the prussian state and the catholic church in prussian poland 1871-1914

The Prussian State and the Catholic Church in Prussian Poland 1871-1914Author(s): Lech TrzeciakowskiSource: Slavic Review, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Dec., 1967), pp. 618-637Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2492613 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 19:08

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 ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserveand extend access to Slavic Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.214 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:08:18 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2492613?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


LECH TRZECIAKOWSKI

Ihe Prussi'an State and the Catholic Church

in Prussian Poland I87 -I I94

DESPITE the fact that the relationship between the Prussian state and the Catholic Church had an important influence on the course of events in the eastern provinces of the German Empire, no monographic study has been devoted to the subject. Works dealing with church history, the nationality question, or the Kulturkampf have given a certain amount of attention to the problem, but without elaboration of the issues involved and as a rule with limited reliance on primary source material.1 This article may well be the first attempt to grapple with the problem during the period 1871 to 1914. In addition to the standard published works on the subject, numerous archival sources have been consulted, especially those of the Prussian state and the German Empire.

The relationship between the Prussian state and the Catholic Church in Prussian Poland in large measure stemmed from Prussia's nationality policy. In the period from 1871 to 1914 the intensity of the struggle with "Polonism" reached its peak. Relations between the two nationalities and between the two religions were very complicated in Prussian Poland. In 1890 in the territory as a whole there were 2,766,974 Poles and 3,684,243 Germans. In the province of Poznain there were 1,048,124 Poles and 692,171 Germans; in the Pomorze-GdaAisk area (West Prussia) there were 483,949 Poles and 929,o98 Germans; in Warmia and Masuria (East Prussia) 316,166 Poles and 1,496,451 Germans; and in Upper Silesia (the Opole region),

'The most important of these works are J6zef Feldman, Bismarck a Polska (Krak6w, 1947); Jerzy Krasuski, Kulturkampf (Poznati, 1963); Manfred Laubert, Die preussische Polenpolitik (Berlin, 1920); Joachim Mai, Die preussisch-deutsche Polenpolitik 1885-1887 (Berlin, 1962); Aleksander Rogalski, Kosci6I katolicki na glasku (Warsaw, 1955), and Kosci6I katolicki na Warmii i Mazurach (Warsaw, 1956); Erich Schmidt-Volkmar, Der Kulturkampf in Deutschland (G6ttingen, 1962); Richard Wonser Tims, Germanizing Prus- sian Poland (New York, 1941). Of these authors, only Mai and Schmidt-Volkmar have made significant use of primary materials.

This article was translated from the Polish by Mr. Stanislaus A. Blejwas, doctoral candidate in Polish history at Columbia University.



CHURCH AND STATE IN PRUSSIAN POLAND 6I9

918,735 Poles and 566,523 Germans.2 A decided majority of the Poles were Catholics, while the majority of the Germans were Protestants.3

From the moment the Prussian government seized these lands it took steps aimed at their fullest possible integration into the kingdom. It expected to achieve this end through a policy of Germanization, a policy consisting in efforts to denationalize the Poles by the Germanization of the educational, administrative, and judicial systems of the area, together with the settlement of Germans in the eastern provinces. Obviously, given the large numbers of Polish Catholics, the position of the Roman Catholic Church in respect to the policy of the government in Prussian Poland was a question of great importance. In the period under consideration it is possible to distinguish two stages in the relationship between the Prus- sian state and the Catholic Church. The first, from 1871 to 1878, was characterized by an attempt on the part of the state to subordinate the clergy to itself. The second stage, from 1878 to 1914, was characterized by a de- sire for cooperation with the Church in the work of Germanization, or neutralization of the influence of the Polish clergy in the community.

The Prussian state, formerly a basically Protestant state, had, as a result of the wars of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth, acquired territories largely inhabited by Catholics. This required a regularization of relations with the Catholic Church, and after 1815 conditions appeared favorable. After the shocks of the Napoleonic era the Papacy desired rapid regularization of its relations with other states, and it was in conjunction with-this policy that the relationship of the Church to secular authority in Prussia was determined. The result was the bull "De salute animarum" which appeared in 1821. The Prussian government secured a voice in the selection of bishops, and in return the Church was assured far-reaching independence. By virtue of this understanding changes in Church administration advantageous to the state took place in the eastern provinces. This region comprised the archbishopric of Gniezno and the three bishoprics of Wroclaw, Cheimno, and Warmia. In accordance with the deci- sion of 1821, the Wroclaw bishopric, until this time subordinate to the Gniezno metropolis, which was given the name Gniezno-Poznani metropolis, now became independent, an event which had unfortunate consequences for the Poles in Silesia. Most of the clergy of the Wroclaw diocese were Ger- mans, who, no longer constrained by the influence of the Gniezno-Poznan' metropolis, were able to cooperate with the state in carrying out its nationality policy.

Despite this understanding, relations between the Church and the state were not always smooth. In the i840s a sharp conflict broke out over the question of mixed marriages. The Church hierarchy maintained that the children of a mixed marriage had to be raised as Catholics, regardless of which of the parents was Catholic. The secular authorities held that the

2Deutsches Zentralarchiv (DZA), Potsdam, Reichsamt des Innern, Zentralbureau, Akten betreffend die polnische Frage, Sygn. 1534i, Band 5, Anhang.

