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Masuria

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"Mazury" redirects here. For other uses, see Mazury (disambiguation).
Sailing on Lake Mikołajki.

Masuria (Polish: Mazury; German: Masurenⓘ) is an area in northeastern Poland famous for its lakes and forests.

History

East Prussia, 1931: Ethnic Masurian children and Masurian farmhouse near a lake.
Aerial view of Łupstych region
File:Mikolajki.jpg
Aerial view of Mikołajki
Kayaking on the Krutynia River
Sanctuary of St. Mary in Święta Lipka

Old Prussians

By the 13th century Prussia was inhabited by the Baltic Old Prussians in the lands of Pomesania, Pogesania, Galindia, Bartia, and Sudovia. The region around the many lakes became since the 18th century unofficially known as Masuria. In the southern regions, dense wilderness existed longer than in most of Europe, enabling moose, aurochs, bears, and other mammals to survive. It is estimated that around 220,000 Old Prussians lived in the territory in 1200. During the Baltic or Northern Crusades of the 13th century the Old Prussians used this remaining wilderness as defense against the German knights of the Teutonic Order and other visiting European crusaders. The declared mission of the Teutonic Knights was to baptize and convert the native population to Christianity; they did this mostly through conquest, which culminated in 1283 when the Prussian keep at Lyck (now Ełk) was destroyed by the Order. This thick stretch of wilderness had already for centuries been a barrier against the Polish attacks and conquest attempts on the Prussians.

Following the Order's conquest of the area, some Polish-speaking settlers, mainly Mazurs from Masovia, began to settle in the southeast of the conquered region. Germans, French, Flemish, Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian colonists entered the area shortly afterward. The number of Polish settlers grew significantly again in the beginning of 15th century, especially after the First Peace of Thorn (1411) and the Second Peace of Thorn (1466). At the same time the original Prussian population had already through earlier warfare with the Teutonic Knights and years of attacks by Poland as well as attacks from Daniel of Halich suffered severely. Later assimilation of the German settlers as well as the Polish immigrants and all others created the new Prussian identity.

Ducal Prussia

In Masuria the Polish language was still in use, because of the many settlers from Masovia. In the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466, the Teutonic Order came under the overlordship of the Polish crown. With the conversion of Albert of Prussia to Lutheranism in 1525, Masuria became part of Protestant Ducal Prussia. While much of the countryside was populated by Polish-speakers, the cities remained centres of German mixed with Polish population, with the upper class more German than the lower class. The ancient Old Prussian language survived in parts of the countryside until the early 18th century. Areas that had many Polish-language speakers were known as the Polish departments (die polnischen Ämter in German).

Throughout the Northern Wars southern Prussian region (later Masuria) was devastated in 1656 by Tatar raids, fighting for the Polish Kingdom, which practically destroyed all the townships and killed 30% of the population within 2 weeks. From 1708-1711 about 50% of the inhabitants of the newly rebuilt villages died from the Black Death. Losses in population were partly compensated by migration of Protestant settlers or refugees from Scotland, Salzburg ( expulsion of Protestants 1731), France (Huguenot refugees after the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685), and especially from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Polish brethren expelled from Poland in 1657. The last group of refugees to immigrate to Masuria were the Russian Filipons in 1830 when they were granted asylum by King Frederick William III of Prussia.

Kingdom of Prussia

After the death of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia in 1618 his son-in-law John Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg, inherited Ducal Prussia, including the lake-region (later Masuria), combining the two territories under a single dynasty and forming Brandenburg-Prussia. The still remaining nominal sovereignty of the King of Poland was revoked by the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657. The region became part of the Kingdom of Prussia after the coronation of King Frederick I of Prussia. The lake-region (Masuria) became part of the newly-created administrative province of East Prussia upon its creation in 1773. The name Masuria began to be used officially after new administrative reforms in the kingdom after 1818.

