Tacitus's Germania (98 AD) is the oldest known record of an eyewitness account on the territory and its inhabitants.[1]Pliny the Elder had already confirmed that the Romans had navigated into the waters beyond the Cimbric peninsula (Jutland). Suiones, Sitones, Goths and other Germanic people had temporarily settled to the east and west of the Vistula River during the Migration Period, adjacent to the Aesti, who lived further to the east.[2][3]
The region's inhabitants of the Middle Ages were first called Bruzi in the brief text of the Bavarian Geographer and have since been referred to as Old Prussians, who, beginning in 997 AD, repeatedly defended themselves against conquest attempts by the newly created Duchy of the Polans.[4] The territories of the Old Prussians and the neighboring Curonians and Livonians were politically unified in the 1230s under the State of the Teutonic Order. The former kingdom and later state of Prussia (1701–1947) derived its name from the region.
The Teutonic Knightsinvaded and annexed the region of Pomerelia from Poland into their monastic state, which already included historical Prussia, located east of the region. After the acquisition of Pomerelia in 1308–1310, the meaning of the term Prussia was widened in the German terminology to include areas west of the Vistula, including Vistula/Eastern Pomerania, although it was never inhabited by BalticPrussians but by the Slavic Poles. After the area was reintegrated with Poland in 1466 both names were in use: Pomerania was used when referring to the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Gdańsk Pomerania) and the Chełmno Voivodeship, while Royal Prussia was used as the name of the wider province, which, however, also included the Malbork Voivodeship and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, covering the Prussian historical areas of Pomesania, Pogesania and Warmia, the only actual Prussian territories of the province, while the rump Teutonic state, called the Monastic Prussia thereafter, formed a part of Poland as a fief,[5] finally secularised in 1525 to become the Lutheran Ducal Prussia.
Indo-European settlers first arrived in the region during the 4th millennium BC, which in the Baltic would diversify into the satemBalto-Slavic branch which would ultimately give rise to the Balts as the speakers of the Baltic languages.[8] The Balts would have become differentiated into Western and Eastern Balts in the late 1st millennium BC. The region was inhabited by ancestors of Western Balts – Old Prussians, Sudovians/Jotvingians, Scalvians, Nadruvians, and Curonians while the eastern Balts settled in what is now Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus.[8][9][10]
The Greek explorer Pytheas (4th century BC) may have referred to the territory as Mentenomon and to the inhabitants as Guttones (neighbours of the Teutones, probably referring to the Goths).[11][12] A river to the east of the Vistula was called the Guttalus, perhaps corresponding to the Nemunas, the Łyna, or the Pregola. In AD 98 Tacitus described one of the tribes living near the Baltic Sea (Latin: Mare Suebicum) as Aestiorum gentes and amber-gatherers.[13]
The Vikings started to penetrate the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea in the 7th and 8th centuries. The largest trade centres of the Prussians, such as Truso and Kaup, seem to have absorbed a number of Norse people. Prussians used the Baltic Sea as a trading route, frequently travelling from Truso to Birka (in present-day Sweden).[14]
At the end of the Viking Age, the sons of Danish kings Harald Bluetooth and Cnut the Great launched several expeditions against the Prussians. They destroyed many areas in Prussia, including Truso and Kaup, but failed to dominate the population totally. A Viking (Varangian) presence in the area was "less than dominant and very much less than imperial."[15][1]
The Prussian tribes in the context of the Baltic tribes, c. 1200. Borders are approximations.
According to a legend, recorded by Simon Grunau,[citation needed] the name Prussia is derived from Pruteno (or Bruteno), the chief priest of Prussia and brother of the legendary king Widewuto, who lived in the 6th century. The regions of Prussia and the corresponding tribes are said to bear the names of Widewuto's sons — for example, Sudovia is named after Widewuto's son Sudo.
