The Prussian deportations, also known as the Prussian expulsions of Poles (; ), were the mass expulsions of

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

from

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

between 1885 and 1890. More than 30,000 Poles who had immigrated to Prussia from the Polish regions of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and did not obtain a German citizenship, were deported back to their country of origin. The county-wide expulsion was condemned by the Polish public as well as the federal German parliament. The expulsion also contributed to the worsening of German-Russian relations. In the aftermath, Poles without German citizenship were again allowed to work and reside in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in all seasons but winter. The Prussian deportations can be seen as an early example of

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

The expulsion order of 1885 and its implementation

Agriculture in the eastern

provinces of Prussia The Provinces of Prussia () were the main administrative divisions of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. Prussia's province system was introduced in the Prussian Reform Movement, Stein-Hardenberg Reforms in 1815, and were mostly organized from duchies an ...

was to a high degree based on large-area manors and run by German

junker Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...

s, who employed thousands of migrating

from the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and

n part of partitioned Poland. Also, the growing industrial region of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

attracted workers from economically backward areas. At the same time, parts of the local German and Polish population migrated in search of work to more industrialized western areas of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

('' Ostflucht''). Although no anti-German political activity among the Polish migrants was ever noted, the resulting increase of the Polish population alarmed nationalist German circles, including

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

. On 26 March 1885, the ministry of internal affairs of

ordered its provincial authorities to expel abroad all ethnic Poles and Jews holding Russian citizenship. In July 1885, the expulsion order was extended to include Polish Austrian citizens also. Additionally, the authorities were obliged to watch, that in the future no ''"undesirable foreigners"'' would settle on those territories.''Historia Polski'', Vol. III 1850/1864-1918, Part 2 1850/1864-1900, edited by Polska Akademia Nauk olish Academy of Sciences Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1967, p. 684. The order was executed upon all non-Prussian citizens regardless of their long term residence or previous service in the Prussian Army, and despite their state of health, age or sex. The expellees were "driven in mass towards the eastern border under blows of gendarmes' rifle butts".Józef Feldman, ''Bismarck a Polska'', Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1966, p. 323. Fatal incidents were reported, as the expulsions were carried in winter time. In the initial months, nearly 26,000 people were expelled from eastern provinces of

, mainly workers and craftsmen employed there. The expulsions were continued in subsequent years. Until 1890 the number of expellees exceeded 30,000, and the border of

was closed to all migrants of Polish ethnicity.

Effects on public opinion

The expulsions resulted in an outcry among the public opinion of Poland, Germany, and Europe. Alfred von Waldersee, who in principle agreed to the necessity of the expulsions, admitted to their "incredible harshness" () in individual cases. Schweinitz, then German ambassador in Russia said, upon reflection: ''When some day the great chancellor resigns, then many people will feel ashamed and they will mutually reproach themselves with the meanness of their grovelling before his mighty will. I am touched at the most by the unwise and to no purpose cruel order of the expulsions''. The matter was laid before the parliament of the

, forwarded by the ethnic Polish MPs, and supported by the Centre Party, Social Democratic Party and the German progressives. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Wilhelm Liebknecht, called the chancellor to withdraw the steps which might cause international complications and bring down repressive measures upon Germans living abroad. Ansfeld, a progressive, put in a resolution that the expulsion was not justified by the national interest, it was contrary to humanitarian reasons and posed a threat to the welfare of the empire's citizens. Ludwig Windthorst of the Centre Party submitted a supplementary motion to the same effect. On 16 January 1886, the parliament of the German Empire condemned the expulsion with a great majority of voices. Nevertheless, the parliamentary resolution was ignored by the Prussian government. A similar question was asked by the Polish MPs and the Centre Party in the parliament of Prussia, but the majority of voices necessary to condemn the expulsions was not obtained there, because political forces of anti-Polish orientation were represented much more strongly in the Prussian parliament than in the parliament of the German Empire.

Influence on German relations with Russia

The formerly good relations between Germany and Russia worsened in the 1880s due to growing

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

trends in Russian politics. German minorities in the

, including

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and Russian-born Germans as well as recent German immigrants, faced negative sentiments among both the government and the public supporting the ideas of

Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement that took shape in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with promoting integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled the South ...

. With that in mind, the German ambassador in

, Schweinitz, advised Bismarck to abstain from further expulsions, anticipating that they would only provoke the supporters of Pan-Slavism and trigger repressions against all German settlers in

. The expulsions had been met with disapproval inside the government circles of Russia. Dmitry Tolstoy, a conservative, and the minister of internal affairs who tried to procure a plausible reception for those events in Russia, acknowledged Otto von Bismarck's Anti-Polish sentiment and unofficially gave ambassador Schweinitz his advice that Bismarck had committed a grave mistake, as such extreme measures were unnecessary.Józef Feldman, op. cit., p. 328 Also Nikolay Giers, the minister of foreign affairs of Russia, stated that Bismarck – by his own conduct – had aggravated already hostile feelings existing towards German colonists in

, had set a bad example to be followed, and had spread the seeds of new ethnic antagonisms in the future. Bismarck himself expressed to ambassador Schweinitz his disappointment, stating that ''"the Russians showed less satisfaction because of our expulsions than I had expected"''. Soon afterward, the Russian government imposed legal restrictions on acquisition and lease of land by Germans in Russia, thus limiting the German colonisation movement in the Russian-controlled part of Poland. Contrary to Bismarck's original intentions, the expulsion contributed to the worsening of German-Russian relations and the erosion of their long term cooperation – resulting in a shift in Russia's external policy which finally led to the creation of the Franco-Russian Alliance soon transformed into

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was built upon th ...

, which fought the

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914–1918.

Softening of expulsion policy after 1890

The need for cheap labour from German landlords and industry eventually prevailed, therefore the policy of the Prussian government had to be softened. In 1890 a new order was issued to allow employment of ethnically Polish foreigners, except in the period between 20 December to 1 February of each year. The measure was intended to force the workers to periodically return abroad, thus preserving their status of seasonal workers, and preventing the continuity of their stay in

. Such a system of annual winter expulsions was adapted to the needs of the landlords, but was harmful to

n industry, which used to disobey the order frequently with the silent tolerance of Prussian authorities, or with its temporary suspension. Nevertheless, only unmarried persons were accepted and often, they were kept separated from the local native Polish population.

Polish migration to Prussia before First World War

Since 1905 a semigovernmental agency called the ''"Head Office of Farm Workers"'' took up the engagement of workers from outside Germany; the influx of candidates was always large and, in the eve of

, the number of immigrant workers exceeded 500,000 persons, 80% of them from the struggling Russian-controlled part of Poland. Approximately 200,000 Poles worked in the eastern provinces of

among low living standards and intensive exploitation. A male worker could save 100-150

Marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

per year, while a female worker could save 50-100

per year at best.Stefan Kieniewicz, op. cit., p. 373.

References

External links

*
Sejmowe Koło Polskie wobec rugów pruskich, 3 V 1885 roku
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prussian Deportations Antisemitism in Germany Anti-Polish sentiment in Europe Prussian Partition Colonisation of Partitioned Poland 1880s in Poland 1880s in Prussia Forced migrations in Europe 1880s in the Russian Empire 19th-century Judaism Jewish German history Jewish Polish history Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire Jewish Austrian history Ethnic cleansing in Europe