After partitioning Poland at the end of the 18th century, the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire imposed a number of Germanisation policies and measures in the newly gained territories, aimed at limiting the Polish ethnic presence and culture in these areas. This process continued through its various stages until the end of World War I, when most of the territories became part of the Second Polish Republic, which largely limited the capacity of further Germanisation efforts of the Weimar Republic until the occupation during World War II.
Until the unification of Germany
Following the partitions, the Prussian authorities started the policy of settling German speaking ethnic groups in these areas. Frederick the Great, in an effort to populate his sparsely populated kingdom, settled around 300,000 colonists in all provinces of Prussia, most of which were of a German ethnic background, and aimed at a removal of the Polish nobility, which he treated with contempt.
He likened the newly conquered West Prussia to a Prussian Canada and its inhabitants (which were German and Polish) to the Iroquois, who he saw as equally uncivilised. Under Prussian rule, Poles were subject to a series of measures aimed against them and their culture; Polish was replaced by German as the official language and the land of several members of the Polish nobility was confiscated and given to German nobles.
1815–1831
The Prussian hold on Polish areas was somewhat weakened after 1807, where parts of its partition were given to the Duchy of Warsaw. The power status of Prussia was dependent on hindering any form of Polish statehood, due to the crucial position of Wielkopolska, Silesia and West Prussia; all areas with either a Polish majority or substantial Polish population. The Prussian state did not support Polish attempts at restoration of Poland during the Congress of Vienna, where it tried to regain the Duchy of Warsaw or at least its western provinces. In 1815, the Prussian king made several guarantees in his speech to Poles in the newly formed Grand Duchy of Posen (created out of the territories of the Duchy of Warsaw) in regards to rights of Polish language and cultural institutions. In order to ensure loyalty of the newly re-conquered territories, the Prussians engaged in several propaganda gestures hoping they would be enough to gain land-owners' and aristocratic support.
The base support of Prussian rule was from the influx of German officials and tradesmen, whose immigration started in 1772 due to Partitions of Poland, and while it was halted in 1806, it soon was reinstated after 1815 as planned systemic action of Prussian government. The Prussians knew exactly that Polish aspirations were involved with independence; however, they were considering at the time two different methods to subdue Polish resistance. One advocated ruthless Germanisation of the Polish provinces, the other pursued by Chancellor Hardenberg, wanted to gain support of Polish higher classes, while turning them away from Russian Tsar Alexander I.
Initially, the position of the Chancellor prevailed. At the same time, Prussians and Russians, through secret police, worked together against Polish movements that would seek independence either from Russia or Prussia, and Prussian representative in Warsaw helped to create political climate that would abolish constitutional freedoms in Congress Poland. The situation in Polish areas of Prussia was calmed down after a series of proclamations and assuring the Polish right to their education, religion and traditions. In the end, the Polish rights were defined very narrowly, and Prussia started to abolish Polish in administration, schooling, and courts. In 1819 the gradual elimination of Polish in schools began, with German being introduced in its place. This procedure was briefly stopped in 1822, but restarted in 1824.
In 1825 August Jacob, a politician hostile to Poles, gained power over newly created Provincial Educational Collegium in Posen (Poznań). Across the Polish territories, Polish teachers were being removed from work, German educational programs were being introduced, and primary schooling was being replaced by German one that aimed at the creation of loyal Prussian citizens. Already in 1816 the Polish gymnasium in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) was turned into a German school and Polish was removed from classes.
In 1825 the Teacher's Seminary in Bromberg was Germanized as well. While in 1824 a Provincial Parliament was invoked in Greater Poland, the representation was based on a wealth census, meaning that the result gave most of the power to German minority in the area. Even when Poles managed to issue calls asking for enforcing of the guarantees formulated in treaties of Congress of Vienna and proclamations of Prussian King in 1815 they were rejected by Prussia. Thus, neither the attempt to create Polish University in Posen nor Polish Society of Friends of Agriculture, Industry and Education were accepted by authorities. Nevertheless, Poles continued to ask for Polish representation in administration of the area, representing the separate character of the Duchy, keeping the Polish character of schools.