8 Julian Marchlewski, "Stosunki spoleczno-ekonomiczne w ziemiach polskich zaboru pruskiego," Pisma wybrane (Warsaw, 1952), I, 213.



620 SLAVIC REVIEW

sex of the child determined its religion: a son was to be raised in the faith of his father, while a daughter was to be reared in her mother's faith. The archbishop of Gniezno-Poznani, Marcin Dunin, held a very definite view on this question, which resulted in his imprisonment in 1839. He was released in 1840 after the ascension of Frederick William IV to the Prus- sian throne, in return for his promise that he would not officially oppose any legislation of the state. Nonetheless, he allowed the clergy to refuse to administer the sacrament of marriage when there was a difference of faith.4

The following years, despite the upheaval of the Springtime of the Na- tions, did not weaken the position of the Catholic Church in Prussia, and the Prussian constitution of 1850 confirmed its position in the state. This situation changed, however, after the creation of the German Empire. The Chancellor, Bismarck, intent on the security of his newly formed state organism and with the majority of the German propertied classes behind him, advanced with complete ruthlessness against those forces which men- aced the Second Reich. In his domestic policy he cracked down on centrif- ugal forces within the state, notably the Catholic elements, whose political organ, the German Center Party, was established in December 1870. The main attack was directed against the Catholic Church, and the first laws were aimed at curbing the influence of the clergy over the faithful. In De- cember i871 the German Reichstag amended Paragraph 130 of the German penal code, introducing a two-year prison term for voicing, in places of worship, opinions endangering the public peace. In the following year it was ordered that Jesuit activities be ended, and a new regulation was introduced which transferred the superintendence of schools to the state. Pre- viously this had been the prerogative of the clergy of the religion in question. The laws of 1873, popularly called the "May Laws," were aimed at subordinating the Catholic Church to the state by giving the state a decisive role in appointments to clerical posts. Requirements for such a post were laid down as completion of a German gymnasium, three years of theological study in a state university, and a special examination. The secular authorities reserved to themselves the right to veto nominations to clerical positions. In 1874 civil marriage was introduced. The opposition of the Church to these laws provoked further repressive measures, including the dissolution of all religious orders except those concerned with the care of the sick. In 1876 state control over Church estates in Catholic dioceses was established.5

The war against the Church was conducted with particular intensity in Prussian Poland, for Bismarck was convinced that his most dangerous enemies among the Poles were the szlachta and the clergy.6 In fact, however, the chief defensive strength of the Poles lay in the patriotism of the peasants, the workers, and the middle class (mieszczan'stwo). On the other hand, many of the priests engaged in public life, running various organiza-

4 Stanislaw Karwowski, Historya Wielkiego Ksikstwa Poznanshiego (Poznasi, 1918), I, i81-82.

5 The anti-Church legislation is treated in detail by Schmidt-Volkmar. 6 Laubert, pp. is 2-22.



CHURCH AND STATE IN PRUSSIAN POLAND 62 I

tions or serving as deputies to the Prussian diet (Landtag) or the German Reichstag.

Through relentless enforcement of the laws introduced during the Kul- turkampf the government expected to subordinate the clergy to itself, in the hope of drawing them away from the national movement. In this situation some of the decrees which had an undoubtedly progressive character, such as the separation of the schools from the Church, in Prussian Poland took on a different significance. The placing of the schools under secular supervision, the substitution of German inspectors for Polish priests, created the real threat that these civil servants would follow a policy of Germanization.

The Catholic clergy, of course, defended its prerogatives. The upper ranks of the Church hierarchy did not observe the May Laws limiting their influence in the filling of clerical posts, and continued to conduct their own personnel policy. In this situation the government began to apply repressive measures, a move which affected all the bishops in Prussian Po- land. As early as 1870 a struggle between the government and the bishop of Warmia, Philippe Krementz, a cleric of German descent, had begun. The government's pretext for taking action was the repressive measures which the Bishop had applied to several seminary teachers who did not acknowl- edge the dogma of papal infallibility decreed by the Vatican Council of 1870. Krementz excommunicated them, and the government came to their defense. Counting on the break-up of the Catholic Church under such circumstances, the government was giving its support to the opponents of papal infallibility, the so-called "Old Catholics." In response to the position taken by Krementz the government suspended the funds allocated to the Bishop and closed the seminary. Krementz was not imprisoned, however, a penalty which was meted out to other distinguished representatives of the episcopacy. There were several reasons why Krementz was spared. In large measure it was because his attitude in the struggle with the authorities was, despite appearances, very flexible. In 1875 he agreed to place the administration of the ecclesiastical estate in the hands of special man- agement boards responsible to the bishop and the president-general of the province. Although he frequently opposed the government, Krementz always manifested his loyalty to the Emperor. It is not without significance that the Bishop was an intimate of William I and his wife Augusta. The Empress, moreover, did not conceal her displeasure over the frequent penalties imposed on the bishop of Warmia.7

