The Prussian deportations, also known as the Prussian expulsions of Poles ( pl, rugi pruskie, german: Polenausweisungen), were the mass expulsions of

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

from the German-controlled

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

between 1885 and 1890. More than 30,000 Poles from Austrian and Russian Partition of Poland who did not obtain German citizenship when German Empire was formed in 1871 were deported from the Prussian part of divided Poland to the respective

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

and Russian Partitions of the no-longer existing Commonwealth. The deportations were carried out in an inhumane way, and had their foundation in ethnic discrimination. 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 the German-Russian relations. In the aftermath, Poles without German citizenship were again allowed to work and reside in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in all seasons but the winter. It is regarded as an early example of

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

The expulsion order of 1885 and its implementation

Agriculture in the eastern

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

was to a high degree based on large-area manors and run by German junkers, who employed thousands of migrating

from the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n part of

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of ...

. Also, the growing industrial region of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

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 is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

('' 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 ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

. 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 The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

, 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 being reported, as the expulsions were carried in winter time. In the initial months nearly 26,000 persons 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,Polska.pl -Skarby Dziedzictwa Narodowego - Katalog Skarbów - Rugi pruskie
/ref> 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" (german: unglaubliche Härte) 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 The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

and the German progressives. The leader of the

, 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 and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

trends in Russian politics. German minorities in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, 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. 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 Polonophobia, also referred to as anti-Polonism, ( pl, Antypolonizm), and anti-Polish sentiment are terms for negative attitudes, prejudices, and actions against Poles as an ethnic group, Poland as their country, and their culture. These inc ...

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, which fought the

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in 1914–1918.

Softening of expulsion policy since 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 semi-governmental agency called the ''"Head Office of Farm Workers"'' took up the engagement of workers from outside Germany. Seasonal labour contracts to the detriment of Polish workers allowed the opportunity for many corrupt practices. The immigrant workers were poorly paid, exploited and – in practicality – totally unprotected. Nevertheless, 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 per year, while a female worker could save 50-100 Marks per year at best.Stefan Kieniewicz, op. cit., p. 373. Until today, the ''"rugi pruskie"'' or the Prussian mass deportations, serve as Polish national symbol of gross injustice experienced by the Poles at the hands of the anti-Polish forces of

, the

, and

personally, during the time when Poland remained occupied.

References

External links

*
Sejmowe Koło Polskie wobec rugów pruskich, 3 V 1885 roku
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prussian Deportations Prussian Partition Germany–Poland relations 1880s in Poland 1880s in Prussia Forced migration 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