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158-587: Soon after the German Empire was created in 1871 from the previous collection of German states (kingdoms, duchies, etc.), a universal system of register offices was established, taking effect on January 1, 1876. The system had previously been introduced in Prussia on October 1, 1874, and had been in use since the beginning of the 19th century in areas where the French Civil Code applied. Usually,

316-729: A fiefdom to the Teutonic Knights , a German military order of crusading knights, headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem at Acre . In 1225 he expelled them, and they transferred their operations to the Baltic Sea area. Konrad I , the Polish Duke of Masovia , had unsuccessfully attempted to conquer pagan Prussia in crusades in 1219 and 1222. In 1226 Duke Konrad invited the Teutonic Knights to conquer

474-415: A "Catholic." After Latin, Polish was considered the second language of worship, so attempts to replace it with Russian or local languages were resisted by local population. The spread of Polish language and culture, and eventually Polish national consciousness, was fostered not only by its prevalence among the upper classes, but also among the impoverished, declassed nobility. Their representatives regarded

632-583: A Lithuanian inscription was thrown away from Šėta 's church. So-called 'Lithuanomaniacs' ( Polish : litwomany ) priests were punished, moved to poorer parishes, or humiliated in their ministry." According to the Polish census of 1921 ethnically Polish population constituted about 69% of the population of the reborn state. The largest minorities in interwar Poland were Ukrainians, Jews, Belarusians and Germans. The Polish government's policy toward each minority varied, and also changed over time. In general, during

790-603: A Polish majority voluntarily integrated themselves within Polish society, affecting approximately 100,000 Germans in the eastern provinces of Prussia. According to some scholars the biggest successes in Polonization of the non-Polish lands of former Commonwealth were achieved after the Partitions, in times of persecution of Polishness (noted by Leon Wasilewski ) (1917 ), Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky (1926 ). Paradoxically,

948-544: A Polish state did not exist, despite the empires that partition Poland applied the policies aimed at reversing the past gains of Polonization or aimed at replacing Polish identity and eradication of Polish national group. The Polonization took place in the early years of the Prussian partition, where, as a reaction to the persecution of Roman Catholicism during the Kulturkampf , German Catholics living in areas with

1106-635: A Soviet spy and any Belarusian social activity as a product of a communist plot. Orthodox Christians also faced discrimination in interwar Poland. This discrimination was also targeting assimilation of Eastern Orthodox Belarusians. The Polish authorities were imposing Polish language in Orthodox church services and ceremonies, initiated the creation of Polish Orthodox Societies in various parts of West Belarus ( Slonim , Białystok , Vaŭkavysk , Navahrudak ). Belarusian Roman Catholic priests like Fr. Vincent Hadleŭski who promoted Belarusian language in

1264-706: A better treatment in Poland where the leadership saw Catholicism as one of the main tools to unify the nation – the Poles under Stanisław Grabski saw the restless Galician Ukrainians as less reliable than the Eastern Orthodox Volhynian Ukrainians, seen as better candidates for gradual assimilation. That's why the Polish policy in Ukraine initially aimed at keeping Greek Catholic Galicians from further influencing Orthodox Volhynians by drawing

1422-485: A black cross with gold insert and black imperial eagle. The combination of the black and white colours with the white and red Hanseatic colours of the free cities Bremen , Hamburg and Lübeck , as well as of Brandenburg , resulted in the black-white-red commercial flag of the North German Confederation , which became the flag of the German Empire in 1871. Suum cuique ("to each, his own"),

1580-849: A canon of Gniezno delivered a speech to the Prussian Sejm in Polish, without the help of an interpreter. In the second half of the 16th century, royal decrees were issued in Polish, debates in the Landtag were held in Polish. Great Prussian families Polonized their names: the Baysen to Bażyński; the Zehmen to Cema; the Dameraw to Działyński , and the Mortangen to Mortęski, the Kleinfelds to Krupocki. Polonization also occurred during times when

1738-611: A coalition of Hanseatic cities of western Prussia, rebelled against the Order and requested help from the Polish king, Casimir IV Jagiellon . The Teutonic Knights were forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of, and to pay tribute to Casimir IV in the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) , losing western Prussia ( Royal Prussia ) to Poland in the process. Pursuant to the Second Peace of Thorn, two Prussian states were established. During

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1896-658: A continental great power and Prussia satisfied its desire for merging the once separate territories and gaining strong economic and strategic power, particularly from the full access to the resources of the Ruhr. Bismarck desired Austria as an ally in the future, and so he declined to annex any Austrian territory. But in the Peace of Prague in 1866, Prussia annexed four of Austria's allies in northern and central Germany – Hanover, Hesse-Kassel , Nassau and Frankfurt . Prussia also won full control of Schleswig-Holstein . As

2054-455: A crown from a revolutionary assembly without the sanction of Germany's other monarchs. The Frankfurt Parliament was forced to dissolve in 1849, and Frederick William issued a constitution by his own authority in 1850. This conservative document provided for a two-house parliament, the Landtag of Prussia . The lower house, or Prussian House of Representatives was elected by all males over

2212-594: A crown placed around its neck as a symbol of submission to Poland. Albert I, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern became a Lutheran Protestant and secularized the Order's Prussian territories. This was the area east of the mouth of the Vistula river, later sometimes called "Prussia proper". For the first time, these lands came into the hands of a branch of the Hohenzollern family, who already ruled

2370-469: A desire for German unification in this period was the Burschenschaft student movement, by students who encouraged the use of the black-red-gold flag, discussions of a unified German nation, and a progressive, liberal political system. Because of Prussia's size and economic importance, smaller states began to join its free trade area in the 1820s. Prussia benefited greatly from the creation in 1834 of

2528-587: A dormitory for students from Grand Duchy Overall 366 Lithuanian students studied in Kraków between 1430 and 1560. In the 16th-century students from Lithuania were coming to Kraków already considerably Polonized. In 1513, Lithuanian students were accused of mocking the plain Polish speech of their colleagues from Mazovia before the university court. Polish had the advantage over Ruthenian and Lithuanian that its vocabulary, being influenced by Latin, allowed more abstract thoughts to be expressed. Moreover, its proximity to

2686-470: A gateway to the progressive Slavization of the Lithuanian population. The knowledge of Slavonic intedialect made it easier for Lithuanians to communicate with their Slavic neighbors, who spoke Polish, Russian, or Belarusian. The attractiveness and cultural prestige of the Polish language and its common use in church caused the process to continue and lead to the full adoption of the Polish language. Among

2844-420: A lot of settlers, mostly from Volhynia, but also from central Poland. One of the reasons was that serfdom was not introduced there. Among the settlers was also a petty nobility. Ruthenian, just like Lithuanian, nobility was attracted by the Polish culture, which at that time flourished. Many of them adopted the Polish language and customs, even converted to Roman Catholicism. Even for those who remained faithful to