Germanisation was slow and mainly done through the educational system: After the creation of the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871, the Polish language was removed from schools in 1872. Some local Poles resisted those attempts, mainly by publication of Polish newspapers such as Przyjaciel Ludu Łecki and Mazur. At the end of the 19th century Polish activists gathered around Gazeta Ludowa, first published in 1896 with 2500 copies[1], and the Mazurska Partia Ludowa ("Mazur People's Party"). However the great majority regarded themselves more as Prussians than as Poles and were loyal to the government. The publication of the Gazety Ludowa was suspended in 1905 [1] and Polish parties never gained a significant percentage of votes in Masuria in the Reichstag elections. Of the Masurian population in 1890, 143,397 gave German as their language (either primary or secondary), 152,186 Polish, and 94,961 Masurian. In 1910, the German language was given by 197,060, Polish by 30,121, and Masurian by 171,413. In 1925, 40,869 people gave Masurian as their native tongue and 2,297 gave Polish. However, the last result may have been a result of politics at the time and a desire to present the province as purely German; in reality the Masurian dialect was still in use.

During World War I, the Battle of Tannenberg between Imperial Germany and the Russian Empire took place within the borders of Masuria in 1914. After the war, the League of Nations held the East Prussian plebiscite on June 11 1920 to determine if the people of the two southern districts of East Prussia wanted to remain within East Prussia or to join the Second Polish Republic. 97.89% of the voters chose to remain with East Prussia. However, the ethnographer Adam Chętnik accused the German authorities of abuses and falsifications during the plebiscite.[2] Moreover, the plebiscite took place during the time when Polish-Soviet War threatened to erase the Polish state. After 1933 oppression of the Polish minority was carried out by the Nazis.

Nazi Germany

The Nazi government (1933-1945) changed thousands of toponyms (especially names of cities and villages) from Prussian and Polish to newly-created German names; about 50% of the existing names were changed in 1938 alone[3], which was however resisted by the Prussian people, who continue using the Prussian place names.

During World War II, Masuria was partially devastated by the retreating German and advancing Soviet armies during the Vistula-Oder Offensive. The region came under Polish rule at war's end in the Potsdam Conference. Most of the population fled to Germany or were killed during or after the war, while the rest were subject to "nationality verification" organized by the communist government of Poland. As a result, the number of native Masurians that remained in Masuria was initially relatively high, while most ethnic Germans were subsequently expelled. Many Poles, mostly expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union, were resettled in Masuria, especially those from the later Lithuanian SSR around Vilnius.

Towns founded in Prussia

Masuria after World War II

Soon after 1956, some Masurians were given the opportunity to join their families in West Germany. The majority (over 100 thousand) gradually left, mostly because the standard of living was higher in West Germany, and because the communist government persecuted their separate culture and identity. Approximately 5,000 Mazurs still live in the area and Mazur remains the 14th most common surname in Poland with almost 67,000 people bearing the name.[4] Most of the originally Protestant churches in Masuria are now used by the Polish Roman Catholic Church.

Masuria was incorporated into the voivodeship system of administration in 1945. In 1999 Masuria was constituted with neighbouring Warmia as a single administrative province through the creation of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

Landscape

Lakes

Masuria and the Masurian Lake District are known in Polish as Kraina Tysiąca Jezior and in German as Land der Tausend Seen, meaning "land of a thousand lakes." These lakes were ground out of the land by glaciers during the Pleistocene ice age, when ice covered northeastern Europe. By 10,000 BC this ice started to melt. Great geological changes took place and even in the last 500 years the maps showing the lagoons and peninsulas on the Baltic Sea have greatly altered in appearance. As in other parts of northern Poland, such as from Pomerania on the Oder River to the Vistula River, this continuous stretch of lakes is popular among tourists.

Famous people from Masuria

Notes

  1. ^ a b Andreas Kossert, Masuren, p. 210
  2. ^ Związek Kurpiów - Adam Chętnik
  3. ^ Bernd Martin, p. 55
  4. ^ Frequency and geographic distribution of the surname Mazur in Poland

References

  • Mazury Entry on the region in Polish PWN Encyclopedia.
  • Martin, Bernd (1998). "Masuren, Mythos und Geschichte". Karlsruhe: Ewangelische Akademie Baden. ISBN 3872101226 de icon. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); External link in |title= (help)
  • Kruk, Erwin (2003). "Warmia i Mazury". Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie. ISBN 83-7384-028-1. Template:Pl icon
  • Kossert, Andreas (2006). "Masuren. Ostpreußens vergessener Süden". Pantheon. ISBN 3570550060. Template:De icon

External links

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