The Old Prussians spoke a variety of languages, with Old Prussian belonging to the Western branch of the Baltic language group. Old Prussian, or related Western Baltic dialects, may have been spoken as far southeast as Masovia and even Belarus in the early medieval period, but these populations would probably have undergone Slavicization before the 10th century.[16]
Medieval depiction of Prussians killing Saint Adalbert, the missionary bishop; part of the Gniezno Doors, c. 1175
After the Christianisations of the West Slavs in the 10th century, the state of the Polans was established and there were first attempts at conquering and baptizing the Baltic peoples. Bolesław I Chrobry sent Adalbert of Prague in 997 on a military and Christianizing mission. Adalbert, accompanied by armed guards, attempted to convert the Prussians to Christianity. He was killed by a Prussian pagan priest in 997.[19]
In 1015, Bolesław sent soldiers again, with some short-lived success, gaining regular paid tribute from some Prussians in the border regions, but it did not last. Polish rulers sent invasions to the territory in 1147, 1161–1166, and a number of times in the early 13th century. While these were repelled by the Prussians, the Chełmno Land became exposed to their frequent raids.[20]
In the beginning of the 13th century, Konrad of Mazovia had called for Crusades and tried unsuccessfully to conquer Prussia for years. Bishop Christian of Oliva established the Order of Dobrzyń in order to defend Masovia against the raids of Old Prussians. However, the rather innumerous order (initially 15 knights, with 35 knights at its highest) did not prove effective in countering Prussians in battle. Christian achieved subjugation and conversion of Prussians only in the Lubawa Land. Therefore, the pope set up further crusades.
The Duke finally invited the Teutonic Knights in 1226, expelled by force of arms by King Andrew II of Hungary in the previous year following their attempts to build their own state within Transylvania.[21] The Knights were expected to fight the inhabitants of Prussia in exchange for a fief of Chełmno Land. Prussia was conquered by the Teutonic Knights during the Prussian Crusade and administered within their State of the Teutonic Order, which begins the process of Germanization in the area.[20] Bishop Christian had to deal with the constant cut-back of his autonomy by the Knights and asked the Roman Curia for mediation. In 1243, the Papal legate William of Modena divided the Prussian lands of the Order's State into four dioceses, whereby the bishops retained the secular rule over about one third of the diocesan territory:
The city of Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad) was founded in 1255, and joined the Hanseatic League in 1340, thus connecting Prussia to the European trade network spanning via the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.[22] In 1492, a life of Saint Dorothea of Montau, published in Marienburg (Malbork), became the first printed publication in Prussia.
"Prussian land was my father's land and I will claim its territory till Osa river [pl] i.e. all the Prussian lands until the Vistula River, including Pamede, because this is my inheritance"
The Teutonic Knights soon turned against their Polish benefactors in the same way, as they earlier did in Hungary.
The Polish region of Pomerelia (including Gdańsk Pomerania and the city of Gdańsk as its parts) which was never inhabited by the Old Prussians, and which was called Pomorze ('Pomerania') in Polish language since the Early Middle Ages, was forcibly occupied by the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights in 1308, following an invasion of Poland under the pretext of aiding the King Władysław I Łokietek to quell a rebellion against him, incited by a conspiracy of the Margraviate of Brandenburg with the local Swienca family. Teutonic atrocities against the Polish population followed, such as the Slaughter of Gdańsk. The Teutonic Knightstook control of the region from Poland, integrating it into their monastic state, which already included historical Prussia, located east of the region. After the acquisition of Pomerelia in 1308–1310, the meaning of the term Prussia was widened in the German terminology to include areas west of the Vistula, including Vistula/Eastern Pomerania, although it was never inhabited by BalticPrussians but by the Slavic Poles. The possession of Danzig and Pomerelia by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław I and Casimir the Great in legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333.[25] Both times, as well as in 1339, the Teutonic Knights were ordered by the Pope to return Pomerelia and other lands back to Poland, but did not comply.[25] The conquered Danzig (Gdańsk) joined the Hanseatic League in 1361. These events resulted in a series of Polish–Teutonic Wars throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. Under the Teutonic rule, an influx of western, mainly German-speaking farmers, traders and craftsmen was encouraged. Subsequent rebellions organized by the local population against the Teutonic state, initially by the Lizard Union and later by the Prussian Confederation, both pledging allegiance to the Polish king, caused the Thirteen Years' War which ultimately led to the Second Peace of Thorn, when most of the region and was reclaimed by Poland and henceforth formed the bulk of Royal Prussia.
Pomerelia and Prussia after 1466: light grey – Teutonic/Monastic (later Ducal) Prussia light green and yellow – voivodeships of Royal Prussia encompassing the genuinely Prussian territory blue and magenta – voivodeships of Royal Prussia encompassing the Pomerelian territory outside of the region of Prussia
With the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the territory of the Monastic State was divided into eastern and western parts. The western part became the province of Royal Prussia (later also part of the Greater Poland Province) of the Kingdom of Poland, while the eastern part of the monastic state became a fief and protectorate of Poland, also considered an integral part of the "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland,[5] initially called Monastic Prussia or Teutonic Prussia, secularised in 1525 to become Ducal Prussia.[26] At the same time, the Polish monarchs assumed the title of the King of Prussia.