3002-648: A model of farming based on the folwark and three-field system . During the Reformation, voices were raised that Latin should be the language of the Lithuanians, due to the alleged proximity of the two languages and the legendary origin of the Lithuanian nobility from the Romans. However, this intention failed and Latin never reached the same position as in the Polish Crown. Instead, Polish quickly took

3160-615: A nation, but that was not realized by the wide masses of Lithuanians until the Lithuanian national renaissance in the middle of the 19th century. On the other hand, the Polonization policies of the Polish government in the interwar years of the 20th century were again twofold. Some of them were similar to the mostly forcible assimilationist policies implemented by other European powers that have aspired to regional dominance (e.g., Germanization , Russification ), while others resembled policies carried out by countries aiming at increasing

3318-833: A poorly educated group, 90% of them making their living by farming. The aspiration of the Belarusians was to achieve cultural autonomy, as well as fair land reform . The maximum number of people of Belarusian nationality in interwar Poland was about 2 million. It is difficult to determine a definite number because for the most part, they did not have an established sense of their national identity; they described their language as " Tutejszy " "simple speech" ( Polish : mowa prosta ) or " Poleshuk " (in Polesia). What's more, Catholic Belarusians naturally leaned toward Polish culture and often referred to themselves as "Poles" even though they spoke Belarusian. The Polish state's policy toward them

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3476-468: A result of these territorial gains, Prussia now stretched uninterrupted across the northern two-thirds of Germany and contained two-thirds of Germany's population. The German Confederation was dissolved, and Prussia impelled the 21 states north of the Main river into forming the North German Confederation . Prussia was the dominant state in the new confederation, as the kingdom comprised almost four-fifths of

3634-478: A result, four Belarusian grammar schools and a dozen elementary schools were opened. The results, however, were poor. In 1928, there were only 69 schools with Belarusian language, all of them in Wilno and Nowogródek voivodeships , very small number in comparison with 2 164 Polish schools existing there. The reversal of this policy came quickly, and after 1929 the number of Belarusian schools began to decline again. Of

3792-599: A significant part of Prussia lost the majority of their German population after 1945 as the Polish People's Republic and the Soviet Union both absorbed these territories and had most of its German inhabitants expelled by 1950. Prussia, deemed "a bearer of militarism and reaction" by the Allies , was officially abolished by an Allied declaration in 1947. The international status of the former eastern territories of

3950-535: A significant part of the Vilnius region used a variant of the Belarusian language, which was influenced mainly by Polish, but also by Lithuanian, Russian and Jewish. This language was referred to as "simple speech" ( Polish : mowa prosta ), and was treated by many as a dialect variety of Polish. In fact, it was a kind of "mixed language" serving as an interdialect of the cultural borderland. This language became

4108-634: A significant portion of the Polish-speaking Lithuanian population. The feeling of a two-tier Lithuanian-Polish national identity, present throughout the period, had to give way to a clear national declaration. Previously, every inhabitant of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been considered a Lithuanian, but in the face of the emergence of the Lithuanian national movement, which considered only those who spoke Lithuanian as Lithuanians, Polish-speaking residents of Lithuania more and more often declared themselves as Poles. The dispute over

4266-485: A territory free of any feudal obligations, which constituted the basis for their later elevation to kings. Frederick William I succeeded in organizing the electorate by establishing an absolute monarchy in Brandenburg-Prussia, an achievement for which he became known as the "Great Elector". Above all, he emphasised the importance of a powerful military to protect the state's disconnected territories, while

4424-602: A third of recreated Poland's population was ethnically non-Polish and many felt their own nationhood aspirations thwarted specifically by Poland, large segments of this population resisted to varying degrees the policies intended to assimilate them. Part of the country's leadership emphasized the need for the long-term ethnic and cultural homogeneity of the state. However, the promotion of the Polish language in administration, public life and especially education, were perceived by some as an attempt at forcible homogenization. In areas inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians, for example, actions of

4582-527: A view is widely considered applicable to the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795), when the Ruthenian and Lithuanian upper classes were drawn towards Westernization with the adoption of Polish culture and the political and financial benefits of such a transition, as well as, sometimes, by the administrative pressure exerted on their own cultural institutions, primarily

4740-421: Is the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture , in particular the Polish language . This happened in some historic periods among non-Polish populations in territories controlled by or substantially under the influence of Poland . Like other examples of cultural assimilation , Polonization could be either voluntary or forced. It was most visible in territories where the Polish language or culture

4898-568: The Junker class of landed aristocrats in the East who dominated first Prussia and then the German Empire. The main coat of arms of Prussia , as well as the flag of Prussia , depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white national colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights and by the Hohenzollern dynasty . The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with

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5056-568: The Prussian House of Lords , was appointed by the king. He retained full executive authority, and ministers were responsible only to him. As a result, the grip of the landowning classes, the Junkers, remained unbroken, especially in the eastern provinces. The constitution nevertheless contained a number of liberal elements such as the introduction of jury courts and a catalog of fundamental rights that included freedom of religion, speech and

5214-570: The Battle of Jena-Auerstedt , leading Frederick William III and his family to flee temporarily to Memel . Under the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, the state lost about one-third of its area, including the areas gained from the second and third Partitions of Poland , which now fell to the Duchy of Warsaw . Beyond that, the king was obliged to pay a large indemnity, to cap his army at 42,000 men, and to let

5372-661: The Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union (or, the Hramada), which demanded a stop to the Polonization and autonomy for West Belarus, grew more radicalized by the time. It received logistical help from the Soviet Union, and financial aid from the Comintern . By 1927 Hramada was controlled entirely by agents from Moscow. It was banned by the Polish authorities, and further opposition to the Polish government

5530-639: The Congress of Vienna was the recovery of her lost territories, as well as the whole of the Rhineland , Westphalia , 40% of Saxony and some other territories. These western lands were of vital importance because they included the Ruhr region, the centre of Germany's fledgling industrialisation, especially in the arms industry. These territorial gains also meant the doubling of Prussia's population. In exchange, Prussia withdrew from areas of central Poland to allow

5688-537: The Edict of Potsdam (1685) opened Brandenburg-Prussia for the immigration of Protestant refugees (especially Huguenots ), and he established a bureaucracy to carry out state administration efficiently. On 18 January 1701, Frederick William's son, Elector Frederick III, elevated Prussia from a duchy to a kingdom and crowned himself King Frederick I . In the Crown Treaty of 16 November 1700, Leopold I , emperor of

5846-478: The Free State of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. Subsequently, it was effectively dismantled into Nazi German Gaue in 1935. Nevertheless, some Prussian ministries were kept and Hermann Göring remained in his role as Minister President of Prussia until the end of World War II . Former eastern territories of Germany that made up

6004-609: The Holy Roman Empire , allowed Frederick only to title himself " King in Prussia ", not " King of Prussia ". The state of Brandenburg-Prussia became commonly known as "Prussia", although most of its territory, in Brandenburg, Pomerania, and western Germany, lay outside Prussia proper. The Prussian state grew in splendour during the reign of Frederick I, who sponsored the arts at the expense of the treasury. Frederick I

