condition. Up to 1921 what had been done gave good protection with reduced inconvenience. But much yet remained to do; indeed, complete protection both at the front and in the rear areas might well be unattainable. (L.J.)
POLAND (see 21.902[1]). The partition of Poland was the one great crime of the 18th century for which no redress was afforded by the settlement of Europe after the Napoleonic wars, and it eventually proved one of the causes of the World War in 1914, though the Poles had become apparently more or less reconciled by that date to working out their destiny under Russia, Prussia and Austria. In the earlier article their history has been sketched up to 1863, but it is necessary here to make some brief reference to former times as well as to give the outlines of its development from then up to 1914.
Russian Poland.—“The insurrection of 1863,” says Stanislaus Kosmian, “helped the greatest enemy of Poland and the Polish cause to success. On the ruins of the Polish revolution rose . . . the system of Russification in the Empire of the Tsar.” Under the new name of the Governments of the Vistula the Polish provinces formerly known as “Congress Poland” or the “Kingdom of Poland” were placed in the hands of military governors whose duty it was to suppress every tendency towards Nationalism and to ensure complete subservience to Russia. Russian became the official language of the country and it was enforced in all public business. In 1869 it was adopted as the official language of higher and secondary education and in 1885 the use of the Russian language became compulsory in the primary schools. The publication of articles in Polish was forbidden and the teaching of the language was punished by fine and imprisonment. In 1876 Russification was extended to the courts of justice and Polish officials were replaced by Russians. It cannot however be said that the policy was consistently enforced; it was for instance mitigated under Count Berg who succeeded Milyutin in 1867 and devoted himself to conciliating Polish society, and again by Count Schuvalof and Prince Imeritinsky, successors to the Draconian Gen. Gurko who reigned from 1883 to 1894. Roman Catholicism was, however, from the first recognized as “the backbone of Polish Nationalism” and consistently attacked. At the outset the monasteries were closed, the ecclesiastical lands confiscated and the Union with Rome assailed by compelling Uniates to become Catholics. This religious persecution was carried on with very slight intermittence until 1905, when religious freedom was first permitted.
The most interesting feature in the process of Russification, however, was the attempt made to break the power of the old historic families and bring the peasants into close union with Russia. The emancipation of the peasants which had been urged before the revolution was effected by the Ukases of 1864. Each peasant, whatever his tenure had been, and the mass of the landless became freeholders, which was a constant cause of class friction, and they were allowed to retain their right of free access to the forests and pastures of the landlord. To the landlords compensation was given in the form of Treasury Bonds so that they might have a lasting interest in the maintenance and solvency of the Russian Empire. Village affairs were placed in the hands of a Commune (Gromada) consisting entirely of peasants, who from ignorance and inexperience soon fell under the influence and mastery of the officials; while the landlords were represented in the organization of the district.
The basic idea of the system was the accentuation of class divisions, for it was hoped thus to create a class independent of, and antagonistic to, the Polish landlord and bound by ties of gratitude to Russia. These hopes were not realized for it was these peasant communes which provided centres for the educational movement at the end of the century and foci for the spread of the idea of Polish nationality.
From the emancipation of the serfs can further be traced the economic changes which took place in the latter half of the 19th century. By the splitting-up into small parcels of the large estates an ever increasing class of peasant proprietors was instituted because the small freeholders, who included in their numbers members of the smaller gentry or Schlachta, as well as the former serfs, desired to increase their holdings and found themselves more and more able to pay the prices demanded by the landlords. Though the kingdom of Poland was and remains essentially an agricultural country, a great industrial change has also taken place. Whereas in 1863 the towns were still in a primitive state of development, by the end of the century great industrial centres had appeared. Competition with Russian industry was a different thing to competition with German industry, especially under the protection of the Russian tariff wall. Hence the growth of a strong middle class in which the Jews took a considerable part, some of the leading Jewish families even marrying into and being received as part of Polish society in Warsaw. The economic development became a strong bond of union with Russia and Polish textiles penetrated through the empire as far as Turkestan.
The practical exclusion of the Poles from the Russian army and administration threw back the abler and more ambitious of the upper classes among them on other employment, and strengthened this middle class and brought a new influence to bear on national life in Congress Poland. Hence practical economic reform improvement became the order of the day and the habit of theorizing on the subject of political independence fell into the background. But these improvements again could not long avoid a political aspect and hence the formation of Socialist and Democratic associations.
These Socialist societies, however, had always a Nationalist tendency because capital was largely in German and Jewish hands. The most noteworthy was the National Democratic party which came into existence before the end of the century, after several earlier revolutionary societies had failed, and set to work by means of private educational efforts to oppose Russification and definitely awaken the spirit of nationality. During the troubles which succeeded the Russo-Japanese War this party, under the leadership of M. Dmowski, formed “the army of the national movement” and in the First Duma held an important and in the Second a controlling position, but its influence was diminished by the reduction of the membership at the election of the Third Parliament. Outside Russia an important movement took place in 1908, thanks to the rise of the Neo Slav party, which aimed at effecting a reconciliation between Russia and Poland, and this platform was adopted at Pan Slav Congress held at Prague in 1908, for it was felt that the Poles would be the first victims of a victorious advance of Germany, now the most dangerous enemy (it was held) of the Polish cause.
The Russian Government was, however, recovering from the blows of the revolution of 1905 and unwilling to consider the grant of autonomy for Poland, and in the Duma even the support of the Constitutional Democrats was withdrawn when the Polish Club in the Austrian Reichsrat encouraged in 1908 the incorporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Habsburg dominions. The failure of its plans caused the break-up of the National Democratic party. Its place was taken by Socialist societies antagonistic to Russia. Hence at the outbreak of the World War feeling in Russian Poland was divided.
Prussian Poland.—The Congress of Vienna in 1815 had stipulated that the Poles should receive “a representation and national institutions.” In the duchy of Posen the national rights of the Poles were recognized and for some years the policy adopted by Prussia was one of conciliation rather than oppression, while the needs of the country, such as those as to education and communications and the emancipation of serfs, were efficiently provided for. It was not till 1830 that any system of Germanization was introduced and even that was enforced with no great severity for the twenty years after 1851. But when Bismarck was able to turn his attention from Austria and France to Poland he found that under the mild rule that had prevailed the Poles had been able to develop a national movement which had indeed a parliamentary group in Berlin and had to be reckoned with in the Reichstag, but the strength of which lay in societies such as that founded by Marcinkowski in 1842 which had brought an educated class of Polish doctors, lawyers, merchants and tradespeople into existence. By means of propaganda this movement
- ↑ These figures indicate the volume and page number of the previous article.