A much more complicated case was that of the bishop of Chelmno, Jo- hann von der Marwitz. He was a church dignitary in whom the authorities at first displayed complete confidence, despite the fact that he came from a Polonized German family. Marwitz's previous meritorious military record

7DZA, Abteilung Merseburg, Acta des Konigl. Zivil-Kabinetts betreffend die Zeitungs- berichte des Regierungsprasidenten zu Marienwerder, Sygn. Rep. 89.B.X. 1-28 Marien- werder: report of the president of the Kwidzydi [Marienwerder] district, Aug. 24, 1875; Die Vorgeschichte des Kulturkampf: Quellenver5gentlichung aus dem Deutschen Zentralar- chiv (Berlin, 1957), pp. 318-21: letters of Augusta to Wilhelm I, Sept. i8 and 28, 1872.



622 SLAVIC EVIEW

influenced the attitude of the government. In 1813-14 he served in the war against Napoleon and rose to the rank of officer. Hence, when, in i856, Marwitz's name was put forward for the Chelmno bishopric, no objections were raised. Shortly after he assumed his duties, however, the secular authorities were unpleasantly surprised, for Marwitz surrounded himself with Polish clerics and members of the landed nobility, and the influence of the German members of the cathedral chapter declined.

At the beginning of the Kulturkampf Bishop Marwitz took a resolute stand of not respecting governmental legislation. The government re- sponded with a series of penalties, including, among other things, the closing of the seminary in Pelplin and the imposition of numerous fines on Marwitz, which he ostentatiously did not pay. The government then req- uisitioned his revenues and seized his possessions. The furniture, sold at auction in 1874, was bought at high prices by Polish landowners in order to prevent the imprisonment of the eighty-year-old bishop. The sum realized from the auction did not cover Marwitz's obligations, and in June 1874 the authorities seriously considered the possibility of imprisoning him. It was a delicate affair. There was the very real danger that the aged bishop might not outlive his sentence. Recognizing that his death in prison would provide the enemies of the Prussian state and the German Empire with ammunition, the authorities decided against such a radical step. At the same time Marwitz, fatigued by the struggle, began to pursue a more conciliatory policy in the matter of filling vacant clerical positions and, like Krementz, agreed to the participation of the secular authorities in the administration of ecclesiastical property. For its part, the government avoided further exacerbation of relations with the bishop of Chelmno.8

In the struggle of the state with the bishop of Wroclaw, the German Heinrich Forster, the source of the conflict was the question of papal infallibility. The Bishop strongly opposed those Catholic scholars and teachers who declared their opposition to the dogma. He also assumed an irrec- oncilable stance with regard to the successive anticlerical laws passed by the state, and as a result he was deposed from his office in October 1875.9 Undoubtedly this drastic move on the part of the authorities was directed not only against the Church but also against the opposition Center Party, which in Silesia possessed a great deal of influence and enjoyed the warm support of the clergy.

8DZA, Potsdam, Reichskanzlei, Akten betreffend die Polen, Sygn. 66o: correspondence between the president of the GdaAisk (Danzig) district, the president-general of West Prussia, and the Minister of Education, April 15 and 23, i885; DZA, Merseburg, Acta des Konigl. Geheimen Zivil-Kabinetts betreffend die durch das Infallibilitats-Dogma veran- lassten Kirchlichen Conflicte sowie die Massregeln gegen die den gesetzlichen Vorschriften sich widersetzende katholische Geistlichkeit, Sygn. Rep. 89.H. General Abteilung IX, No. 55b, Band II, fol. 63-65: correspondence between the authorities concerning the incarcera- tion of Bishop Marwitz, June and July 1874; DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.B.X. 1-28 Danzig: reports of the president of the district, Aug. 13 and Nov. 14, 1874, and Aug. 24, I875; Diecezja chetmi'ska: Zarys historyczno-statystyczny (Pelplin, 1928), pp. 50-51; X. Alfons Masikowski, Kanoniczne elekcje biskupow chemin'skich po emanacii bulli De salute animarum (Pelplin, 1932), pp. 6-8.

9 Schmidt-Volkmar, p. 256.



CHURCH AND STATE IN PRUSSIAN POLAND 623

The conflict with Archbishop Mieczyslaw Ledochowski, a count of Polish origin, also assumed a dramatic character. During his first years as archbishop he won the complete trust of Berlin. He was a high Church official of extreme monarchical views who had spent many years in the service of the Holy See; immediately before his summons to the Gniezno-Poznan archbishopric he had served as papal nuncio in Brussels. His relations with his fellow countrymen were characterized by a noticeable degree of cool- ness, and his first years as head of the archdiocese were marked by a num- ber of actions detrimental to the best interests of the Polish community. As an example, he forbade the clergy to participate in public life, with disastrous consequences in the elections to the Prussian diet and the North German parliament, in which the clergy performed an important role as agitators and candidates. He likewise forbade the singing of the song "Boze cos Polske" and ordered the celebration of Prussian military victories. At every step he emphasized his attachment to the monarchical idea, which in this case was personified by William I, king of Prussia. As one can imagine, Ledochowski's attitude met with hearty approval in government circles.