6162-614: The Margraviate of Brandenburg , since the 15th century. Furthermore, with his renunciation of the Order, Albert could now marry and produce legitimate heirs. Brandenburg and Prussia united two generations later. In 1594 Duchess Anna of Prussia , granddaughter of Albert I and daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (reigned 1568–1618), married her cousin Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg. When Albert Frederick died in 1618 without male heirs, John Sigismund

6320-463: The Old Prussians ; in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights  – an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders  – conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Danzig . Their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany , and, in

6478-672: The Orthodox Church . Conversion to the Roman Catholic (and, to a lesser extent, Protestant ) faith was often the single most important part of the process. For Ruthenians at that time, being Polish culturally and Roman Catholic by religion was almost the same. This diminishing of the Orthodox Church was the part most resented by the Belarusian and Ukrainian masses. In contrast, the Lithuanians, who were mostly Catholic, were in danger of losing their cultural identity as

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6636-636: The Vilnius University which was organized in 1802–1803 from the Academy in Vilna ( Schola Princeps Vilnensis ), vastly expanded and given the highest Imperial status under the new name Vilna Imperial University ( Imperatoria Universitas Vilnensis ). By the Emperor's order, the Vilna education district overseen by Adam Czartoryski , a personal friend of Alexander, was greatly expanded to include

6794-644: The defeat of Napoleon in Russia , Prussia quit its alliance with France and took part in the Sixth Coalition during the "Wars of Liberation" ( Befreiungskriege ) against the French occupation. Prussian troops under Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher contributed crucially (alongside the British and Dutch) to the final victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo of June 1815. Prussia's reward in 1815 at

6952-574: The main square of the Polish capital Kraków , Albert I resigned his position as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and received the title "Duke of Prussia" from King Zygmunt I the Old of Poland. As a symbol of vassalage, Albert received a standard with the Prussian coat of arms from the Polish king. The black Prussian eagle on the flag was augmented with a letter "S" (for Sigismundus) and had

7110-666: The papacy and to the Holy Roman Emperor . Their initially close relationship with the Polish Crown deteriorated after they conquered Polish-controlled Pomerelia and Danzig in 1308. Eventually, Poland and Lithuania, allied through the Union of Krewo (1385), defeated the Knights in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410. The Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) began when the Prussian Confederation ,

7268-603: The (compulsory) protection of Prussia. Additionally, mutual defence treaties were concluded. However, the existence of these treaties was kept secret until Bismarck made them public in 1867 when France tried to acquire Luxembourg . The controversy with the Second French Empire over the candidacy of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern to the Spanish throne was escalated both by France and Bismarck. With his Ems Dispatch , Bismarck took advantage of an incident in which

7426-453: The 15th and 16th centuries. Since the Middle Ages, Polish culture, influenced by the West, in turn radiated East, beginning the long process of cultural assimilation . Poles reached Lithuania long before the union of the two countries. In a letter to the German Franciscans, Grand Duke Gediminas asked them to send monks who spoke Samogitian, Ruthenian or Polish. Other sources mention Polish slave carers and educators of children. This indicates

7584-419: The 17th century. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Polish language was adopted by the entire nobility of the Grand Duchy – Lithuanian, Ruthenian, German and Tatar. The Polish language also penetrated other social strata: the clergy, the townspeople, and even the peasants. Linguistic Polonization did not always mean full Polonization in the state or ethnic sense. The Lithuanian nobility felt united with

7742-479: The 1920s, Belarusian partisan units arose in many areas of West Belarus, mostly unorganized but sometimes led by activists of Belarusian left wing parties. In the spring of 1922, several thousands Belarusian partisans issued a demand to the Polish government to stop the violence, to liberate political prisoners and to grant autonomy to West Belarus. Protests were held in various regions of West Belarus until mid 1930s. The largest Belarusian political organization,

7900-437: The 19th century. Frederick the Great (reigned 1740–1786) practised enlightened absolutism . He built the world's best army, and usually won his many wars. He introduced a general civil code, abolished torture and established the principle that the Crown would not interfere in matters of justice. He also promoted an advanced secondary education, the forerunner of today's German gymnasium (grammar school) system, which prepares

8058-466: The Austrian Army at the Battle of Mollwitz on 10 April 1741, Frederick succeeded in conquering Lower Silesia (the northwestern half of Silesia). In the next year, 1742, he conquered Upper Silesia (the southeastern half). Furthermore, in the Third Silesian War (part of the Seven Years' War ) Frederick won a victory over Austria at the Battle of Lobositz on 1 October 1756. In spite of some victories afterward, his situation became far less comfortable

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8216-426: The Baltic Prussian tribes on his borders. During 60 years of struggles against the Old Prussians , the Order established an independent state that came to control Prūsa. After the Livonian Brothers of the Sword joined the Teutonic Order in 1237, the Order also controlled Livonia (now Latvia and Estonia ). Around 1252 they finished the conquest of the northernmost Prussian tribe of the Skalvians as well as of

8374-414: The Baltic Sea for foreign countries. In the course of the Ostsiedlung (German eastward expansion) process, settlers were invited , bringing changes in the ethnic composition as well as in language, culture, and law of the eastern borders of the German lands. As a majority of these settlers were Germans, Low German became the dominant language. The Knights of the Teutonic Order were subordinate to

8532-421: The Belarusian gymnasiums existing in Vilnius , Navahrudak , Kletsk and Radashkovichy , only the Vilnius gymnasium had survived to 1939. Belarusian schools often conducted classes in Russian, this was especially true of gymnasiums. This resulted from the significant Russification of the Belarusian intelligentsia . The Polish officials often treated any Belarusian demanding schooling in Belarusian language as

8690-408: The Belarusian population, the usage of Polish was limited to official relations, while at home, the local language was still spoken. As a result, the Lithuanian language retreated under the pressure of Polish faster than Belarusian. This led to the formation of a compact Polish language area between the Lithuanian and Belarusian language areas, with Vilnius as the center. After some time, especially in

8848-443: The Brandenburg territories with those of Prussia proper. The partition also added Polish Royal Prussia to the kingdom, allowing Frederick to re-style himself King of Prussia. During this period, he also opened Prussia's borders to immigrants fleeing from religious persecution in other parts of Europe, such as the Huguenots . Prussia became a safe haven in much the same way that the United States welcomed immigrants seeking freedom in

9006-401: The Catholic Church of Lithuania in the 19th century: "The 'Polonomaniacs' announced that the Catholic Church in Lithuania is a Polish church and no other national manifestations are welcome in it. Lithuanian religious services were obstructed, while there was whistling during Lithuanian singing and even fistfights. One event resounded throughout all of Lithuania in 1901, when a jubilee cross with

9164-431: The Danes, who surrendered both territories. In the resulting Gastein Convention of 1865 Prussia took over the administration of Schleswig while Austria assumed that of Holstein. Bismarck realised that the dual administration of Schleswig and Holstein was only a temporary solution, and tensions rose between Prussia and Austria. The struggle for supremacy in Germany then led to the Austro-Prussian War (1866), triggered by

