Evolving Administrative Approaches Toward Indigenous Silesians
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The Case of Upper Silesia After the Plebiscite in 1921
Celebrating the nation: the case of Upper Silesia after the plebiscite in 1921 Andrzej Michalczyk (Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, Erfurt, Germany.) The territory discussed in this article was for centuries the object of conflicts and its borders often altered. Control of some parts of Upper Silesia changed several times during the twentieth century. However, the activity of the states concerned was not only confined to the shifting borders. The Polish and German governments both tried to assert the transformation of the nationality of the population and the standardisation of its identity on the basis of ethno-linguistic nationalism. The handling of controversial aspects of Polish history is still a problem which cannot be ignored. Subjects relating to state policy in the western parts of pre-war Poland have been explored, but most projects have been intended to justify and defend Polish national policy. On the other hand, post-war research by German scholars has neglected the conflict between the nationalities in Upper Silesia. It is only recently that new material has been published in England, Germany and Poland. This examined the problem of the acceptance of national orientations in the already existing state rather than the broader topic of the formation and establishment of nationalistic movements aimed (only) at the creation of a nation-state.1 While the new research has generated relevant results, they have however, concentrated only on the broader field of national policy, above all on the nationalisation of the economy, language, education and the policy of changing names. Against this backdrop, this paper points out the effects of the political nationalisation on the form and content of state celebrations in Upper Silesia in the following remarks. -
Saxony: Landscapes/Rivers and Lakes/Climate
Freistaat Sachsen State Chancellery Message and Greeting ................................................................................................................................................. 2 State and People Delightful Saxony: Landscapes/Rivers and Lakes/Climate ......................................................................................... 5 The Saxons – A people unto themselves: Spatial distribution/Population structure/Religion .......................... 7 The Sorbs – Much more than folklore ............................................................................................................ 11 Then and Now Saxony makes history: From early days to the modern era ..................................................................................... 13 Tabular Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 Constitution and Legislature Saxony in fine constitutional shape: Saxony as Free State/Constitution/Coat of arms/Flag/Anthem ....................... 21 Saxony’s strong forces: State assembly/Political parties/Associations/Civic commitment ..................................... 23 Administrations and Politics Saxony’s lean administration: Prime minister, ministries/State administration/ State budget/Local government/E-government/Simplification of the law ............................................................................... 29 Saxony in Europe and in the world: Federalism/Europe/International -
The Struggle for Upper Silesia, 1919-1922 Author(S): F
The Struggle for Upper Silesia, 1919-1922 Author(s): F. Gregory Campbell Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Sep., 1970), pp. 361-385 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1905870 . Accessed: 25/08/2012 14:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Modern History. http://www.jstor.org The Strugglefor Upper Silesia, 1919-1922 F. GregoryCampbell University of Chicago At the junction of Central Europe's three old empires lay one of the richestmineral and industrialareas of the continent.A territoryof some 4,000 square miles, Upper Silesia was ruled by Austria and Prussia throughoutmodern history. The northernsections and the area west of the Oder River were exclusivelyagricultural, and inhabitedlargely by Germans.In the extreme southeasterncorner of Upper Silesia, Polish peasants tilled the estates of German magnates. Lying between the Germanand the Polish agriculturalareas was a small triangulararea of mixed populationcontaining a wealth of mines and factories. That Upper Silesian "industrialtriangle" was second only to the Ruhr basin in ImperialGermany; in 1913 Upper Silesian coalfieldsaccounted for 21 percent of German coal production. -
Chapter Seven Minority Recognition in Nation
