The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál

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The expropriation-law and its consequences Efforts by members of the Polish minority to defend their cultural identity were postulated by the Pan-German League as a hostile provocation to the Germans, who claimed that the Poles were trying to „invade the eastern provinces”. By following this line of argumentation, the Pan-German League reversed the cause and impact of their own actions. They described the aggressive German nationalist activities as a reaction to Polish threats in a „battle of nationalities.” 11 In fact, Polish nationalist activities were only a reaction to the denial of their right to exist in the proclaimed nation-state of 1871. Beginning in 1899, the Pan-German League’s members’ magazine contains demands for „radical measures” against the Polish population. The Pan- Germans promoted „the principle of inequality between Poles and Germans” 12 . The language of the statements is full of hate and historically incorrect argumentation, making special use of the Middle Ages as a source of historical justification. 13 When it became evident that state intervention in the real estate market was unsuccessful, even supporting the western emigration of the German population and strengthening the establishment of a Polish national self-consciousness, the Pan-Germans demanded even more radical state interventions: by 1901 the statements in the magazine contain demands for the expulsion of Polish landowners and expropriation of their property. The Pan- Germans used known arguments and prejudices, and dramatizing „the fear of a silent Polonization”. Increasingly they criticized the German and the Prussian government for being ineffective and weak-willed. 14 Since the right-wing government needed the support of nationalist interest organizations, especially during the elections, the Pan-Germans maneuvered their influence and lobbied successfully for their demands. In 1907 the German chancellor publicly announced a planned expropriation law. There was also wide opposition against this idea, not only by the centerleft, also by the liberals and some conservatives. The last two groups were afraid of dissolving the guaranties of property in general and the resulting injury against the constitution. After long negotiations and compromised conclusions, criticized harshly by the Pan-Germans, the Prussian Parliament enacted a restricted version of a national expropriation law for the provinces of Poznań and West-Prussia in March 1908 („Measures for strengthening 11 Cf. Alldeutsche Blätter. Vol. 10, No. 45. 04.11.1900: 439. 12 Cf. Alldeutsche Blätter. Vol. 12, No. 22. 31.05.1902: 188 et seq. 13 WIPPERMANN, Wolfgang: Antislavismus. In: PUSCHNER, Uwe (edit.): Handbuch zur „Völkischen Bewegung”. München, 1996. 512-523. 520. and THER, Philipp: Deutsche Geschichte als imperiale Geschichte. Polen, slawophone Minderheiten und das Kaiserreich als kontinentales Empire. In: CONRAD, Sebastian (edit.): Kaiserreich transnational. Göttingen, 2004. 129-148. 130. 14 Cf. Alldeutsche Blätter. Vol. 15, No. 19. 13.05.1905: 158. 48
Germanness in the provinces of West-Prussia and Poznań” In German: Maßnahmen zur Stärkung des Deutschtums in den Provinzen Westpreußen und Posen). The Pan-Germans were not satisfied. While the Pan-Germans demanded immediate execution of the new law, the government hesitated to take action, also because of wide opposition and critical comments from the foreign public. Especially the more emancipated Polish organizations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire ran a protest campaign, influencing the politics of Vienna towards Germany. 15 After four years, shortly before the parliamentary elections in 1912, the Prussian government executed the law in four cases. In total, around 1.700 hectares of land owned by Poles in the province of Poznań were expropriated. 16 The measure was welcomed by the Pan-German League, but also criticized as too small and only a „very first step.” 17 In contrast the expropriation was publicly discussed and criticized by foreign countries. It remained the only execution of the controversial law. 18 With these disappointing results, the focus of the Pan-German campaigns in the east expanded. In the few years before the First World War, the Pan- German magazine discussed and promoted large colonization and settlement plans for the expected new eastern territories to be gained through the coming European war. 19 Conclusion We can summarize the positioning of the Pan-German League towards the Polish minority in the German Empire as a transformation from the organization’s first demands for integration and assimilation, to later calls for expulsion and expropriation. Step by step the ideology was influenced by racist ideas of inequality between Germans and Poles. As a consequence of the hateful debates around the expropriation law, the German population became used to the idea of different treatment of minorities and their exclusion from society. The promotion of inequality created the origins of racial segregation policy, appearing first in the oversea colonies and later in a professionalized form as executed in the occupied territories of the Nazi regime. 20 15 HERING, Rainer: Konstruierte Nation. Der Alldeutsche Verband 1890 bis 1939. Hamburg, 2003. 124. 16 WEHLER, Hans-Ulrich: Die Polenpolitik im Deutschen Kaiserreich 1871-1918. In: KLUXEN, Kurt-MOMMSEN, Wolfgang J. (edit.): Politische Ideologien und nationalstaatliche Ordnung. Studien zur Geschichte des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts. München-Wien, 1968. 309. 17 Cf. Alldeutsche Blätter. Vol. 22, No. 42. 19.10.1912: 371. 18 BALZER, Brigitte: Die preußische Polenpolitik 1894-1908 und die Haltung der deutschen konservativen und liberalen Parteien. Frankfurt am Main, 1990. 81. 19 Cf. Alldeutsche Blätter. Vol. 23, No. 47. 20.09.1913: 325. 20 CONRAD, Sebastian: Globalisierung und Nation im Deutschen Kaiserreich. München, 2006. 143. 49