9322-444: The Duchy of Prussia, which was still held in fief from the Polish crown. In January 1656, during the first phase of the Second Northern War (1654–1660), he received the duchy as a fief from the Swedish king who later granted him full sovereignty in the Treaty of Labiau (November 1656). In 1657 the Polish king renewed this grant in the treaties of Wehlau and Bromberg . With Prussia, the Brandenburg Hohenzollern dynasty now held

9480-452: The French ambassador had approached William. The government of Napoleon III , expecting another civil war among the German states, declared war against Prussia, continuing Franco-German enmity . However, honouring their treaties, the German states joined forces and quickly defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Following victory under Bismarck's and Prussia's leadership, Baden , Württemberg and Bavaria, which had remained outside

9638-399: The French garrison troops throughout Prussia, effectively making the kingdom a French satellite. In response to this defeat, reformers such as Stein and Hardenberg set about modernising the Prussian state. Among their reforms were the liberation of peasants from serfdom , the Emancipation of Jews and making full citizens of them. The school system was rearranged, and in 1818 free trade

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9796-429: The German Customs Union ( Zollverein ), which included most German states but excluded Austria. In 1848, the liberals saw an opportunity when revolutions broke out across Europe . Alarmed, King Frederick William IV agreed to convene a National Assembly and grant a constitution . When the Frankfurt Parliament offered Frederick William the crown of a united Germany, he refused on the grounds that he would not accept

9954-513: The German Empire was a version of the North German Confederation's constitution. Officially, the German Empire was a federal state. In practice, Prussia overshadowed the rest of the empire. Prussia included three-fifths of the German territory and two-thirds of its population. The Imperial German Army was, in practice, an enlarged Prussian army, although the other kingdoms ( Bavaria , Saxony and Württemberg ) retained their own small armies, coming under Imperial control in wartime. The imperial crown

10112-445: The Grand Duchy. Moreover, the Lithuanian separateness was also defended by the members of ethnically Polish families settling in Lithuania. The spread of Polish culture was channelled through the Catholic Church. A large part of the Lithuanian clergy were Poles, either of Polish descent or from Polish families settled in Lithuania. Of the 123 known canons of Vilnius, only slightly more than half (66) were ethnic Lithuanians, and most of

10270-444: The Hanseatic League) until the decline of the League in about 1500. The expansion of Prussia based on its connection with the Hanseatic League cut both Poland and Lithuania off from the coast of the Baltic Sea and trade abroad. This meant that Poland and Lithuania would be traditional enemies of Prussia, which was still called the Teutonic Knights. In 1211, King Andrew II of Hungary granted Burzenland in Transylvania as

10428-451: The Kingdom of Prussia was disputed until the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany in 1990, but its return to Germany remains a cause among far-right politicians, the Federation of Expellees and various political revanchists and irredentists . The terms "Prussian" and " Prussianism " have often been used, especially outside Germany, to denote the militarism, military professionalism, aggressiveness, and conservatism of

10586-409: The Lithuanians even closer to Polish culture. The first such marriage was the one between Mikołaj Tęczyński  [ pl ] and the daughter of Alekna Sudimantaitis in 1478. Polish influence intensified in the period preceding the Union of Lublin. The royal court took steps to make the political and economic system of Lithuania more similar to Poland. An important step was the introduction of

10744-405: The North German Confederation, accepted incorporation into a united German Empire . The empire was a "Lesser German" solution (in German, " kleindeutsche Lösung ") to the question of uniting all German-speaking peoples into one state, because it excluded Austria, which remained connected to Hungary and whose territories included non-German populations. On 18 January 1871 (the 170th anniversary of

10902-400: The Orthodox Church and Ruthenian language, Polish political identity became very important, as they were inspiring to be part of szlachta – a ruling, privileged elite. It was at that time when the concept of gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus (a Poles of a Rus' religion ) was born. It all resulted in the almost complete abandonment of Ruthenian culture , traditions and the Orthodox Church by

11060-417: The Orthodox churches' construction. However, their resistance was gradually waning with each subsequent generation as more and more of the Ruthenian elite turned towards Polish language and Catholicism. Still, with most of the educational system getting Polonized and the most generously funded institutions being to the west of Ruthenia, the Ruthenian indigenous culture further deteriorated. In the Polish Ruthenia

11218-445: The Polish November uprising aimed at breaking away from Russia, the Imperial policies finally changed abruptly. In the 19th century, the mostly unchallenged Polonization trend of the previous centuries had been met staunchly by then " anti-Polish " Russification policy, with temporary successes on both sides, like Polonization rises in mid-1850s and in 1880s and Russification strengthenings in 1830s and in 1860s. Any Polonization of

11376-549: The Polish authorities seen as aiming at restricting the influence of the Orthodox and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church caused additional resentment and were considered to be closely tied to religious Polonization. Between the 12th and the 14th centuries, many towns in Poland adopted the so-called Magdeburg rights that promoted the towns' development and trade . The rights were usually granted by

11534-480: The Polish nobility as part of one political nation of the Commonwealth, enjoying privileges, freedom and equality. In this sense, they often referred to themselves as "Polish nobility" or outright "Poles". At the same time, separatism and the defense of Lithuanian national separateness within the federation state were very strong. The Lithuanian nobility was strongly attached to the laws, traditions and symbols of

11692-483: The Polish state. Such policy was partially conducted by the Sanation regime, especially under leadership of Józef Piłsudski in years 1926–1935. Polonization also created a new educated class among the non-Polish minorities, a class of intellectuals aware of the importance of schooling, press, literature and theatre, who became instrumental in the development of their own ethnic identities. Belarusians in Poland were

11850-474: The Prussian government to German Chancellor Franz von Papen in 1932 and de jure by an Allied decree in 1947. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, expanding its size with the Prussian Army . Prussia, with its capital at Königsberg and then, when it became the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Berlin , decisively shaped the history of Germany . The name Prussia derives from

12008-700: The Ruthenian higher class. The creation of the Greek Catholic Church, following the 1596 Union of Brest which sought to break the relations between Orthodox clergy in the Commonwealth and the Patriarchate in Moscow, put the Ruthenian people under stronger influence of Polish culture. The unia was supported by the Polish authorities. In addition to the Unia itself, the eventual Latinization of

12166-578: The Ruthenian language made its adoption all the more natural. The Reformation, on the one hand, accelerated the development of literatures in Lithuanian, on the other hand, it contributed to an even faster spread of the Polish language. The Calvinist magnate Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł published in Brest a Polish translation of the Bible for the use of Lithuanian Calvinists. The second important channel for

12324-508: The Ruthenian phonetics. The total confluence of Ruthenia and Poland was seen coming. Since Teutonic times the language of the Prussian elite and administration has been German. This did not change after the incorporation into the kingdom of Poland. It was only from the beginning of the 16th century that the role of the Polish language began to increase. Since 1527 there have been complaints from representatives of large cities that some council members use Polish, although they know German. In 1555,