Soon, however, fissures appeared in the edifice of cooperation between the authorities and the Archbishop. Difficulties began when the Pope conferred the title of Primate upon Led6chowski. The Poles attached great importance to this dignity because during the years of Poland's independence it was the duty of the Primate to act as Interrex during an interreg- num." Thus it could be said that Led6chowski was in fact the Interrex. Prussia and Russia lodged a sharp protest with the Papacy over the appointment, and neither was fully satisfied with Rome's assurance that the title was entirely honorary in character. In the meantime the anticlerical laws were promulgated. At first the Archbishop showed evidence of being still extremely conciliatory. In 1873, under pressure of the authorities, he agreed to the introduction of German into the religion courses in the upper classes of the gymnasiums. This did not, however, satisfy the government. It ordered the complete abolition of Polish from religion courses in the intermediate schools in Poznan' province. Teachers, both clerical and lay, who refused to obey this decree lost their jobs. Private religious instruction was likewise forbidden, and this Led6chowski bitterly protested. The conflict soon sharpened. The Archbishop refused to place the seminaries under state control, a move which led to their closing. He likewise refused to obey the May Laws, appointing priests to fill offices without prior agreement with the state. He was therefore harassed with numerous fines, which he of course did not pay. When these efforts failed, the authorities seriously began to consider imprisoning the Archbishop.

One factor which influenced the attitude of the government in its conflict with the Church was the fact that the struggle was inseparable from the struggle with the Poles, which was proceeding on an unprecedented scale. Bismarck, the Minister of Education Adalbert Falk, and other government ministers favored the imprisonment of Led6chowski. This was not a



624 SLAVIC REVIEW

simple matter, however, because the archbishop of Gniezno-Poznan', after the metropolitan of Cologne, was the leading representative of the Catholic Church in Prussia. Led6chowski was also very well connected in many European countries, and the Emperor and his heir Frederick seriously feared undesirable repercussions for the German Empire. The government was determined, however, and on February 3, 1874, Ledochowski was ar- rested and imprisoned in the town of Ostrow, Poznan province. Having served a two-year sentence, he went to the Vatican; after his arrival in Rome he was sentenced to an additional two and a half years in prison.10

The majority of the clergy remained faithful to their superiors, and many incurred severe penalties. For disobeying the May Laws the suffragan bishops of Poznan and Gniezno, Jan Janiszewski and Jozef Cybichowski, were imprisoned. The repression of the lower clergy was particularly severe. The charges most frequently brought against them were that they misused the pulpit for political purposes and that ecclesiastical functions were performed by newly appointed priests who had not secured the approval of the state. Many of the clergy were imprisoned, and by 1879, as a result of such repressive measures, 324 parishes in the dioceses of Warmia, Chelmno, and Wroclaw and in the archdiocese of Gniezno-Poznail were without priests."

The authorities attempted to break the solidarity of the clergy by em- ploying the so-called "May" priests, who were appointed by the government on the basis of the May Laws without the consent of the Church hierarchy. This policy failed, for only a few priests were willing to exercise their ecclesiastical functions without the approval of their religious superiors. In Poznan' province during the Kulturkampf there were no more than twelve "May" priests officiating.12 There was also a small group of clergymen who sided with the state in its struggle with the episcopacy. Among the more prominent members of the Church hierarchy who be- longed to this group was a Poznan' canon, Franciszek Dulinski, who, as the only representative of the Gniezno and Poznan chapters, expressed himself in favor of the election of a new archbishop after Led6chowski's ar- rest. The Church authorities did not look upon the activities of the progovernment priests passively. They were subjected to moral penalties, such as excommunication, and even to material pressure. In 1873, after the pro- mulgation of the May Laws, Led6chowski addressed a warning to the priests of the archdiocese studying at German universities that, in the event of their admission to the state examination or submission of a request for a release from it, they could not expect any post in Poznan'.13

10DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.H. General Abteilung IX, No. 55b, Band I, fol. 251-63, 270- 77: correspondence between the authorities, Nov. 1873; J6zef Buzek, Historya polityki ntarodowosciowej rzadu pruskiego wobec Polak6w (Lwow, 1909), pp. 149-50; Feldman, pp. 283, 291-96; Karwowski, II, 240, 251-52.

1tBuzek, pp. 149-52; Schmidt-Volkmar, p. i68. '-Karwowski, II, 433. 13Archiwum Archidiecezjalne w Poznaniu, Akta Arcybiskupie tyczace sie, Przesladowania

Koscioia Archidyecezyi Gnieznien'skiej i Poznan'skiej w roku 1873: letter of Archbishop Led6chowski to priests studying in German universities; Karwowski, II, 253.




