Nation-building processes among the non-German population in East Prussia in the second half of the 19th century. Selected problems Cover Image

Procesy narodotwórcze wśród ludności nieniemieckiej w Prusach Wschodnich w drugiej połowie XIX wieku. Wybrane problemy
Nation-building processes among the non-German population in East Prussia in the second half of the 19th century. Selected problems

Author(s): Grzegorz Jasiński
Subject(s): Cultural history, Political history, Social history, Sociology of Culture, 19th Century
Published by: Instytut Europy Środkowej
Keywords: East Prussia; Warmia; Masuria; Prussian Lithuania; national consciousness; assimilation processes; Germanization; 19th century;

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present the processes of assimilation of ethnic and linguistic groups (Polish – Warmians and Mazurians, Lithuanian – Lithuanians of Prussia) living in East Prussia in the second half of the 19th century. It should be noted that among the Mazurian, Warmian and Lithuanian populations in East Prussia, at no stage of the development of the above-mentioned groups were there any prerequisites for the formation of their own nation or assimilation into the Polish or Lithuanian nations. After 1870, the ethnic feeling of the non-German population in Prussia became an anachronism dating back to an earlier, pre-national stage of development. The process of assimilation, supported by a number of factors and carried out quite consistently, though not absolutely, towards non-German groups, created a Prussian-German identity among them. They became an example of ethnic groups forming their identity against a linguistic and cultural background.

  • Issue Year: 21/2023
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 47-71
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Polish