Masuria

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Sailing on Lake Mikołajki
Sailing on Lake Mikołajki

Masuria (Polish: Mazury; German: Masuren (help·info)) is an area in northeastern Poland famous for its lakes and forests. Together with Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north and a small section of Lithuania, the region used to be a part of Prussia and of the administrative region of East Prussia, a German exclave before World War II. Sanctioned by the Potsdam Conference, Masuria became part of Poland in 1945. The name Masuria comes from Mazurian ethnic group, Polish settlers from Masovia who repopulated much of the area after its conquest by the Teutonic Knights.

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[edit] History

[edit] Old Prussians

By the 13th century, Masuria was inhabited by the Baltic Old Prussians in the lands of Pomesania, Pogesania, Galindia, Bartia, and Sudovia. In the southern latter two regions, dense wilderness existed longer than in most of Europe, enabling moose, aurochs, bears, and other mammals to survive. It is estimated that around 220,000 Old Prussians lived in the territory in 1200. During the Baltic or Northern Crusades of the 13th century the Old Prussians used this remaining wilderness as defense against the German knights of the Teutonic Order and other visiting European crusaders. The declared mission of the Teutonic Knights was to baptize and convert the native population to Christianity; they did this mostly through conquest, which culminated in 1283 when the Prussian keep at Ełk (Lyck) was destroyed by the Order.

Following the Order's conquest of the area, Polish settlers, mainly Mazurs from Masovia, began to settle in the southeast of the conquered region. Some German, French, Flemish, Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian colonists entered the area shortly afterward. The number of Polish settlers grew significantly again in the beginning of 15th century, especially after the First Peace of Toruń (1411) and the Second Peace of Toruń (1466). It is estimated that in the middle of the century, Polish settlers made about 60% of the Masurian population.[citation needed] At the same time the original Prussian population had already largely disappeared through earlier warfare with the Teutonic Knights and later assimilation with the Polish and Germanic colonists.

[edit] Polish sovereignty

In Masuria the Polish language dominated because of the many settlers from Masovia. In the Second Treaty of Toruń in 1466, the Teutonic Order came under the overlordship of the Polish crown. With the conversion of Albert of Prussia to Lutheranism in 1525, Masuria became part of Protestant Ducal Prussia. While most of the countryside was populated by Polish-speakers, the cities remained centres of mixed German and Polish population, with the upper class more German than the lower class. The ancient Old Prussian language survived in parts of the countryside until the early 18th century. Areas that were primarily Polish were known as the Polish departments (die polnischen Ämter in German).

In 1656 Masuria was devastated by Tatar raids which practically destroyed all the townships and killed 30% of the population within 2 weeks. From 1708-1711 about 50% of the inhabitants of the newly rebuilt villages died from the Black Death. Losses in population were partly compensated by migration of Protestant settlers or refugees from Scotland, Salzburg (expulsion of Protestants 1731), France (Huguenot refugees after the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685), and especially from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Polish brethren expelled from Poland in 1657. The last group of refugees to immigrate to Masuria were the Russian Filipons in 1830 when they were granted asylum by King Frederick William III of Prussia.

[edit] Kingdom of Prussia

Masuria in winter at Zyzdrój Wielki
Masuria in winter at Zyzdrój Wielki

As part of Ducal Prussia, Masuria passed under the control of the Hohenzollern dynasty of Brandenburg in 1618, and Polish sovereignty was revoked by the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657. The region became part of the Kingdom of Prussia after the coronation of King Frederick I of Prussia. Masuria became part of the newly-created administrative province of East Prussia upon its creation in 1773. The name Masuria began to be used officially after new administrative reforms in the kingdom after 1818.

Germanisation was slow and mainly done through the educational system: after the creation of the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871, the Polish language was removed from schools in 1872. Some local Poles resisted those attempts, mainly by publication of Polish newspapers such as Przyjaciel Ludu Łecki and Mazur. At the end of the 19th century Polish activists gathered around Gazeta Ludowa and the Mazurska Partia Ludowa ("Mazur People's Party"). However the great majority regarded themselves more as Prussians than as Poles and were loyal to the government (circumstances were quite different in the province of Posen). These differences were also obvious in the Reichstag elections where Polish parties never gained a really significant percentage of votes in Masuria in contrast to the province of Posen. Of the Masurian population in 1890, 143,397 gave German as their language (either primary or secondary), 152,186 Polish, and 94,961 Masurian. In 1910, the German language was given by 197,060, Polish by 30,121, and Masurian by 171,413. In 1925, 40,869 people gave Masurian as their native tongue and 2,297 gave Polish. However, the last result may have been a result of politics at the time and a desire to present the province as purely German; in reality the Masurian dialect was still in use.

During World War I, the Battle of Tannenberg between Imperial Germany and the Russian Empire took place within the borders of Masuria in 1914. After the war, the League of Nations held a plebiscite on June 11, 1920 to determine if the people of the two southern districts of East Prussia wanted to remain within East Prussia or to join the reborn state of Poland. 97.5% of the voters chose to remain with East Prussia. The plebiscite took place under Allied supervision and during the backdrop of the nearby Polish-Soviet War, when the continued existence of the Polish state was in doubt. However, it showed that the overwhelming majority did not regard themselves as Poles but as "East Prussians" and Germans instead. After 1933 oppression of Polish activities, albeit pursued only by a small minority, was performed by the Nazis.

[edit] Nazi Germany

Mikołajki
Mikołajki

The Nazi government (1933-1945) changed thousands of toponyms (especially names of cities and villages) from Prussian and Polish to newly-created German names; about 50% of the existing names were changed in 1938 alone.[1] Many children were separated from their families in an attempt to eliminate Polish culture.

During World War II, Masuria was partially devastated by the retreating German and advancing Soviet armies during the Vistula-Oder Offensive. The region came under Polish rule at war's end in the Potsdam Conference. Most of the population fled to Germany or were killed during or after the war, while the rest were subject to "nationality verification" organized by the communist government of Poland. As a result, the number of native Masurians that remained in Masuria was initially relatively high, while most ethnic Germans were subsequently expelled. Many Poles, mostly expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union, were resettled in Masuria.

[edit] Polish Masuria

Soon after 1956, some Masurians were given the opportunity to join their families in West Germany. The majority (over 100 thousand) gradually left, mostly because the quality of life was better in West Germany, and because the communist government persecuted their separate culture and identity. Approximately 5,000 Masurians still live in the area. Most of the originally Protestant churches in Masuria are now used by the Polish Roman Catholic Church.

Masuria was incorporated into the voivodeship system of administration in 1945. In 1999 Masuria was constituted with neighbouring Warmia as a single administrative province through the creation of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

[edit] Landscape

[edit] Lakes

Masurian Lakeland.
Masurian Lakeland.

Masuria and the Masurian Lakeland are known in Polish as Kraina Tysiąca Jezior and in German as Land der Tausend Seen, meaning "land of a thousand lakes." These lakes were ground out of the land by glaciers during the Pleistocene ice age, when ice covered northeastern Europe. By 10,000 BC this ice started to melt. Great geological changes took place and even in the last 500 years the maps showing the lagoons and peninsulas on the Baltic Sea have greatly altered in appearance. As in other parts of northern Poland, such as from Pomerania on the Oder River to the Vistula River, this continuous stretch of lakes is popular among tourists.

[edit] Main cities

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bernd Martin, p. 55

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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