CHAPTER SEVEN MINORITY RECOGNITION IN NATION - STATES —THE CASE OF SILESIANS IN POLAND WOJCIECH JANICKI Introduction Ethnic issues have always been at the top of the agenda of many countries hosting significant numbers of minorities, as ethnic differences quite often cause tensions among these groups. Establishing responsible and farsighted policies to create favourable environments for the co- existence of these groups with respect to cultural differences has been an important element of good governance. Great Britain having implemented its multiculturalism and communautarisme policies may be referred to as an example (Parzymies 2005, Janicki 2007). However, in some countries other approaches have been applied. In these cases, minority groups have been kept under the control of the dominating ethnos 1, which curbs any activity leading to possible improvement of the political position of minorities, as in case of Myanmar’s attitude towards their ethnic Karen minority (Delang 2003). Poland, on the other hand, seems to have introduced yet another approach–denying recognition of some minority groups in order to avoid a “minority problem”. A state, as a political territorial organisation of a particular community, needs to derive its legitimisation from features that distinguish it from other states. The most apparent such feature is a separate nation (Wnuk- Lipi ński 2004). Consequently, nation-states are territorial entities providing exclusive geographical space for cultural, ethnic or political communities called nations. This implies that, in the world of nation- 1 Ethnos is understood further in the paper as a neutral notion addressing a group identified on the basis of ethnic features, withoutnot attempting to attribute a particular status (national, ethnic, ethnographic or any other) to the group. -
The German Minority in Silesia in Light of the National Census 2011
The German minority in Silesia in light of the National Census 2011 The first, synthetic results of the National Census (NSP) 2011, published in March 2012, confirmed the tendency concerning the decreasing number of Germans and growing number of those who consider themselves to be Silesians (Ślązacy). This makes one think about the functioning of the German minority in Poland, 90% of which lives in the Silesia and Opole Provinces, its future and the direction of ethnic changes in Silesia. In the census from 2011, 109 thousand people declared their nationality to be German. In the previous census from 2002, there were 153 thousand of such people. In 2011, 809 thousand people identified themselves as Silesians, while in 2002, it was 173 thousand. During the census from 2011 one could for the first time No. 85/2012 choose a double national-ethnic identity. Only 26 thousand people 22’05’12 chose German nationality only, while 52 thousand more joined it with Institute for Western Affairs Polish nationality. About 49 thousand chose German nationality as Poznań their first. In the case of Silesian identity, the data is the following: 362 thousand chose Silesian identity only, while 415 thousand joined Author: it with Polish identity. As many as 418 thousand people chose Andrzej Sakson Silesian identity as their first. Editorial Board: The main reason for this situation is that a large group of Opole Marta Götz Silesians who declared German nationality in the first census, now Radosław Grodzki Krzysztof Malinowski chose Silesian identity. Until recently, in Opole Silesia, the only active Silesian organization was the German Minority. -
Integration of East German Resettlers Into the Cultures and Societies of the GDR
Integration of East German Resettlers into the Cultures and Societies of the GDR Doctoral Thesis of Aaron M.P. Jacobson Student Number 59047878 University College London Degree: Ph.D. in History 1 DECLARATION I, Aaron M.P. Jacobson, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 ABSTRACT A controversy exists in the historiography of ethnic German post-WWII refugees and expellees who lived in the German Democratic Republic. This question is namely: to what extent were these refugees and expellees from various countries with differing cultural, religious, social and economic backgrounds integrated into GDR society? Were they absorbed by the native cultures of the GDR? Was an amalgamation of both native and expellee cultures created? Or did the expellees keep themselves isolated and separate from GDR society? The historiography regarding this controversy most commonly uses Soviet and SED governmental records from 1945-53. The limitation of this approach by historians is that it has told the refugee and expellee narrative from government officials’ perspectives rather than those of the Resettlers themselves. In 1953 the SED regime stopped public record keeping concerning the Resettlers declaring their integration into GDR society as complete. After eight years in the GDR did the Resettlers feel that they were an integrated part of society? In an attempt to ascertain how Resettlers perceived their own pasts in the GDR and the level of integration that occurred, 230 refugees and expellees were interviewed throughout the former GDR between 2008-09. -
Of Silesia Vol