12482-657: The Standesamt office. The term "Standesamt" is also used for Austrian register offices, whereas in Switzerland the German word for register office is "Zivilstandsamt". This article about government in Germany is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Prussia Prussia ( / ˈ p r ʌ ʃ ə / , German : Preußen [ˈpʁɔʏsn̩] ; Old Prussian : Prūsija, Prūsa )

12640-672: The Unia was one of the components of Polonization. The unia was accompanied by the spread of the Roman Catholic Church in the Ruthenian lands. Dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church were established as early as the 14th and 15th centuries by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. After the Union of Lublin Jesuit schools were established by Ruthenian magnates. Some Ruthenian magnates like Sanguszko , Wiśniowiecki and Kisiel, resisted

12798-495: The Vilnius region, ignorance of the Polish language was considered a lack of cultural savvy. In ceremonial situations it was advisable to use Polish. This gradually limited the use of simple speech to everyday life situations, and gave rise to a sense of contempt for it and Belarusian as the language of work, cursing, but also more emotional and impetuous. In the Belarusian territories, the Polonization processes were intensified by

12956-510: The activities of the Vilna educational district in 19th century–1820s, the activities of the local administration, still controlled by the local Polish or already Polonized nobility up to the 1863–1864 January uprising , secret (Polish) schools in second half nineteenth to the beginning of the 20th century ( tajne komplety ) and the influence of the land estates. Following the demise of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in

13114-429: The age of 25. They were divided into three classes whose votes were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid. In one typical election, the first class (with those who paid the most in taxes) included 4% of voters and the third class (with those who paid the least) had 82%, yet each group chose the same number of electors. The system but assured dominance by the more well-to-do men of the population. The upper house,

13272-562: The army in relation to the total population, Mirabeau said later: "Prussia, is not a state with an army, but an army with a state." Frederick William also settled more than 20,000 Protestant refugees from Salzburg in thinly populated East Prussia, which was eventually extended to the west bank of the Neman river, and other regions. In the Treaty of Stockholm (1720), he acquired half of Swedish Pomerania . Frederick William I died in 1740 and

13430-433: The auxiliary language of services (Polish or Lithuanian) in the churches on the eastern border of ethnic Lithuania, which heated up from the end of the nineteenth century, influenced the formation of Polish consciousness and the adoption of the Polish language among those believers whose ancestors had abandoned Lithuanian for plain speech. The Lithuanian historian Vaidas Banys has said the following about Polonization within

13588-606: The back of this wheat production included: Stettin in Pomerania (now Szczecin , Poland); Danzig in Prussia (now Gdańsk , Poland); Riga in Livonia (now Riga, Latvia); Königsberg in Prussia (now Kaliningrad , Russia); and Memel in Prussia (now Klaipėda , Lithuania). Wheat production and trade brought Prussia into a close relationship with the Hanseatic League during the period of time from 1356 (official founding of

13746-524: The battleground against Austria and other powers proved Prussia's status as one of the great powers of Europe. The Silesian Wars began more than a century of rivalry and conflict between Prussia and Austria as the two most powerful states operating within the Holy Roman Empire (although both had extensive territory outside the empire). In 1744, the County of East Frisia fell to Prussia following

13904-592: The beginning of three Silesian Wars (1740–1763). The First Silesian War (1740–1742) and the Second Silesian War (1744–1745) have, historically, been grouped together with the general European war called the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI had died on 20 October 1740. He was succeeded to the throne by his daughter, Maria Theresa . By defeating

14062-478: The border regions. Before its abolition, the territory of the Free State of Prussia included the provinces of East Prussia ; Brandenburg ; Saxony (including much of the present-day state of Saxony-Anhalt and parts of the state of Thuringia in Germany); Pomerania ; Rhineland ; Westphalia ; Silesia (without Austrian Silesia ); Schleswig-Holstein ; Hanover ; Hesse-Nassau ; and a small detached area in

14220-597: The brightest pupils for university studies. The Prussian education system was emulated in various countries, including the United States. During the reign of King Frederick William II (1786–1797), Prussia annexed additional Polish territory through the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 and the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. His successor, Frederick William III (1797–1840), announced

14378-737: The church and Belarusian national awareness were also under serious pressure by the Polish regime and the leadership of the Catholic Church in Poland. The Polish Catholic Church issued documents to priests prohibiting the usage of the Belarusian language rather than Polish language in Churches and Catholic Sunday Schools in West Belarus. A 1921 Warsaw-published instruction of the Polish Catholic Church criticized

14536-522: The circumstances that fell into place. Bismarck curried support from large sections of the people by promising to lead the fight for greater German unification. He successfully guided Prussia through three wars, which unified Germany and brought William the position of German Emperor . The Kingdom of Denmark was at the time in personal union with the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein , both of which had close ties with each other, although only Holstein

14694-543: The core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. The Kingdom ended in 1918 along with other German monarchies that were terminated by the German Revolution . In the Weimar Republic ,

14852-528: The coronation of King Frederick I ), William was proclaimed "German Emperor " (not "Emperor of Germany") in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles outside Paris, while the French capital was still under siege . The two decades after the unification of Germany were the peak of Prussia's fortunes, but the seeds for potential strife were built into the Prusso-German political system. The Constitution of

15010-479: The country was divided into voivodeships and powiats . There was also a representation of the nobility, called Sejm, following the Polish model. However, unlike the Polish Sejm, the magnates had the deciding vote, and the petty and middle nobility only approved the decisions of the magnate's council. Since the late 15th century marriages between Lithuanian and Polish magnates became more frequent. This brought

15168-459: The court were therefore greatly influenced by Polish culture. Casimir Jagiellon was the last grand duke to know Lithuanian. From the time of Zygmunt August, correspondence with the Lithuanian elite was conducted almost exclusively in Polish, since the knowledge of Latin in Lithuania was too weak. Jogaila's successor Władysław III of Varna , who reigned in 1434–1444, expanded the privileges of

15326-595: The creation of Congress Poland under Russian sovereignty. In 1815 Prussia became part of the German Confederation . The first half of the 19th century saw a prolonged struggle in Germany between liberals, who wanted a united, federal Germany under a democratic constitution, and conservatives , who wanted to maintain Germany as a patchwork of independent, monarchical states with Prussia and Austria competing for influence. One small movement that signalled

15484-770: The creation of new schools, despite meeting formal conditions. The change came after the May Coup of 1926 . Despite the abolition of the Belarusian Belarusian Social Democratic Party , for its contacts with the Comintern , there was a period of liberalization of educational policy. The new Minister of Education, Gustav Dobrotsky, ordered the dismissal of officials blocking the establishment of new schools, allowed new schools to open in Catholic communities as well, and organized Belarusian language courses for elementary school teachers. As