From 1825, the increase in anti-Polish policies became more visible and intense. Prussian political circles demanded an end to the tolerance of Polishness. Among the Poles, two groups emerged, one still hoping for respect of separate status of the Duchy and insisting on working with Prussian authorities, hoping that in time they would grant some freedoms. The other faction still hoped for independence of Poland. As a consequence, many Polish activists were imprisoned. A joint operation of Russian and Prussian secret police managed to discover Polish organizations working in Breslau (Wrocław) and Berlin, whose members were arrested and detained in Prussian jails.
1830–1848
Intensification of anti-Polish policies started from 1830 onwards. As the November Uprising in Russian-held Congress Poland began, Prussians closely worked with Russia in regards to stopping any Polish independence drive. A state of emergency was introduced in the Duchy, police surveillance started on a large scale and 80,000 soldiers were moved into the area. The Prussian Foreign Minister openly declared that Prussia would oppose independence of Poland as it would mean territories taken in the Partitions of Poland could be claimed by it. Russian soldiers fighting Poles received food supplies, equipment, and intelligence from Prussia. While Prussian generals even wanted to march into Congress Poland, the threat of French intervention stopped those plans. The administrator of the region became Eduard Heinrich Flotwell, a self-declared enemy of Poles, who openly called for Germanisation and superiority of German culture over Polish people. Supported by Karl Grolman, a Prussian general, a program was presented that envisioned removing Poles from all offices, courts, judiciary system, and local administration, controlling the clergy, and making peasants loyal through enforced military service. Schools were to be Germanized as well. Those plans were supported by such prominent public figures such as Carl von Clausewitz, August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, Theodor von Schon, Wilhelm von Humboldt.
By 1830 the right to use Polish in courts and institutions was no longer respected. While the Poles constituted the majority of population in the province of Poznan, they held only 4 out of 21 official posts of higher level.
From 1832 they could no longer hold higher posts at the local administrative level (Landrat). At the same time the Prussian government and Prussian King pursued Germanisation of administration and judicial system, while local officials enforced Germanisation of educational system and tried to eradicate the economic position of Polish nobility. In Bromberg the mayors were all Germans. In Posen, out of 700 officials, only 30 were Poles.
Flotwell also tried to reduce Polish landownership in favour of Germans. In the time period of 1832–1842 the number of Polish holdings was reduced from 1020 to 950 and the German ones increased from 280 to 400. The Jewish minority in the Province was seen by Prussians as a useful ally to gain support for their policies. The Prussians hoped that by granting Jews rights and abolishing old limitations, they could integrate Jewish population into German society, and gain a counterweight to Polish presence. As a result, many Jews saw in Prussia a free, liberal state and were opposed to the Polish independence movement.
When Frederick William IV ascended to the throne in 1840, certain concessions were again granted. The German colonization was halted, some schools were able to teach Polish again, and promises were made to create Polish departments in universities in Breslau and Berlin, there were also vague promises about the creation of a university in Posen. While the overall goal of Germanisation remained the same, the Prussian state hoped that by such concessions it could assure the identification of Poles with the Prussian state and an eventual change of their identity. The concessions were also connected to the freezing of relations between Prussia and the Russian Empire, with Prussian politicians hoping that Poles could be used to fight Russia on Prussia's behalf.
At this time the majority of Poles were not yet engaged in political activity. At most only the landowners, the intelligentsia and the upper urban classes possessed a developed national consciousness. The peasantry and the working class had yet to experience their own "Polish national awakening". Through military service and school education, and in the case of "regulated" peasants also in the wake of the benefits wrought by the final emancipation decree introduced in 1823, some segments of these social groups had begun to identify with the Prussian state. However, as German colonization grew in strength and policies against Polish religion and traditions were introduced the local population begun to feel hostility towards Prussia and German presence. Economic factors also began to influence Polish-German relations. Colonization policies in particular created a fear of German competition among Poles. The greatest difference remained the religious segregation. The local Germans displayed rather politically apathy and refrained from creating an organized form of social life. Prior to 1848, the provincial diet remained the only forum of German political activity. In general relations of the local Germans with the Polish population were good.