Germanisation

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Germanisation (also spelled Germanization) is either the spread of the German language and culture either by force or assimilation, or the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanization of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet. It was a central plank of German liberal thinking in the early nineteenth century, at a period when liberalism and nationalism went hand in hand.

There are historically very different forms and degrees of adopting German language and elements of German culture. Besides eclectic adoptions there are also examples of complete "melting" into the German culture, as it happened with the pagan Slavs in the diocese of Bamberg in the 11th century. A perfect example of eclectic adoption of German culture is the field of law in Imperial and present day Japan, which is organized very much to the model of the German Empire. Germanisation took place by cultural contact, by political decision of the adopting side (e.g. in the case of Japan) or (especially in the case of Imperial and Nazi Germany) by force.

In Slavic countries the term Germanisation often is understood solely as the process of acculturation of Slavic and Baltic speakers, after the conquests or by cultural contact in the early dark ages, areas of the modern Eastern Germany to the line of Elbe. In East Prussia, extermination, enslavement and forced resettlement of the Prussian people by the Teutonic Order and the Prussian state, as well as acculturation from immigrants of various European countries (Poles, French, Germans) contributed to the eventual extinction of the Prussian language in the 17th century.

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[edit] Historical Germanisation

A complex process of Germanisation took place in Bohemia after the 1620 defeat of Bohemian Protestants. The Protestant Bohemian king elected against the Habsburgs by the Bohemian estates in 1619, the German prince Frederick V, Elector Palatine, was defeated in 1620 by Catholic forces loyal to the Hapsburg Emperor, Ferdinand II. Among the Bohemian Lords being punished and expropriated after Frederick's defeat in 1620 were German- and Czech-speaking landowners as well. Thus this conflict was by far an internal conflict resulting from the feudal system than a clash of different nations. Although the Czech language lost its significance (as a written language) in the aftermath of the events, it is questionable whether this was primarily intended by the Habsburg rulers, whose intentions were in religious and feudal categories.

Countermeasures to Germanisation did not arise until the 19th century. The rise of nationalism that occurred in the late 18th and 19th centuries in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Pomerania, Lusatia and Slovenia led to an increased sense of "pride" in national cultures during this time. However, centuries of German dominance left the German mark on many societies; for instance the first modern grammar of the Czech language by Josef Dobrovský (1753-1829) – "Ausführliches Lehrgebäude der böhmischen Sprache" (1809) – was published in German because Czech language was not custom in academic scholarship.

In the German colonies, the policy of having German as official language led to the forming of German-based pidgins and German-based creole languages, such as Unserdeutsch.

Germanisation in Prussia occurred in several stages:

  • Easing of Germanisation policy in the period 1815–30
  • Intensification of Germanisation and persecution of Poles in the Grand Duch of Posen by E.Flotwell in 1830-1841
  • The process of Germanisation is stopped during the period of 1841-1849
  • Again restarted during years of 1849-1870
  • Slight easing of the persecution of Poles during 1890-1894
  • Continuation and intensification of activity aiming at destroying Polish nation restarted in 1894 and pursued till the end of First World War

State legislation and government policies of Germanisation in the Kingdom of Prussia, Imperial Germany and Nazi Germany aimed to expand the German language and culture in areas populated by non-Germans, the eradication of their national identity, and the integration of conquered territories into German states[1].

Another example of Germanisation was aimed at national minorities in the Prussian state. Polish language was persecuted in Prussia[2].Frederick the Great started Germanisation efforts in territories of Silesia acquired in 1740-1745.[3] Germanisation efforts were later extended to territories gained by Prussia in the Partitions of Poland: Danzig, Pomerania, Warmia, and certain regions of Greater Poland.

Prussian authorities settled German speaking ethnic groups in Polish territories after the partitions of Poland. A similar policy was pursued by Austria in Galicia, until 1867 when Galicia gained autonomy. Later, the means of the policy was the elimination of non-German languages from public life and from academic settings (such as schools). Later in the German Empire, Poles were (together with Danes, Alsatians, German Catholics and Socialists) portrayed as "Reichsfeinde" ("foes to the empire")[4]. In addition, in 1885, the Prussian Settlement Commission financed from the national government's budget was set up to buy land from non-German hands and distribute it among German farmers.[5] From 1908 the committee was entitled to force the landowners to sell the land. Other means included Prussian deportations 1888: deportation of non-Prussian nationals who had lived in Prussia for substantial time periods (mostly Poles and Jews) and the ban on the building of houses by non-Germans (see Drzymała's van). Germanisation policy in schools also took the form of abuse of Polish children by Prussian officials (see Września). Germanisation unintentionally stimulated resistance, usually in the form of home schooling and tighter unity in the minority groups.

In 1910 Maria Konopnicka responded to the increasing persecution of Polish people by Germans by writing her famous song called Rota, that instantly became a national symbols for Poles, with its sentence known to many Poles:The German will not spit in our face, nor will he Germanise our children. Thus, the German efforts to eradicate Polish culture, language and people met not only with failure, but managed to reinforce the Polish national identity and strengthened efforts of Poles to re-establish a Polish state. An international meeting of socialists held in Brussels in 1902 condemned the Germanisation of Poles in Prussia, calling it "barbarous".[6] .

Similar Germanisation also happened for the Lithuanians (Lietuvininks) living in East Prussia, numbers of whom, once making up a majority of population in large areas of East Prussia (these areas are referred to as Lithuania Minor), decreased by much during 16th-20th centuries; policy of Germanisation was tightened during the 19th century; in the early 20th century Lithuanian majority remained only in the northernmost parts of the province (Memelland and some areas south of it).