15642-467: The crucial victory at the Battle of Königgrätz under Helmuth von Moltke the Elder . The century-long struggle between Berlin and Vienna for the dominance of Germany was now over. As a sideshow in this war, Prussia defeated Hanover in the Battle of Langensalza (1866) . While Hanover hoped in vain for help from Britain (as they had previously been in personal union), Britain stayed out of a confrontation with

15800-568: The cultural Polonization for several generations, with the Ostrogski family being one of the most prominent examples. Remaining generally loyal to the Polish state, the magnates, like Ostrogskis, stood by the religion of their forefathers, and supported the Orthodox Church generously by opening schools, printing books in Ruthenian language (the first four printed Cyrillic books in the world were published in Cracow, in 1491 ) and giving generously to

15958-484: The disconnected Hohenzollern lands, especially the occupying Swedes . The ineffective and militarily weak Elector George William (1619–1640) fled from Berlin to Königsberg , the historic capital of the Duchy of Prussia, in 1637. His successor, Frederick William I (1640–1688), reformed the army to defend the lands. Frederick William I went to Warsaw in 1641 to render homage to King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland for

16116-484: The dispute over Schleswig and Holstein, with Bismarck using proposed injustices as the reason for war . On the Austrian side stood the south German states (including Bavaria and Württemberg ), some central German states (including Saxony ), and Hanover in the north. On the side of Prussia were Italy , most north German states, and some smaller central German states. Eventually, the better-armed Prussian troops won

16274-752: The east (around Lviv) was controlled by the Austrian Empire . On the other hand, the Ukrainians of Volhynia, formerly of the Russian Empire (around Rivne), were largely Orthodox , and were influenced by strong Russophile trends. National self-identification was much stronger among the Galician Ukrainians, While the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , which is in communion with the Catholic Church , hoped to receive

16432-433: The east and west territories (Russian and German partitions) occurred in the situation were Poles had steadily diminishing influence on the government. Partition of Poland posed a genuine threat to the continuation of Polish language-culture in those regions. As Polonization was centered around Polish culture, policies aimed at weakening and destroying it had a significant impact on weakening Polonization of those regions. This

16590-409: The effective completion of the Polonization of the smallest nobility, with further reduction of the areal of use of the contemporary Belarusian language . also noting that the Polonization trend had been complemented with the (covert) anti-Russian and anti-Eastern Orthodox trends. The results of these trends are best reflected in the ethnic censuses in previously non-Polish territories. Following

16748-473: The end of the 18th century, the Polonization trends initially continued in Lithuania, Belarus and Polish-dominated parts of Ukraine as the initially liberal policies of the Empire gave the Polish elite significant concessions in the local affairs. Dovnar-Zapolsky notes that the Polonization actually intensified under the liberal rule of Alexander I , particularly due to the efforts of Polish intellectuals who led

16906-534: The extinction of its ruling Cirksena dynasty. In the last 23 years of his reign until 1786, Frederick II, who understood himself as the "first servant of the state", promoted the development of Prussian areas such as the Oderbruch . At the same time he built up Prussia's military power and participated in the First Partition of Poland with Austria and Russia in 1772, an act that geographically connected

17064-399: The first period of democratic rule dominated by national democracy , there was a tendency to restrict the rights of minorities and pursue Polonization. This changed with the 1926 coup and the assumption of power by Sanation . Policies became more liberal and minority autonomy increased. However, this began to change for the worse a few years before the start of World War II . Assimilation

17222-408: The following years, as he failed in his attempts to knock Austria out of the war and was gradually reduced to a desperate defensive war. However, he never gave up and on 3 November 1760 the Prussian king won another battle, the hard-fought Battle of Torgau . Despite being several times on the verge of defeat Frederick, allied with Great Britain , Hanover and Hesse-Kassel , was finally able to hold

17380-792: The glamour of the Western culture and the Polish political order where the magnates became the unrestricted rulers of the lands and serfs in their vast estates. In the 1569 Union of Lublin , the Ukrainian territories controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were transferred to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , and thus found themselves under the direct influence of the Polish culture and language . Ukrainian lands of Kyiv and Braclav voivodeship were rather sparsely populated and attracted

17538-425: The hide system ( Volok Reform – Polish : reforma włóczna ), based on the Polish model. The reform was introduced by specialists from Poland, mainly from Mazovia, headed by Piotr Chwalczewski  [ pl ] . Włóka was a Polish measure of land (in Ruthenian volok ), and in Lithuania, it became the basis for land measurement. At the same time, Polish measures of area and distance were introduced, as well as

17696-416: The king on the occasion of the arrival of migrants. Some integrated with the larger community, such as merchants who settled there, especially Greeks and Armenians . They adopted most aspects of Polish culture but kept their Orthodox faith. In Western Poland, many townspeople were Germans. Initially, trade guilds had been exclusively German-speaking. However, this began to change by increasing Polonization in

17854-412: The king/emperor and prime minister/chancellor to seek majorities from legislatures elected by two different franchises. In both the kingdom and the empire, the original constituencies were never redrawn to reflect changes in population, meaning that rural areas were grossly overrepresented by the turn of the 20th century. Polonisation Polonization or Polonisation ( Polish : polonizacja )

18012-531: The lands and positions to the Catholics, settled the cities and villages and granted the biggest cities and towns Magdeburg rights in their Polish variant. Lithuanian nobles were granted privileges modeled on those held by the Polish nobility. 47 families of Lithuanian families were adopted by 45 Polish families and endowed with Polish coats of arms. Lithuania adopted Polish political solutions and institutions. The offices of voivodes and castellans appeared, and

18170-461: The language of the administrative paperwork started to gradually shift towards Polish. By the 16th century the language of administrative paperwork in Ruthenia was a peculiar mix of the older Church Slavonic with the Ruthenian language of the commoners and the Polish language . With the Polish influence in the mix gradually increasing it soon became mostly like the Polish language superimposed on

18328-614: The motto of the Order of the Black Eagle created by King Frederick I in 1701, was often associated with the whole of Prussia. The Iron Cross , a military decoration created by King Frederick William III in 1813, was also commonly associated with the country. The region, originally populated by Baltic Old Prussians who were Christianised, became a favoured location for immigration by (later mainly Protestant) Germans ( see Ostsiedlung ), as well as Poles and Lithuanians along

18486-417: The new state's territory and population. Prussia's near-total control over the confederation was secured in the constitution drafted for it by Bismarck in 1867. Executive power was held by a president , assisted by a chancellor responsible only to him. The presidency was a hereditary office of the Hohenzollern rulers of Prussia. There was also a two-house parliament. The lower house, or Reichstag (Diet),

18644-402: The nobility's traditions, inextricably linked with Polishness, as a marker of prestige, so they cultivated their attachment to the Polish national tradition. And due to the lack of an impassable property and cultural barrier, they exerted influence on the surrounding peasantry. Paradoxically, this was fostered by the anti-Polish and anti- szlachta Russian policy, which gave relief to peasants for