The attitude of society confirmed the clergy in their resistance to the authorities. The majority of the Catholic population sided with the persecuted clergy, the attitude of the Polish Catholics being particularly con- sistent. Apart from the anti-Polish laws and decrees which were introduced during the Kulturkampf-that is, the Germanization of the administrative, judicial, and educational systems-the government's anti-Church measures also had an anti-Polish edge. Among such measures were the introduction of lay school inspectors, who, as a rule, were hostile to the Poles, and the abolition of the Polish language in religion classes. Against this background there were even riots, in 1874 in Pelplin, the seat of the bishop of Chelmno, as a result of the penalties imposed upon Bishop Marwitz, and -also in Krolewska Huta in Silesia, where the people protested in defense of children persecuted by a "May" priest. The actions against the "May" priests in Plitnica in West Prussia, in Ksiaz and Koscian in PoznaA province, and in Grodkowo and Kuni6w in Upper Silesia were also characterized by a great deal of bitterness, and in Kuni6w there was even an abortive attempt on the life of a "May" priest named Griunastel. At the well organized Polish-Catholic mass meetings which took place from 1875 on, speakers defended "Polonism" and the Church, and in parliamentary sessions the Polish deputies and the leaders of the Center Party sharply critized the anticlerical legislation.14

A certain group of Catholic laymen stood with the government, for example, the citizens of the town of Biala in Upper Silesia, who in 1875 officially supported the anticlerical legislation, and the adherents of the Old Catholic movement in Masuria.15

The attempt on the part of the state from 1871 to 1878 to subordinate the Catholic Church to itself failed. Repressive measures had not broken the resistance of the clergy. What was worse, in the eastern provinces an alliance disadvantageous to the government had formed between Polish and German Catholics. Poles defending their national rights were able to count on the support of the Center Party. At the same time the development of the workers' movement was arousing anxiety in the authorities and the propertied class in Germany; combating it had become the main problem of domestic policy. The Church, of course, would be a welcome ally in this struggle, and the state was therefore prepared to negotiate with it.

14 DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.H. General Abteilung IX, No. 55b, Band III, fol. 37: report of the president of the Opole district to the Minister of Education, Sept. 11, 1876; DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.B.X. 1-28 Danzig, Marienwerder, Oppeln: reports of the presidents of the districts for the years 1874, 1875, 1876, and 1877; DZA, Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern, Acta betreffend die Massregeln gegen das in neuerer Zeit hervorgetretene politische und religi6se Treiben der Polen und der katholische Geistlichen, Sygn. Rep. 77, Titel 413, No. 35, Band V: report of the Landrat of Grodkowo to the president of the Opole district, Jan. 1, 1875; Oredownik, Nos. 47 and 68, 1875, and Nos. 1 and 22, 1876; Kurier Poznanski, Nos. i8, 44, 47, 65, 1i6, 117, 128, 1877; Wielkopolska, I851-1914; Wyb6r zrodel, comp. and ed. Witold Jak6bczyk (Wroclaw, 1954), pp. 155-56; Roman Komierowski, Koto polskie w Berlinie I875-1900 (Poznan', 1905), pp. 1i-62; Karwowski, II, 243, 253, 303-4.

15DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.H. General Abteilung IX, No. 55b, Band II, fol. 167: report of the mayor of Biala to the president-general of Silesia, April 1875; Rogalski, Kosciol katolicki na Warmii i Mazurach, pp. 318-19.



626 SLAVIC REVIEW

Within the Church there was a strong conciliatory mood. The clergy were tired of the protracted struggles, and, besides their concern for greater authority, they were naturally disturbed over the hundreds of vacant ecclesiastical positions, the considerable material losses suffered by the Church, and the growth of radical sentiments among parts of the community. The So- cial Democratic movement, which was then experiencing a period of rapid growth, was a serious and a dangerous opponent for both Church and state, for both were interested in preserving the existing social order. It was therefore necessary for them to come to an understanding, but this was difficult so long as the head of the Catholic Church was the irrecon- cilable Pius IX.

On February 7, 1878, Pius IX died, and his place was taken by Leo XIII, a skillful politician who fully realized the need to reach an understanding with the German state. Both sides had to make concessions. Beginning in 1882 the government gradually withdrew the anticlerical laws, and in the next ten years the situation that had obtained before 1872 was almost entirely restored. The Prussian authorities looked for compensation for their conciliatory attitude, and one of the areas in which Berlin hoped to profit as a result of negotiations with the Vatican was the Polish question. The abandonment of the Kulturkampf did not mean an end of the Germani- zation policy in the eastern provinces. In fact, in 1885-87 the Prussian government decided upon a series of anti-Polish moves. In 1885 all Poles not possessing Prussian citizenship were expelled from Prussia. The following year a Colonization Commission was established, the purpose of which was to promote German landholding in rural areas by means of buying up land in Polish hands. In 1887 the Polish language was abolished in the primary schools, religion being the only subject to be taught in Polish. Bismarck intended to exploit the Catholic Church in this struggle, or at least to keep the priests away from the Polish national movement.

Therefore, immediately after the ascension of Leo XIII to the papal throne Bismarck began a complicated diplomatic game. On June lo, 1878, the Office of Foreign Affairs sent comprehensive instructions concerning the matter to the Prussian envoy in Munich, Baron von Werthen. He was to hold conversations with the papal nuncio at the Bavarian court, Monsignor Masella, calling attention to the fact that the Poles had been and still were disturbers of the peace who always used religious slogans to realize their national ambitions. In the event that the Papacy showed an understanding of the German position in the Polish question, the re- newal of relations between Berlin and the Vatican would be considerably facilitated.16 Unfortunately, there is no further information about these conversations, but later developments suggests that the two sides came to an understanding.