Similar development happened with Courlandians, but this ethnic group never had a large population.

Another form of Germanisation was the relation between the German state and Polish coal miners in the Ruhr area. Due to migration within the German Empire, an enormous stream of Polish nationals (as many as 350,000) made their way to the Ruhr in the late 19th century, where they worked in the coal and iron industries. German authorities viewed them as potential danger and a threat and as a "suspected political and national" element. All Polish workers had special cards and were under constant observation by German authorities. In addition, anti-Polish stereotypes were promoted, such as postcards with jokes about Poles, presenting them as irresponsible people, similar to the treatment of the Irish in New England around the same time. Many Polish traditional and religious songs were forbidden by Prussian authorities [7]. Their citizens' rights were also limited by German state[8].

In response to these policies, the Polish formed their own organizations to defend their interests and ethnic identity. The Sokól sports clubs and the workers' union Zjednoczenie Zawodowe Polskie (ZZP), Wiarus Polski (press) and Bank Robotnikow were among the best known such organizations near the Ruhr. At first the Polish workers, ostracized by their German counterparts, had supported the Catholic centre party. Since the beginning of the 20th century their support more and more shifted towards the social democrats[9]. In 1905 Polish and German workers organized their first common strike. Under the "Namensänderungsgesetz" (law of changing surnames) a significant number of "Ruhr-Poles" change their surnames and Christian names to "Germanised" forms, in order to evade ethnic discrimination. As the Prussian authorities during the Kulturkampf suppressed Catholic services in Polish language by Polish priests, the Poles had to rely on German Catholic priests. Increasing intermarriage between Germans and Poles contributed much to the Germanisation of ethnic Poles in the Ruhr area.

During the Weimar Republic Poles first were recognized as minority only in Upper Silesia. The peace treaties after the First World War did contain an obligation for Poland to protect her national minorities (Germans, Ukrainians and other), whereas no such clause was introduced in retorsion by the victors in the peace treaty of Versailles with Germany. In 1928 the "Minderheitenschulgesetz" (minorities school act) regulated education of children form minorities in their native tongue.[10]. From 1930 on Poland and Germany agreed to treat their minorities vice versa.[11]

[edit] Germanisation during the Second World War

In the Nazi era, the days of certain minorities in Germany were numbered. "Racially acceptable" children were taken from their families, in order to be brought up as Germans[12]. In German occupied Poland it's estimated that a number ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 children were deprived of their families in order to be Germanised[13]. It's estimated that at least 10,000 of them were murdered in the process as they were determined unfit and sent to concentration camps faced brutal treatment or perished in the harsh conditions during their transport in cattle wagons, and only 10-15% returned to their families after the war[14]. Obligatory Hitlerjugend membership made dialogue between old and young next to impossible, as use of languages other than German was discouraged by officials. Members of minority organizations were sent to concentration camps by German authorities or have been executed.

Under Generalplan Ost, a percentage of Slavs in the conquered territories were to be Germanised. Those unfit for Germanisation were to be expelled from the areas marked out for German settlement. In considering the fate of the individual nations, the architects of the Plan decided that it would be possible to Germanise about 50 per cent of the Czechs, 35 per cent of the Ukrainians and 25 per cent of the Belarusians. The remainder would have had to be deported to western Siberia.

[edit] Specific examples

Oletzko County was a historic East Prussian county with its capital at Oletzko. The county was populated by Mazurs, a Polish ethnic group. In the process of Germanisation, the proportion of Polish-speaking people declined steadily:
1818 - over 90% of population
1852 - 65%
1861 - 58%
1890 - 46%
1900 - 33.5% (Prussian census)

[edit] Current state

In modern Germany Danes, Frisians and the Slavic Sorbs are classified as traditional ethnic minorities and are guaranteed cultural autonomy. Concerning the Danes, there is a treaty between Denmark and Germany from 1955 regulating the status of the German minority in Denmark and vice versa. Concerning the Frisians, the land Schleswig-Holstein passed a special law for preserving the language. The cultural autonomy of the Sorbs is a matter of the constitutions of Saxony and Brandenburg. Nevertheless most of the Sorbs are bilingual and the Lower Sorbian language is regarded as endangered, as the number of native speakers is dwindling.

Descendants of Polish migrant workers and miners have mingled with the local population by intermarriage and are culturally much less identifiable as Poles. It's different with modern and present day immigration form Poland to Germany after the fall of the iron curtain. These immigrants usually are Polish citizens and live as foreigners in Germany. Some of them believe that to reveal Polish identity in Germany is dangerous for social status, as cases of hostility and discrimination against Poles exist. For many immigrant Poles, Polish ethnicity is not the prime category through which they wish to characterize themselves or want to be evaluated by others[15] as it could impact their lives in negative way. Representatives from organizations of Poles living in Germany, complain about unfair treatment compared to the benefits German minority receives in Poland. This point is disputable, as the ethnic Germans in Poland are Polish citizens, whereas the Poles that lately migrated to Germany usually stay Polish citizens and as such are treated as other foreigners by the EU.

[edit] Linguistic Germanisation

In linguistics Germanisation usually means the change in spelling of loanwords to the rules of the German language — for example the change from the imported word 'bureau' to 'Büro'.

The local dialect of the Ruhr Area still contains words derived from the Polish language, which have been Germanised in the linguistic sense.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

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