18802-478: The nobles to all Ruthenian nobles irrespective of their religion, and in 1443 signed a bull equalizing the Orthodox church in rights with the Roman Catholicism thus alleviating the relationship with the Orthodox clergy. These policies continued under the next king Casimir IV Jagiellon . Still, the most cultural expansion of the Polish influence continued since the Ruthenian nobility were attracted by both

18960-502: The office was located in the local city or town hall. Today, those register offices (Standesämter) are still part of the administration of every German municipality (in small communities, they are often incorporated with other offices of the administration). Since 1876, Germans in Germany can only enter into a legal marriage in a Standesamt. Therefore, every German marriage takes place before the local registrar (called Standesbeamter ). A religious ceremony has no legal effect and could till

19118-575: The others were of Polish origin. The role of the church was important because it had a monopoly on teaching. By 1550, 11 schools were established in the Samogitian diocese and 85 in the Vilnius diocese. In 1528 the diocese of Vilnius decreed that the language of instruction of religious texts should be Polish and Lithuanian. Latin was taught exclusively in Polish, so children who did not know this language were taught Polish first. Lithuanians went to Kraków to study, in 1409 professor of theology founded

19276-534: The period of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights, mercenaries from the Holy Roman Empire were granted lands by the Order and gradually formed a new landed Prussian nobility, from which the Junkers would evolve to take a major role in the militarization of Prussia and, later, Germany. On 10 April 1525, after signing of the Treaty of Kraków , which officially ended the Polish–Teutonic War (1519–21) , in

19434-577: The place of the official language. At the beginning of the 17th-century instructions and resolutions of sejmiks were written down in Polish. In the period 1620–1630, the Polish language supplanted Ruthenian in the books of the Lithuanian Metrica . When in 1697 the Sejm of the Commonwealth passed a resolution to replace Ruthenian language by Polish in all official actions, it only approved the long-standing status quo. In addition to Polish, Latin

19592-471: The presence of Poles, probably prisoners of war or their descendants. Polish influence increased considerably after the Union of Krewo (1386). The Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila was offered the Polish crown and became Władysław II Jagiełło (reigned 1386–1434). This marked the beginning of the gradual, voluntary Polonization of the Lithuanian nobility. Jagiełło built many churches in pagan Lithuanian land and provided them generously with estates, gave out

19750-412: The press. In 1862, King Wilhelm I appointed Otto von Bismarck as Minister President of Prussia . Bismarck was determined to defeat both the liberals and conservatives and increase Prussian supremacy and influence among the German states. There has been much debate as to whether Bismarck actually planned to create a united Germany when he set out on this journey, or whether he simply took advantage of

19908-407: The priests introducing the Belarusian language in religious life: They want to switch from the rich Polish language to a language that the people themselves call simple and shabby . The Belarusian civil society resisted Polonization and mass closure of Belarusian schools. The Belarusian Schools Society ( Belarusian : Таварыства беларускай школы ), led by Branisłaŭ Taraškievič and other activists,

20066-430: The purchase of land. As a result, the property gap between the petty gentry and the peasantry decreased, which resulted in the appearance of mixed marriages, which in turn led to the spread of Polish culture among the peasants. The emergence of the Lithuanian national movement in the 1880s slowed down the process of Polonization of the ethnically Lithuanian population, but also cemented a sense of national identity among

20224-598: The ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom. It became increasingly large and powerful in the 18th and 19th centuries. It had a major voice in European affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great (1740–1786). At the Congress of Vienna (1814–15), which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleon's defeat, Prussia acquired rich new territories, including the coal-rich Ruhr . The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became

20382-449: The role of their native language and culture in their own societies (e.g., Magyarization , Romanianization , Ukrainization ). For Poles, it was a process of rebuilding Polish national identity and reclaiming Polish heritage, including the fields of education, religion, infrastructure and administration, that suffered under the prolonged foreign occupation by the neighboring empires of Russia , Prussia , and Austria-Hungary . However, as

20540-446: The south called Hohenzollern , the ancestral home of the Prussian ruling family. The land that the Teutonic Knights occupied was flat and covered with fertile soil. The area was perfectly suited to the large-scale raising of wheat. The rise of early Prussia was based on the raising and selling of wheat. Teutonic Prussia became known as the "bread basket of Western Europe" (in German, Kornkammer , or granary). The port cities which rose on

20698-432: The south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia . The imposed Second Peace of Thorn (1466) split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia , becoming a province of Poland, and the eastern part, called the Duchy of Prussia from 1525, a feudal fief of the Crown of Poland up to 1657. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. Prussia entered

20856-417: The spread of the Polish language and culture was the royal and grand ducal court. After 1447, only for short periods there was a separate grand ducal court in Vilnius. But even then the Polish influence was strong. Already Grand Duke Vytautas employed Polish secretaries to run his Latin chancellery. The Krakow court was dominated by Poles who travelled with the king to Lithuania. The Lithuanian nobles who joined

21014-607: The status quo. In 1863, Denmark introduced a shared constitution for Denmark and Schleswig. This led to conflict with the German Confederation, which authorised the occupation of Holstein by the Confederation, from which Danish forces withdrew. In 1864, Prussian and Austrian forces crossed the border between Holstein and Schleswig initiating the Second War of Schleswig . The Austro-Prussian forces defeated

21172-596: The struggle of the Russian authorities against the Catholic Churches . The liquidation of the Uniate Church and forced conversions to Orthodoxy provoked resistance among the local community. The Russian authorities opposed the Catholic Church, called the "Polish faith", to the Orthodox Church, called the "Russian faith". As a result, referring to oneself as a "Pole" was the same as referring to oneself as

21330-516: The substantial eastward movement of the Polish ethnic territory (over these lands) and growth of the Polish ethnic regions were taking place exactly in the period of the strongest Russian attack on everything Polish in Lithuania and Belarus. The general outline of causes for that is considered to include the activities of the Roman-Catholic Church and the cultural influence exacted by the big cities ( Vilna , Kovno ) on these lands,

21488-532: The territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Polish speakers used a "Kresy" variant of Polish ( Northern Borderlands dialect ) that retained archaic Polish features as well as many remnants of Belarusian and some features of Lithuanian . Linguists distinguish between official language, used in the Church and cultural activities, and colloquial language, closer to the speech of the common people. Inhabitants of

21646-593: The union of the Prussian Lutheran and Reformed churches into one church . Prussia took a leading part in the French Revolutionary Wars , but remained quiet for more than a decade because of the Peace of Basel of 1795, only to go once more to war with France in 1806 as negotiations with that country over the allocation of the spheres of influence in Germany failed. Prussia suffered a devastating defeat against Napoleon 's troops in

21804-454: The university became the center of Polish patriotism and culture; and as the only University of the district the center attracted the young nobility of all ethnicities from this extensive region. With time, the traditional Latin was eliminated from the university and by 1816 it was fully replaced by Polish and Russian. This change both affected and reflected a profound change in the Belarusian and Lithuanian secondary schools systems where Latin