16 DZA, Merseburg, Geheimes Staatsarchiv, Acta Konigl. Preussische Gesandtschaft in Miunchen, Kirchen Politik, Sygn. Rep. 8i, Munchen III, No. 133: letter from the Foreign Office to the envoy in Munich, June io, 1878. After the rupture of relations between Prussia and the Vatican in 1872, and until their resumption in 1882, the diplomatic channel was the nunciature in Munich.




Initially Bismarck intended to fill the highest ecclesiastical positions in the eastern provinces with men of German descent useful to him, and circumstances were favorable. The next few years afforded opportunity of appointing new Church dignitaries to fill the vacant bishoprics of Warmia, Chelmno, Wroclaw, and Gniezno-Poznan. In 1881 Bishop Forster of Wroclaw died; in 1886 the aged Bishop Marwitz of Chelmno died; in 1885 Bishop Krementz of Warmia was appointed archbishop of Cologne; and in 1886 Ledochowski resigned the office he had held until that time. The filling of the first three of these positions in accord with the plans of the government presented no great difficulty. Bismarck had no trouble in torpedoing the candidature of the Polish priest Prince Edmund Radziwill for the Wroclaw bishopric and then that of the coadjutor Marwitz. Radziwill was unacceptable to the authorities because of his participation in the Polish national movement, particularly in Silesia. Robert Herzog received the Wroclaw bishopric, Andreas Thiel that of Warmia, and Leo Redner that of Chelmno. In the opinion of the authorities all of these men were Ger- man patriots, a fact which the government viewed as a guarantee that they would properly influence the clergy subordinate to them. The Vatican left the Prussian government a free hand in this matter, requiring only that the candidate for the Chelmno bishopric possess a complete command of the Polish language.17

The filling of the vacancy of the Gniezno-Poznan metropolis was a more difficult matter. Ledochowski, after all, was at the Vatican, where he exercised considerable influence. He had returned to Rome a cardinal, a dignity conferred upon him by Pius IX in 1875 when he was in prison. Just as during his first years as archbishop he had cooperated with the Prussian authorities, so now he did not hide his antipathy for the German state. He absolutely refused to consider relinquishing his archiepiscopal dignity. His view was shared by an influential Pole in the Curia Romana, Monsi- gnor Wladyslaw Count Czacki, for many years private secretary to Pius IX. German diplomacy, therefore, did not have an easy task, particularly in view of the fact that it intended to force the appointment of a Germam to this position, an event without precedent. The negotiations were first conducted via Munich through Baron von Werthen, and at the same time through the German Embassy at the Quirinale, but from 1882 they

17 DZA, Merseburg, Acta des Preussisches Staats-Ministerium betreffend die Staatsministe- rial-Sitzungsprotokolle, Sygn. Rep. goa, Abteilung B, Titel III, 2b, No. 6, Band 93, fol. 221-23: minutes of the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Dec. 1, i881; DZA, Merseburg, Acta des Konigl. Zivil-Kabinetts betreffend die Angelegenheiten des Bisthums und des Domkapitels zu Breslau, Sygn. Rep. 89.H. Abteilung IX, Schlesien No. 3a, Vol. IV, fol. 33-41: letter of the Minister of Education to the Emperor, Dec. 2, i88i; DZA, Merseburg, Acta des K6nigl. Zivil-Kabinetts i Abth.: betreffend das Domkapitel zu Frauenburg, Sygn. Rep. 89.H. Abteilung IX, Ost-Preussen, Vol. III: correspondence between the authorities, 1885; DZA, Merseburg, Acta des Konigl. Zivil-Kabinetts betreffend die Angelegenheiten des Bisthums Culm, des Domkapitels und der bisch6flichen Behbrden, Sygn. Rep. 89.H. Abteilung IX, West-Preussen No. 3, Vol. II: correspondence between the authorities, i88i- 86; DZA, Potsdam, Auswartiges Amt Deutsches Reiches, Acta betreffend das Bisthum Ermland, Vol. VI, Sygn. 39808, fol. 53 and 80: reports of the Prussian envoy to the Vatican, Aug. 1, 1885, and of the president-general of East Prussia, Sept. 14, i885; Maiikowski, p. 9.