After Pomerelia was reintegrated with Poland in 1466, the designation Pomerania was restored and used when referring to the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Gdańsk Pomerania) and the Chełmno Voivodeship, while the entire territory conquered by the Kingdom of Poland from the Teutonic Order was known as Royal Prussia. The latter also included, however, also the truly Prussian historical areas of Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, as well as the Malbork Land comprising northern parts of Pomesania and Pogesania. These were the only actual Prussian territories of Royal Prussia. Initially enjoying broad autonomy including an own local legislature, the Prussian Estates, and maintaining its own laws, customs and rights, Royal Prussia was ultimately re-absorbed directly into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, following the Union of Lublin in 1569. The locally spoken language differed among social classes, with the aristocracy and urban burghers initially highly Germanised as a result of earlier Teutonic policies, but gradually shifting towards Polish in the later years, while the peasantry continued as predominantly Kashubian- and Polish-speaking West of Vistula; the part East of Vistula was predominantly German-speaking, with decreasing number of Old Prussian and increasing number of Polish minorities.[27] A small area in the west of Pomerelia, the Lębork and Bytów Land, was granted to the rulers of the Duchy of Pomerania as a Polish fief before it was reintegrated with Poland in 1637, and later again transformed into a Polish fief, which it remained along the Starostwo of Draheim until the First Partition of Poland.
During the Napoleonic era the Greater Polish territories and the Chełmno Land formed part of the Duchy of Warsaw following the Treaties of Tilsit, and Danzig was granted a status of a Free City. However, after the Congress of Vienna, the Polish duchy was again partitioned between Russia and Prussia, with Prussia annexing the Free City and the Chełmno Land into the reconstituted West Prussia. The annexation was associated with another attempt to artificially expand the meaning of the designation of Prussia by transferring the northern part of Netze District, a fragment of Greater Poland detached from its bulk (the Grand Duchy of Posen), to West Prussia, while the district's easternmost fragment was awarded to the Russian-ruled Congress Poland.
Outside of the Kingdom of Prussia and later Germany, Pomerelia was termed Polish Pomerania (Pomorze Polskie) since at least the 18th century[30] to distinguish it from Hither and Farther Pomerania, territories long outside of Polish rule. In the late 19th century this term was used in order to underline Polish claims to that area that was then ruled by the GermanKingdom of Prussia. The designation of Polish Pomerania became obsolete since Farther Pomerania and a small part of Hither Pomerania were also transferred to Poland as part of the territories recovered from Germany, following World War II.
As agreed upon in the Treaty of Versailles, most of the Pomerelian part of the Province of West Prussia that had belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire since the Partitions of Poland was retroceded to the Second Polish Republic, becoming its Pomeranian Voivodeship, the (originally Prussian) territory of Regierungsbezirk Westpreussen east of Vistula remained with Germany as a part of East Prussia, while the western rim of Pomerelia became part of the German province of Posen-West Prussia, named so in spite of containing no originally Prussian territory. Danzig became a free city under the protection of the League of Nations.[7]
Following the example of earlier German policies, there was a short-lived initiative in the Polish post-World War II government to rename the newly acquired original Prussia to an invented name of Masovian Pomerania; it was, however, quickly abandoned.
In 1995, the governments of Berlin and Brandenburg proposed to merge the states in order to form a new state with the name of "Berlin-Brandenburg", though some suggested calling the proposed new state "Prussia", in spite of the territories being located far away from the region of Prussia. The merger was rejected in a plebiscite in 1996 – while West Berliners voted for a merger, East Berliners and Brandenburgers voted against it.[31]
Rulership of Ducal Prussia passed to the senior Hohenzollern branch, the ruling Electors of Brandenburg, in 1618, and Polish sovereignty over the duchy ended in 1657 with the Treaty of Wehlau. There was strong opposition to the separation of the region from Poland, especially in Königsberg.[33] A confederation was formed in the city to maintain Poland's sovereignty over the city and region.[33] The Brandenburg Elector and his army, however, entered the city and abducted and imprisoned the leader of the city's anti-Elector opposition Hieronymus Roth.[33] In 1663, the city burghers, forced by Elector Frederick William, swore an oath of allegiance to him, however, in the same ceremony they still also pledged allegiance to Poland.[33]
Taking advantage of the fact that Ducal Prussia lay outside of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick I achieved the elevation of the duchy to a kingdom in 1701, styling himself King in Prussia, because his kingdom included only part of historic Prussia, and the title King of Prussia was still held by the Polish monarchs.[34] Lithuanian culture thrived in the part of the region known as Lithuania Minor, while the Kursenieki lived along the coast in the vicinity of the Curonian and Vistula Spits.