Cuius regio? Ideological and Territorial Cohesion of Silesia vol. 5 eds Lucyna Harc, Przemysław Wiszewski, Rościsław Żerelik Online access: http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.pl/publication/78119 Joanna Nowosielska-Sobel, Grzegorz Strauchold, Przemysław Wiszewski Permanent Change. The New Region(s) of Silesia (1945-2015) ed. Przemysław Wiszewski Wrocław 2015 The book was published with funds of the program Cuius regio. Analiza sił spajających i destrukcyjnych w obrębie regionu określających przynależność osób (grup społecznych) oraz spójność społeczną jako zjawisko historyczne / Cuius regio. An analysis of the cohesive and disruptive forces destining the attachment of (groups of) persons to and the cohesion within regions as a historical phenomenon, decision of the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education No. 832/N-ESF-CORECODE/2010/0. Peer review: Małgorzata Ruchniewicz Translated by: Matthew La Fontaine, Paweł Ausir Dembowski, Anna Lidia Błaszczyk, Piotr Szutt Language proofreading: Matthew La Fontaine, Judson Hamilton © Copyright by Authors and Uniwersytet Wrocławski Cover design: Marcin Fajfruk Typesetting: Aleksandra Kumaszka, Tomasz Kalota ISBN 978-83-942651-2-0 Publishing House eBooki.com.pl ul. Obornicka 37/2 51-113 Wrocław tel.: +48 602 606 508 email: [email protected] WWW: http://www.ebooki.com.pl Table of Contents Przemysław Wiszewski A time of transformation. New Silesia under construction (1945-2015) ............ 9 Joanna Nowosielska-Sobel Administrative changes.................................................................................... -
Online Conflict Discourse, Identity, and the Social Imagination of Silesian Minority in Poland by Krzysztof E
Online Conflict Discourse, Identity, and the Social Imagination of Silesian Minority in Poland By Krzysztof E. Borowski © 2020 Krzysztof E. Borowski M.A., University of Wrocław, 2011 B.A., University of Wrocław, 2009 Submitted to the graduate degree program in Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Co-Chair: Marc L. Greenberg Co-Chair: Renee Perelmutter Svetlana Vassileva-Karagyozova Arienne Dwyer Nathan Wood Date Defended: 29 April 2020 ii The dissertation committee for Krzysztof E. Borowski certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Online Conflict Discourse, Identity, and the Social Imagination of Silesian Minority in Poland Co-Chair: Marc L. Greenberg Co-Chair: Renee Perelmutter Date Approved: 29 April 2020 iii Abstract The second decade of the twenty-first century has been that of digital nationalism. In particular, the 2016 United States presidential elections and Brexit vote in the United Kingdom have shown that the increased use of social media has raised popular nationalism (Whitmeyer 2002) to a whole new level. While Europe and other parts of the world have visibly become more globalized, the Northern Atlantic region has witnessed a contradictory tendency for the rise and spread of nationalist sentiment. Much of this phenomenon has been taking place on the internet where conditions of apparent anonymity created a fertile ground for uninhibited identity expressions and performances. From the United States to Poland, people have retreated to their stable, national identities as a way of coping with the various facets of liquid modernity, in which the need for networking pushes individuals to engage in community building by bonding with other individuals through shared emotions (Bauman 2006, 37). -
Evidence from Sudeten German Expellees in Post-War Bavaria
A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Semrad, Alexandra Working Paper Immigration and educational spillovers: Evidence from Sudeten German expellees in post-war Bavaria Munich Discussion Paper, No. 2015-7 Provided in Cooperation with: University of Munich, Department of Economics Suggested Citation: Semrad, Alexandra (2015) : Immigration and educational spillovers: Evidence from Sudeten German expellees in post-war Bavaria, Munich Discussion Paper, No. 2015-7, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Volkswirtschaftliche Fakultät, München, http://dx.doi.org/10.5282/ubm/epub.24851 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/110649 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Alexandra Semrad: Immigration and educational spillovers: evidence from Sudeten German expellees in post-war Bavaria Munich Discussion Paper No. -
Between Germany, Poland and Szlonzokian Nationalism
EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE, FLORENCE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION EUI Working Paper HEC No. 2003/1 The Szlonzoks and their Language: Between Germany, Poland and Szlonzokian Nationalism TOMASZ KAMUSELLA BADIA FIESOLANA, SAN DOMENICO (FI) All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission of the author(s). © 2003 Tomasz Kamusella Printed in Italy in December 2003 European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50016 San Domenico (FI) Italy ________Tomasz Kamusella________ The Szlonzoks1 and Their Language: Between Germany, Poland and Szlonzokian Nationalism Tomasz Kamusella Jean Monnet Fellow, Department of History and Civilization, European University Institute, Florence, Italy & Opole University, Opole, Poland Please send any comments at my home address: Pikna 3/2 47-220 Kdzierzyn-Koïle Poland [email protected] 1 This word is spelt in accordance with the rules of the Polish orthography and, thus, should be pronounced as /shlohnzohks/. 1 ________Tomasz Kamusella________ Abstract This article analyzes the emergence of the Szlonzokian ethnic group or proto- nation in the context of the use of language as an instrument of nationalism in Central Europe. When language was legislated into the statistical measure of nationality in the second half of the nineteenth century, Berlin pressured the Slavophone Catholic peasant-cum-worker population of Upper Silesia to become ‘proper Germans’, this is, German-speaking and Protestant. To the German ennationalizing2 pressure the Polish equivalent was added after the division of Upper Silesia between Poland and Germany in 1922. The borders and ennationalizing policies changed in 1939 when the entire region was reincorporated into wartime Germany, and, again, in 1945 following the incorporation of Upper Silesia into postwar Poland. -
Woodard on Polak-Springer, 'Recovered Territory: a German- Polish Conflict Over Land and Culture, 1919-1989'
H-Borderlands Woodard on Polak-Springer, 'Recovered Territory: A German- Polish Conflict over Land and Culture, 1919-1989' Review published on Thursday, April 25, 2019 Peter Polak-Springer. Recovered Territory: A German-Polish Conflict over Land and Culture, 1919-1989. New York: Berghahn Books, 2015. xxi + 280 pp. $100.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-78238-887-6. Reviewed by Stefanie M. Woodard (Emory University) Published on H-Borderlands (April, 2019) Commissioned by Maria de los Angeles Picone (Emory University) Printable Version: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=53317 What happens to the identity and culture of a region when its national borders change three times within that many decades? This question underpins Peter Polak-Springer’s study of Upper Silesia in Recovered Territory: A German-Polish Conflict over Land and Culture, 1918-1989. Primarily focusing on the border shifts in 1922, 1939, and 1945, the book oscillates between Polish and German efforts to win over the nationally indifferent Upper Silesian population. By investigating “successive episodes of border redrawings during the heyday of war and nationalism in Europe from a (trans)national political [and] a local ‘everyday life’ perspective,” Polak-Springer reveals how ideological clashes during this “territorial cold war” of the interwar period strengthened the Silesians’ national indifference (p. 9). This reinforced regional identity, he contends, ultimately helped to stabilize the Silesian population amid warfare, border shifts, and oppressive regimes. In dialogue with recent works by James E. Bjork (Neither German nor Pole: Catholicism and National Indifference in a Central European Borderland [2008]), Hugo Service (Germans to Poles: Communism, Nationalism and Ethnic Cleansing after the Second World War [2013]), John J. -
Silesian Administrative Authorities and Territorial Transformations of Silesia (1918-1945)
Tomasz Kruszewski Institute of History of State and Law, University of Wrocław Silesian administrative authorities and territorial transformations of Silesia (1918-1945) Abstract: The publication concerns conditions in the 19th and 20th centuries leading to the dissolution of Silesian unity as well as the viewpoints of German, Polish and Czechoslovakian political au- thorities regarding Silesian unity following World War I, while also taking into account the viewpoints of Church institutions. The text is an analysis and a summary of existing works on the subject matter, with the main area of interest being the analysis of legal, organizational and administrative institutions concerning their policies towards the dissolution of Silesian unity. The latter half of the 19th century was chiefly responsible for the breakup of Silesian unity, due to the rise of the idea of nationalism leading to the idea of nation-states. The materialization of this idea in respect of Silesia, a region inhabited by three nations, two of which were then build- ing their own states, could only mean the dissolution of the monolithic administrative structure erected within the Second German Reich. The realisation of these ideas was brought on by World War I, in whose wake the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Czechoslovakian were born, while the Second German Reich collapsed. Keywords: Silesia, administration, Church history, political life, interwar period Introduction: political and legal factors behind the disintegration of the uniform province of Silesia The defeat of the Wilhelmine Reich in the First World War brought about the final collapse of the territorial unity of Silesia; it has never been restored.