Page 2 and 3: ISBN 978-963-284-164-9
Page 5 and 6: Unknown Clauses: The Background Dea
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS Foreword (István MAJOROS,
Page 9 and 10: Foreword The world remembers in 200
Page 11: The Historical Judgement of the Mol
Page 14 and 15: went often on emotional instead of
Page 16 and 17: What is much more interesting is th
Page 18 and 19: such an international agreement as
Page 20 and 21: Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggress
Page 22 and 23: Done in duplicate, in the German an
Page 25 and 26: Lachaise, Bernard Historiography of
Page 27 and 28: Relations) are the focus of special
Page 29 and 30: Russian agreement (…) would allow
Page 31 and 32: Europe and on the French communists
Page 33 and 34: adopted a stance of denying the fac
Page 35 and 36: Ortolan, Guillaume The 70 th annive
Page 37 and 38: government (more than twenty) came,
Page 39 and 40: War. On the contrary, it shows that
Page 41 and 42: this anniversary and more widely of
Page 43: interesting: „Illusions. In summe
Page 47 and 48: Kretschmann, Vasco The ideological
Page 49: One of the most influential associa
Page 53 and 54: Prętkiewicz, Przemysław The syste
Page 55 and 56: interwar period and the treaty was
Page 57 and 58: situation of rising danger accepted
Page 59 and 60: Manchukuo and broke relations with
Page 61: I would like to finish my article w
Page 64 and 65: party itself but for the whole Slov
Page 66 and 67: In summary, the group of the „Mod
Page 68 and 69: make proposals or suggestions. 6 In
Page 70 and 71: (Aland), Hanko and the islands of t
Page 72 and 73: have had a less serious effect on t
Page 74 and 75: not expect strong resistance and ho
Page 77 and 78: Winkler, Paul Adolf Eichmann’s Vi
Page 79 and 80: individual offenders, 10 who used h
Page 81 and 82: esearch. But how could the suppress
Page 83 and 84: expert of this matter 29 and had as
Page 85 and 86: Arendt on the contrary is in the op
Page 87 and 88: the „matter”, where there was a
Page 89 and 90: adoption of the model it became cle
Page 91 and 92: of Eichmann. For that Heydrich deli
Page 93: esistance […] but of logistics. N
Page 96 and 97: British government refused to give
Page 98 and 99: ole in the defence of Madrid in Nov
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public doubt the democratic idea of
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Republicans. In the refugee camps i
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102
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iron? Where can one find more nicke
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According to his diaries, the main
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announced: „We have no active all
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110
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negative, an analysis of the disapp
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can let think of an imminent war po
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de la guerre [il] ne fait que l'agg
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Party), the enemy of the inside. Of
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120
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Before the Pact M. Coulondre, the F
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Lets us skip a few decades and list
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argain with. Hitler had an offer th
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secret protocol clarified that the
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to reach out for Russia through the
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of a war interesting rather on civi
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At the same moment, we can note an
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Faure 2 , remains hostile to war. I
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war can still be avoided in June 19
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acked by a „belligerent” coalit
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142
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agreement” sound anachronistic. E
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1939 between Germany and the Soviet
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Two ideas emerge from the press: on
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soviets didn’t have motive. Blum
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Moscow's line, with the national an
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154
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2.000 German speaking inhabitants).
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The Eastern Polish border was not r
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Army. The mayor of Lviv did not wan
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162
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Budapest, and for Warsaw. The two c
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could not destroy the Polish Air Fo
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independence, Romania was forced to
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importance for the events considere
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possible future opposition to the S
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ate of communists within the Jews o
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the initial positive feeling toward
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wanted to take revenge for the NKVD
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German Reactions A last point that
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The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál

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