21962-601: The vast territories in the West of the Russian Empire stretching to Kiev in south-east and much of the Polish territory and the development of the university, which had no rival in the whole district, received the highest priority of the Imperial authorities which granted it significant freedom and autonomy. With the effort of Polish intellectuals who served the rectors of the university, Hieronim Strojnowski, Jan Śniadecki , Szymon Malewski, as well as Czartoryski who oversaw them,

22120-453: The western Baltic Curonians , and erected Memel Castle , which developed into the major port city of Memel . The Treaty of Melno defined the final border between Prussia and the adjoining Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1422. The Hanseatic League officially formed in northern Europe in 1356 as a group of trading cities. This League came to hold a monopoly on all trade leaving the interior of Europe and Scandinavia and on all sailing trade in

22278-489: The whole of Silesia against a coalition of Saxony , the Habsburg monarchy, France and Russia . Voltaire , a close friend of the king, once described Frederick the Great's Prussia by saying "...it was Sparta in the morning, Athens in the afternoon." Silesia, full of rich soils and prosperous manufacturing towns, became a vital region to Prussia, greatly increasing the nation's area, population, and wealth. Success on

22436-425: The year 2009 only be organised afterwards. Apart from that, every child born in Germany has to be registered at a register office (normally by its parents) and every death has to be registered, also. Same sex life partnerships were also registered at Standesamts from 2001, until the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Germany in 2017. People who are born in Germany can get a copy of their birth certificates in

22594-677: Was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order . The Knights had to relocate their headquarters to Mergentheim , but managed to keep land in Livonia until 1561. Prussia formed the German Empire when it united the German states in 1871. It was de facto dissolved by an emergency decree transferring powers of

22752-596: Was a hereditary office of the House of Hohenzollern, the royal house of Prussia. The Minister President of Prussia was, except for two brief periods (January–November 1873 and 1892–94), also imperial chancellor . But the empire itself had no right to collect taxes directly from its subjects; the only incomes fully under federal control were the customs duties, common excise duties, and the revenue from postal and telegraph services. While all men above age 25 were eligible to vote in imperial elections, Prussia retained its restrictive three-class voting system. This effectively required

22910-425: Was also traditionally used as the university was the main source of the teachers for these schools. Additionally, the university was responsible for the textbook selection and only Polish textbooks were approved for printing and usage. Dovnar-Zapolsky notes that "the 1800s–1810s had seen the unprecedented prosperity of the Polish culture and language in the former Great Duchy of Lithuania lands" and "this era has seen

23068-405: Was also used in the documents of the Lithuanian chancellery referring to the Catholic Church, cities under Magdeburg Law, Livonia and foreigners. Already at the beginning of the 16th century, Polish became the first language of the Lithuanian magnates. In the following century, it was adopted by the Lithuanian nobility in general. Even the nobility of Žemaitija used the Polish language already in

23226-523: Was considered by National Democrats to be a major factor for "unifying the state". They hoped that the attractiveness of Polish culture, above all to Slavic minorities, would help to make rapid peaceful assimilation without much resistance. The centrist and leftist parties pointed out that the nation-building processes in the eastern lands could not be reversed. They called, therefore, for conducting so-called state assimilation, that is, granting broad cultural and territorial autonomy, in exchange for loyalty to

23384-411: Was dominant or where their adoption could result in increased prestige or social status, as was the case with the nobilities of Ruthenia and Lithuania . To a certain extent, political authorities have administratively promoted Polonization, particularly during the Second Polish Republic and in the period following World War II . Polonization can be seen as an example of cultural assimilation. Such

23542-412: Was elected by universal male suffrage . The upper house, or Bundesrat (Federal Council) was appointed by the state governments. The Bundesrat was, in practice, the stronger chamber. Prussia had 17 of 43 votes, and could easily control proceedings through alliances with the other states. As a result of the peace negotiations, the states south of the Main remained theoretically independent, but received

23700-451: Was granted the right of succession to the Duchy of Prussia, then still a Polish fief. From this time the Duchy of Prussia was in personal union with the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The resulting state, known as Brandenburg-Prussia , consisted of geographically disconnected territories in Prussia, Brandenburg, and the Rhineland lands of Cleves and Mark . During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), various armies repeatedly marched across

23858-405: Was introduced. The process of army reform ended in 1813 with the introduction of compulsory military service for men. By 1813, Prussia could mobilize almost 300,000 soldiers, more than half of which were conscripts of the Landwehr of variable quality. The rest consisted of regular soldiers that were deemed excellent by most observers, and very determined to repair the humiliation of 1806. After

24016-426: Was met with state-imposed sanctions once the connection between Hramada and the more radical pro-Soviet Communist Party of Western Belarus was discovered. The Polish policy was met with armed resistance. Interwar Poland was inhabited by 4-5 million Ukrainians. They lived primarily in the areas of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia. Until the First World War, Galicia with its large Ukrainian Greek Catholic population in

24174-468: Was not consistent. Initially, during the period of fighting over the eastern border, the activities of Belarusian activists were tolerated. However, this changed after the peace came. In 1924, the Law on Minority Education led to the closure of a huge part of the approximately 350 (or 514 ) existing Belarusian schools, opened mostly during the German occupation . A 19 bilingual schools and just three elementary Belarusian schools remained. Officials prevented

24332-407: Was part of the German Confederation . When the Danish government tried to integrate Schleswig, but not Holstein, into the Danish state, Prussia led the German Confederation against Denmark in the First War of Schleswig (1848–1851). Because Russia supported Austria, Prussia also conceded predominance in the German Confederation to Austria in the Punctation of Olmütz in 1850, resulting in a return to

24490-428: Was particularly visible in Russian-occupied Poland, where the Polish culture fared worst, as Russian administration gradually became strongly anti-Polish . After a brief and relatively liberal early period in the early 19th century, where Poland was allowed to retain some autonomy as the Congress Poland puppet state , the situation for Polish culture steadily worsened. A complicated linguistic situation developed on

24648-419: Was succeeded by his son, Frederick II , whose accomplishments led to his reputation as "Frederick the Great". As crown prince, Frederick had focused, primarily, on philosophy and the arts. He was an accomplished flute player and composer. In 1740, Prussian troops crossed over the undefended border of Silesia and rapidly conquered the region. Silesia was the richest province of Habsburg Austria . It signalled

24806-403: Was succeeded by his son, Frederick William I (1713–1740), the austere "Soldier King", who did not care for the arts but was thrifty and practical. He was the main creator of the vaunted Prussian bureaucracy and the professionalised standing army, which he developed into one of the most powerful in Europe. His troops only briefly saw action during the Great Northern War . In view of the size of

24964-405: Was the main organization promoting education in Belarusian language in West Belarus in 1921–1937. Compared to the (larger) Ukrainian minority living in Poland, Belarusians were much less politically aware and active. Nevertheless, according to Belarusian historians, the policies by the Polish government against the population of West Belarus increasingly provoked protests and armed resistance. In

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