628 SLAVIC REVIEW

were conducted by the Prussian envoy at the Vatican, Kurt von Schl6zer. The first objective of German diplomacy was to bring about Led6chowski's resignation as archbishop of Gniezno-Poznaii and then to force through a candidate acceptable to the government. As it turned out, Leo XIII was prepared to make concessions. The first action of the Curia in this matter was the temporary removal from the Vatican of Czacki, who in 1879 was entrusted with the Paris nunciature.18

In 188o it was already known to the Prussian government that Leo XIII would not oppose the resignation of Led6chowski from his archiepiscopal dignity, but until 1884 the German interventions made no progress. Only in February 1884, when the Pope appointed Led6chowski secretary of the Congregation of Memorials, did the matter move forward. This nomination was very important for the Germans, for sooner or later Led6chow- ski would have to resign from the Gniezno-Poznan metropolis. Furthermore, until this time Led6chowski had lived in the papal palace and had maintained constant contact with Leo XIII. It was well known that the Pope, although a farsighted politician, was sometimes prone to be carried away by the mood of the moment. In such a situation Led6chowski would be able to influence him in a way unfavorable for the Germans and thus retard the settlement of the archiepiscopal issue. From the moment he was appointed secretary of the Congregation of Memorials, Ledochowski was given his own residence and was received only once a week for an official audi- ence with the Pope. In the struggle over the filling of the Gniezno-Poznan metropolis, German diplomacy had influential allies, particularly Johann de Montel, the dean of the Rota. During the protracted negotiations many German and Polish candidates were mentioned, but attention centered on two as the most serious contenders. Led6chowski strongly pushed the candidacy of the Polish Monsignor Edward Likowski from PoznaA, while the Prussians advanced a German clergyman, Gustav Wanjura, a school counselor from Gdansk. Neither, however, was acceptable to both sides.19 In these circumstances Leo XIII, in January 1886, suddenly decided on the candidacy of a parson from Konigsberg, Julius Dinder, who had been proposed by the bishop of Warmia, Krementz. Dinder, of German descent, possessed a complete command of the Polish language, which the Pope demanded of a candidate for the Gniezno-Poznail metropolis. The Prussian government agreed to Dinder's nomination, and in such a situation Ledo- chowski could do nothing but renounce the archbishop's title. For the first time a German occupied the see of the primates of Poland.20

Schmidt-Volkmar, pp. 261-62. 19DZA, Potsdam, Reichskanzlei, Acta betreffend Angelegenheiten der Katholischen

Kirche, Sygn. 856, fol. 72-75: letter of the Minister of Education to the Council of Ministers, Jan. 28, i88o; DZA, Potsdam, Auswartiges Amt Deutsches Reiches, Acta betreffend das Erzbisthum Gnesen und Posen, Sygn. 39812, fol. 25, 30-35, 46 ff.; Sygn. 39813, fol. 2-3, 6, 25, 27-32, 33-34; Sygn. 39814, fol. 6, 26-28, 68-69, 74-79, 84; Sygn. 39815, fol. 48-50: correspondence between the Foreign Ministry, the Chancellor, and the Prussian envoy to the Vatican, 1884.

20 Bogdan Hutten-Czapski, Szes5dziesiqt lat zycia politycznego i towarzyskiego, I (Warsaw, 1936), 208; Feldman, p. 299; Mai, pp. 164-68.




The Prussian government celebrated triumphantly, for now the four sees in the eastern provinces were occupied by Germans. It soon became evident, however, that the authorities were overly optimistic. Thiel, bishop of Warmia, did not lend official support to the government's Germaniza- tion policy. This is not to say that he passively watched the development of the Polish movement in Warmia and Masuria. He made many efforts to educate the Catholic Poles in a spirit of submission to the state, and in an attempt to counteract the Polish national Gazeta Olsztyn'ska the Warmia chapter began in 1890 to publish a Polish-language paper, Nowiny War- ininskie. It failed, however, to achieve any popularity, and shortly thereafter folded; the same fate befell the new organ of the chapter, Warmiak. Thiel also conducted a specific personnel policy. The majority of the clergy were of German descent; by the end of the nineteenth century in the diocese of Warmia there were only fourteen Polish priests out of a total of 294. Polish was therefore systematically removed from the sermons, a policy which obviously fostered Germanization. Thiel's successor, August Bludau, seated as bishop of Warmia in 1908, also a German, followed the same policy with regard to the Polish population.21

A similar policy was pursued by the Chelmno chancery although the situation here was less favorable for the authorities, for in the chapter there was an influential group of Polish clergymen led by the canons Klingenberg and Bielicki. Two successive German bishops, Redner and, from 1898, August Rosentreter, served as counterweight to this group, and both enjoyed the full confidence of the authorities. Redner was named after an agreement between Berlin and the Vatican without consulting the chapter, and Rosentreter also owed his selection to the intervention of the government. The authorities rejected several candidates proposed by the chapter, including Bielicki, the consequence being the emergence of Rosentreter. Both dignitaries attempted to fill important positions with German clerics. In 1899, of the 22 priests occupying important offices in the Church administration, 15 were Germans. Of the 325 pastors and curates in 1890, 177 were Germans despite the fact that among the Catholics the Poles constituted a definite majority. Rosentreter, as far as possible, hampered the development of Polish organizational life.22 The favorable attitude of the bishops of Warmia and Chelmno did not, however, entirely satisfy the authorities, who expected greater official Church participation in the struggle with Polonism.

The situation in the Wrocdaw chancery was rather ambiguous at the out- set. Bishop Herzog, who governed the diocese during 1882-86, placed most emphasis on undoing the harm caused by the Kulturkampf, a policy which gave rise to several controversies between the Bishop and the authorities.

