberpräsident Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell , who had replaced Duke-governor Antoni Radziwiłł . A first Greater Poland Uprising in 1846 failed, as

7857-401: Was affirmed by Article X, which was added to Hungary's constitution in 1790 and described the state as a Regnum Independens . Hungary's affairs remained administered by its own institutions (King and Diet) as they had been beforehand; thus no Imperial institutions were involved in its government. The fall and dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was accelerated by French intervention in

7954-469: Was also the Elector of Hanover (formally Brunswick-Lüneburg) and Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg ; Hanover and Lauenburg were incorporated into the French satellite Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, having been occupied several times since 1801, but Britain remained at war with France and no treaty was signed recognising their annexation. His claims were later settled by the creation of the Kingdom of Hanover which

8051-670: Was annexed by Prussia in 1815 from Duchy of Warsaw . It became part of the German Empire in 1871. After World War I , Posen was briefly part of the Free State of Prussia within Weimar Germany , but was dissolved in 1920 when the Greater Poland Uprising broke out and most of its territory was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic . The remaining German territory was re-organized into Posen-West Prussia in 1922. Posen (present-day Poznań , Poland )

8148-533: Was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, but the actual consequence of the Imperial Recess, along with the French occupying the Electorate of Hanover in the same month and various Holy Roman states becoming allied with or against France,

8245-411: Was forced to carry the main burden of war with Napoleonic France for almost ten years. This severely overburdened the Austrian economy, making the war greatly unpopular. Emperor Francis I therefore refused to join any further war against Napoleon for a long time. On the other hand, Francis I continued to intrigue for the possibility of revenge against France, entering into a secret military agreement with

8342-418: Was founded in 1894 and in 1904, special legislation was passed against the Polish population. The legislation of 1908 allowed for the confiscation of Polish-owned property. The Prussian authorities did not permit the development of industries in Posen, so the duchy's economy was dominated by high-level agriculture. At the end of World War I, the fate of the province was undecided. The Polish inhabitants demanded

8439-548: Was held by George IV and William IV as Kings of Hanover. Succession could only be in the male line, so on Queen Victoria 's accession to the British throne, her uncle, Ernest Augustus , succeeded as King of Hanover, thus ending the personal union with Great Britain that dated to 1714. Klemens von Metternich became Foreign Minister in 1809. He also held the post of Chancellor of State from 1821 until 1848, under both Francis I and his son Ferdinand I . The period of 1815–1848

8536-489: Was merged with the western remains of former West Prussia and was administered as Posen-West Prussia with Schneidemühl as its capital. This province was dissolved in 1938, when its territory was split between the neighboring Prussian provinces of Silesia , Pomerania and Brandenburg . In 1939, the territory of the former province of Posen was annexed by Nazi Germany and made part of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen ). By

8633-506: Was only 7%. According to Witold Jakóbczyk , the disparity between the number of ethnic Germans and the number of German speakers is because Prussian authorities placed ethnic Germans and the German-speaking Jewish minority into the same class. Around 161,000 Germans in the province were officials, soldiers and their families settled in the region by German Empire. In addition, there was a considerable exodus of Germans from

8730-576: Was significantly undermined, the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg provided plenty of time to strengthen the army and economy. Moreover, the ambitious Archduke Charles and Johann Philipp von Stadion never abandoned the goal of further war with France. Archduke Charles of Austria served as the Head of the Council of War and Commander in Chief of the Austrian army. Endowed with the enlarged powers, he reformed

8827-435: Was that the Austrian Empire was seen as one of the great powers after 1815, but also as a reactionary force and an obstacle to national aspirations in Italy and Germany. During this time, Metternich was able to maintain an elaborate balance between Prussia, the lesser German states, and Austria in the German Confederation . Thanks to his efforts, Austria was seen as the senior partner with Prussia keeping watch over Germany as

8924-487: Was the chief architect of the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Austrian Empire was the main beneficiary from the Congress of Vienna and it established an alliance with Britain, Prussia , and Russia forming the Quadruple Alliance . The Austrian Empire also gained new territories from the Congress of Vienna, and its influence expanded to the north through the German Confederation and also into Italy. Due to

9021-455: Was the end of the empire. Taking this significant change into consideration, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria for himself and his successors, thereby becoming Francis I of Austria. This new title and state were created to safeguard his dynasty's imperial status as he foresaw either the end of the Holy Roman Empire, or the eventual accession of Napoleon as Holy Roman Emperor, who had earlier that year adopted

9118-410: Was the only proper system of government. This notion influenced his anti-revolutionary policy to ensure the continuation of the Habsburg monarchy in Europe. Metternich was a practitioner of balance-of-power diplomacy. His foreign policy aimed to maintain international political equilibrium to preserve the Habsburgs' power and influence in international affairs. Following the Napoleonic Wars , Metternich

9215-517: Was the provincial capital. The land is mostly flat, drained by two major watershed systems; the Noteć (German: Netze ) in the north and the Warta ( Warthe ) in the center. Ice Age glaciers left moraine deposits and the land is speckled with hundreds of "finger lakes", streams flowing in and out on their way to one of the two rivers. Agriculture was the primary industry. The three-field system

9312-768: Was to be either all Polish or German. These "pockets of ethnicity" existed side by side, with German villages being the most dense in the northwestern areas. Under Prussia's Germanization policies, the population became more German until the end of the 19th century, when the trend reversed (in the Ostflucht ). This was despite efforts of the government in Berlin to prevent it, establishing the Settlement Commission to buy land from Poles and make it available for sale only to Germans. The province's large number of resident Germans resulted from constant immigration since

9409-436: Was used to grow a variety of crops, primarily rye , sugar beet , potatoes , other grains , and some tobacco and hops . Significant parcels of wooded land provided building materials and firewood . Small numbers of livestock existed, including geese , but a fair number of sheep were herded. The 29,000 km (11,000 sq mi) area roughly corresponded to the historic region of Greater Poland . For more than

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