A Millennium of Struggle? Introduction to the History of Polish-German Relations in its European Context Spring 2011 GRC 360E, REE 335, EUS 346, HIS 362G, POL 324 Unique # 38395, 45205, 36505, 39835, 45457 Class meets: T, Th 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. BUR 337 Instructor: Jan Musekamp Office: Burdine 368 Phone: 232-6374 Email:
[email protected] Office Hours: T 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and by appointment Course Description: In 1945, Polish historian Zygmunt Wojciechowski edited a book entitled ―Germany-Poland. 1000 years of struggle.‖ The author was well-known for his anti-German attitude, and was a prominent supporter of the ―Polish Western Idea‖ during the interwar period. Proponents of the ―Western Idea‖ proposed a shift of Polish borders deep into German territory; they wanted to ‗return‘ territory belonging to the first Polish state in the tenth century. Much of the land had been settled by German-speakers (with assimilated Slavic-speaking populations) since the thirteenth century. After World War II, the ―Western Idea‖ was incorporated by Polish communists in an attempt to cater to nationalist rhetoric; accordingly, the communist ―Western Idea‖ projected an endless struggle between Germans and Poles in order to justify new Polish borders and an anti-German stance. Not surprisingly, positive aspects of Polish-German history had no place in the picture. In this course, we will explore Polish-German relations in the context of European change. On the one hand, the region is typified by territorial conflict (as best revealed by the eighteenth century elimination of Poland through Prussian, Austrian and Russian partition).