The Old Prussian language had mostly disappeared by 1700. The last speakers may have died in the plague and famine that ravaged Prussia in 1709 to 1711.[35] In 1724, King Frederick William I of Prussia prohibited Poles, Samogitians and Jews from settling in Lithuania Minor in the eastern part of the region, and initiated German colonization to change the region's ethnic composition.[36]
Map by Caspar Henneberg, Elbing, 1576: Duchy and Royal Prussia originally with same colour (for the duchy the colour was added later)
The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, with activities including distribution of Polish underground press, infiltration of the German arms industry,[45] sabotage actions, executions of Nazis, theft of German weapons, ammunition and equipment,[46] smuggling data on German concentration camps and prisons, and organization of transports of POWs who escaped German POW camps via the ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia to neutralSweden.[47]
The province of East Prussia ceased to exist in 1945, following the Potsdam Agreement, when it was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union, with the latter dividing its part further between the Lithuanian SSR and the Russian SFSR. The part assigned to Poland was organized as the provisional Masurian District, later reduced by the annexation of its northern strip with the towns of Gierdawy and Iławka by the Soviet Union,[48] and transferring its westernmost counties to Gdańsk Voivodeship and easternmost counties to Białystok Voivodeship, and finally transformed into Olsztyn Voivodeship in 1946. The Klaipėda Region was returned to the Lithuanian SRR, while the remaining territory, annexed by the Russian FSSR, was in turn named the Kaliningrad Oblast in 1946. The inhabitants not evacuated during the war were expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, with the exception of Polish minorities of Powiślans, Warmians and Masurians, considered to be of Polish descent. The situation was different, however, for the Prussian Lithuanians in Lithuania Minor, a part of the Soviet share of the former East Prussia. The government of the Lithuanian SSR followed Soviet policy and viewed the Prussian Lithuanians as Germans. About 8,000 persons were repatriated from DP camps during 1945–50. However, their homes and farms were not returned as either Russians or Lithuanians had already occupied their property. Prussians who remained in the former Klaipėda Region were fired from their jobs and otherwise discriminated against.[49] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some Prussian Lithuanians and their descendants did not regain lost property in the Klaipėda region.[50]
Prussia as a political entity was abolished on 25 February 1947 by decree of the Allied Control Council. The decree declared that Prussia from early days had been a bearer of militarism and reaction in Germany.
In line with this assessment and the ideological justification of Recoverred Territories, the use of Prussia as a geographic designation was discouraged by the postwar authorities of Poland and the Soviet Union. The Polish region of Pomerelia (Gdansk Pomerania and the Chełmno Land) reverted to its original name already prior to World War II, as the name West Prussia was always regarded in Poland as an artificial German invention. In the case of East Prussia (the original Prussia), Polish authorities promoted using the designations of Powiśle in the case of Pomesania and Pogesania, approximately translated in English: “Vistula Plains”, Warmia in the case of the former Prince-Bishopric of Warmia and Masuria in the case of the remainder of Polish share of the former East Prussia. The designation of Kaliningrad Oblast was promoted by the Soviet authorities in the case of the Russian part of the territory, instead. The policy was embraced by the Polish population who had hardly any sympathy for the legacy of Prussia, partially due to numerous attempts throughout history to annex various Polish territories with their subsequent artificial renaming as another part of Prussia in order to imply their originally Prussian history (see above), while the State of Prussia was perceived as a primary driving force for the Partitions of Poland with subsequent persecution and attempted Germanization of Poles, politically dominated by the Prussian Junkers with strong anti-Polish sentiment,[51] and finally, the German Province of East Prussia was regarded as an area of persecutions against Polish-speaking minority (Warmians, Masurians, Powiślans), but most importantly as a Nazi political stronghold whose existence as an exclave resulted in German irredentist demands towards Poland, blamed as one of the primary causes of the calamity of World War II and the ensuing German atrocities. An important factor was also West Germany's rejection of the validity of the postwar Polish Western border on the Oder–Neisse line (until 1972 total, 1972-1991 de iure) rendering any attempts of Poles to remind or maintain the Prussian regional identity an easy target for the Polish authorities, interpreted as undermining future security and territorial integrity of Poland. The policy achieved its goals, and the name Prussia is nowadays used in Polish official documents and colloquial language almost exclusively in historical context, when referring to Royal Prussia, the Free State of Prussia and its preceding entities (the (post-1466) Monastic Prussia, the Duchy of Prussia, Brandenburg-Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia), the former Province of East Prussia, or to the territory of Old Prussians, but almost never when referring to contemporary geographic region. Since 1991, the name Prussia has, however, been re-acknowledged among Polish historians as the proper designation for the historic region, understood as defined by its original borders (excluding Pomerelia with Gdańsk Pomerania, the Chełmno and the Michałów Lands, as well as sometimes the Lubawa Land), resulting in its increasing usage in this context in the Polish scientific historical publications.
