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Events of the first years of the twentieth century exacerbated conflicts between the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe. The rise of a more aggressive German nationalism since the birth of the German Empire in 1871 posed problems for the Poles as well as for the rest of Europe. Poles constituted a significant national minority in the east of the empire. By the turn of the century, the Poles of Poznania, Pomerania, Silesia, Warmia, and Mazuria were increasingly perceived as a cancer on the German national state that diluted its national content and weakened its eastern border. Pressures to Germanize the eastern territories of the Reich were exerted by a proliferation of new associations, such as the Eastern Marches Association (Hakata) and the Pan-German League, trying to shape the German state and dictate policies that were ostensibly in the national interest.1 Antipathy toward the Polish nobility and clergy began to encompass the broader masses, the peasants and their children. How Poles dealt with this situation is the subject of the present chapter. Could Poles under German rule resist the increasing pressure to abandon their language and culture for German? This challenge to the integrity and identity of the nation put the Poles on the defensive at the turn of the century , a time when some kind of international conflict seemed imminent. The search for potential allies commenced, as Poles considered their prospects for the future. Given German hostility, would such considerations boil down to simplistic dichotomies: Teutons versus Slavs, the West versus the East? Or did Russia represent the greater threat? Such determinations were bound to have repercussions for the situation of Poles within one or more of the empires, all the more so as alliances between the three partitioning powers were themselves undergoing revision in the first decade of the twentieth century. SIX Teutons versus Slavs? Commemorating the Battle of Grunwald  SHORTHANDS FOR GERMAN OPPRESSION Although the anti-Catholic, anti-Polish Kulturkampf ended in the 1880s, the connection between Polishness and Catholicism was strengthened by yet another governmental measure—this time, one that concerned the language in which Polish citizens of the German Reich were taught religion. Although most subjects in Prussia’s denominational schools had been taught in German for decades, religious education was the one exception. Polish-language instruction had long been justified by the clergy, which feared that, if pupils could not understand the principles of their faith, they might more easily become prey to socialist agitation. By the turn of the century , however, Prussian authorities were more concerned with the slow process of Germanization in the eastern provinces of the Reich than with any socialist threat.2 The new Prussian minister of education, Konrad Studt, decided to phase out the use of Polish in religious education: it would be allowed only in the lowest level of religious education in the elementary schools.3 Bismarck’s attack on Catholicism during the Kulturkampf had helped to strengthen the national consciousness of the Poles in his state; this new attack brought about unexpected protest. By mandating German for religious language instruction, the authorities were perceived as impinging upon the Poles’ culture and seeking to undermine the connection between Polishness and Catholicism. Their weak knowledge of German making it hard to assess the curriculum, some parents feared that their children would be taught Lutheranism, not Catholicism.4 These concerns led to what has been termed the school strike of 1901. This was actually a form of passive resistance, according to Kulczycki: students confronted with the new policy declined to use their new German textbooks, answer questions, or say their prayers in German.5 While pupils resisted in numerous locales, the town of Wrzesœnia (Wreschen ) will forever be associated with the 1901 school strike.6 A confrontation erupted in this predominantly Polish town one day as a group of adults, having heard the cries of uncooperative pupils being beaten, entered the school building and approached the offending faculty; someone later threw a rock through the window of one particularly detested teacher ’s house. This threatening of teachers proved the last straw for the local authorities.7 Those who had entered the school that day were put on trial, found guilty, and given sentences of up to two and one-half years in prison.8 The harshness of the sentences elicited an uproar. The Wrzesœnia school incident was brought to the attention of Poles (and others) worldwide, as 160 |        [18.221.41.214] Project MUSE (2024-04...

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