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^Sterns, Indrikis (1985). "The Teutonic Knights in the Crusader States". In Zacour, Norman P.; Hazard, Harry W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades: The Impact of the Crusades on the Near East. Vol. V. The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 361.
^James Boswell, The Scots Magazine, t. 35, Edinburgh 1773, p 687 Google Books, The Magazine of Magazines t. 13, Limerick 1757 p. 158 Google Books, John Mottley, The history of the life of Peter I., emperor of Russia, London 1739, p. 89 Google Books, The Universal Magazine, t. 20, London 1757, p. 50 Google Books
^ abcdMałłek, Janusz (1992). "Polityka miasta Królewca wobec Polski w latach 1525–1701". Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie (in Polish). No. 3–4. pp. 254–255.
^Klussis, Mikkels (2006). "Preface". Dictionary of Revived Prussian(PDF). Institut Européen des Minorités Ethniques Dispersées. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-09-26.
^S. Achremczyk: Historia Warmii i Mazur, Olsztyn 1997
^Denny, Isabel (2007). The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Königsberg, 1945. Havertown: Casemate. p. 256. ISBN978-1-935149-20-0.
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 128, 212–213, 217–218, 389–391, 509. ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^Niklas, Tomasz (2021). "Polscy jeńcy w Stalagu XX B Marienburg". In Grudziecka, Beata (ed.). Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana (in Polish). Malbork: Muzeum Miasta Malborka. p. 29. ISBN978-83-950992-2-9.
^Daniluk, Jan (2021). "Stalag XX B Marienburg: geneza i znaczenie obozu jenieckiego w Malborku-Wielbarku w latach II wojny światowej". In Grudziecka, Beata (ed.). Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana (in Polish). Malbork: Muzeum Miasta Malborka. pp. 11–13. ISBN978-83-950992-2-9.
^Wardzyńska, Maria (2017). Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945 (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 104, 119, 130, 395, 405, 409, 410, 416, 423. ISBN978-83-8098-174-4.
^Chrzanowski, Bogdan (2022). Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945 (in Polish). Gdańsk: IPN. pp. 48, 57. ISBN978-83-8229-411-8.
^Brenda, Waldemar (2007). "Pogranicze Prus Wschodnich i Polski w działaniach polskiej konspiracji w latach II wojny światowej". Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie (in Polish) (4): 515–517.
^Chrzanowski, Bogdan. "Organizacja sieci przerzutów drogą morską z Polski do Szwecji w latach okupacji hitlerowskiej (1939–1945)". Stutthof. Zeszyty Muzeum (in Polish). 5: 29–31. ISSN0137-5377.
^"Tries knygos apie lietuvininkų tragediją" (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2007-03-31. "Kai kurie ir iš nepriklausomos Lietuvos išvažiuoja į Vokietiją, nes čia ne visiems pavyksta atgauti žemę ir sodybas, miestuose ir miesteliuose turėtus gyvenamuosius namus. Vis dar yra net nebandomų sudrausminti piktavalių, kurie lietuvininkams siūlo "grįžti" į "faterliandą"." Tr.: Even some from independent Lithuania have emigrated to Germany, because not all are able to have their land, farms and city homes returned. Some still want the Lietuvininkai to "return" to the Vaterland
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