-" Rogalski, Ko9ci6i katolicki na Warmii i Mazurach, pp. 331-37. 22 DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.H. Abteilung IX, West-Preussen, No. 3, Vol. II: letters of the

ffinister of Education to the Emperor, March 52, 1882, and May u, i886; Tadeusz 2ieglak, Z dziejdw prasy polskiej na Pomorzu Gdanskim w okresie zaboru pruskiego IGdafisk, 1964), p. go; Manikowski, pp. 9-ii; Kazimierz Wajda, Wies pomorsha na przelomie XIX i XX w. (Poznan', 1964), p. 303.



630 SLAVIC REVIEW

The "May" priests were a particularly touchy question. The government wanted the Church administration to recognize the rights of the "May" priests to exercise their ecclesiastical functions. Despite the intervention of the authorities and others immediately interested, Herzog was inflexible in demanding that the "May" priests resign from their posts and place themselves at the disposition of ecclesiastical authorities. Some submitted to the will of the Bishop and were sent to cloisters; the others, who merely gave up the positions which they had been persuaded by the secular authorities to take, were provided with material assistance by the government.23

The situation underwent a radical change in 1887, when the administration of the Wroclaw diocese was taken over by the former bishop of Fulda, Georg Kopp, after the death of Herzog. He was well connected both in the Vatican and in Berlin, enjoyed the sympathy of Bismarck and William II, and was a friend of the future chancellor, Bernhard Builow. The Roman Curia considered him an expert on the Polish problem, and for this reason he often served as a mediator between the government and the Papacy in discussions of the Polish problem. He took an active part in political life, which facilitated his seating in the upper chamber (Herrenhaus) of the Prussian diet, and his position was enhanced by the fact that in i893 he received the cardinal's hat. During the years 1887-1914, when he served as bishop of Wroclaw, the struggle of the Polish community in Silesia with the government's Germanization policy and with the influences of the Center Party increased in intensity. Kopp was ceaselessly engaged in these struggles, always coming out decidedly against the Polish movement. He was a capable politician and in this fight maintained a very flexible attitude. He considered the most effective weapon to be the establishment of Polish workers' societies, headed by priests, which would spread the spirit of loyalty among the proletariat. Kopp resolutely combated any independent moves on the part of the Polish people. In every instance he preferred the use of German in the performance of religious rites. He forbade the holding of meetings in behalf of the religious education of Polish children; he put pressure on priests not to espouse the candidacy of deputies offered by the Polish national camp; and he even published a pastoral letter against the paper Gornoslazak, which advocated a war against Germani- zation. He was, however, opposed to harsh denationalizing methods. He felt that these provoked an effect opposite to that originally intended, in that they helped to mobilize Polish public opinion, drawing into the struggle Poles who up to that time had been politically uncommitted. For this reason he opposed in the Diet the expropriation law, which allowed the expulsion of the Polish landed gentry from their estates. He also avoided all contacts with the German Association for the Eastern Marches (Hakata), a group representative of the extreme wing of German chauvinism. Kopp's attitude in the campaign against "Polonism" enjoyed the full support of the civil

23DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 89.H. General Abteilung IX, No. 55b, Band III, fol. 175-94: correspondence between the authorities, 1882-84.




administration, and the authorities treated him as their chief ally in carrying out the Germanization policy. For his contributions to the state, in 1906 he received from William II personally the highest award of the Prussian state, the Order of the Black Eagle.24

Conditions in the Gniezno-Poznan metropolis developed less favorably jor the government. Archbishop Dinder was not an outstanding personality capable of imposing his will on the clergy under him. He also had to take into account the fact that he was regarded by the faithful as an intruder. In his progovernment actions, therefore, he was more circumspect than the other bishops. He did, however, venture to take several anti-Polish steps. In 1887 he appointed the Rev. Dr. Antoni Kantecki, a well-known jour- nalist and editor in chief of the Kurier Poznan'ski, to the office of cathedral penitentiary in Gniezno. By appointing Kantecki to what was in effect a second-rate position the Archbishop compelled him to leave Poznan' and to resign his position as editor in chief. The same year Dinder expressed his complete agreement with the elimination of Polish from the religion classes in secondary schools,25 but the indignation of Polish public opinion re- strained him from any further steps in this direction. Dinder occupied the archiepiscopate only briefly. He died in May i890. This fact was undoubtedly greeted in Berlin with a certain sense of relief, for on the whole Dinder had disappointed the hopes placed in him by the Prussian government. Except for the above-mentioned anti-Polish measures, he held himself aloof from the government's Germanization policy.

Again the government was faced with the delicate problem of filling the archiepiscopal see. The authorities intended to continue their existing policy and to force a German into the post. They were aware, however, that this would not enjoy the support of the Vatican, for the discord which had developed between Dinder and the faithful warned the Roman Curia against -any further flagrant disregard of the opinion of the Polish community. German diplomacy at first probed the mood of the Vatican and in unofficial conversation advanced the candidacy of the bishop of Chelmno, Redner. Simultaneously William II categorically rejected the names proposed by the chapters in Poznan and in Gniezno-six candidates of Polish descent, with the suffragan bishop Edward Likowski at the top of the list. Thereafter negotiations were carried on between Berlin and the Vatican, and with difficulties. As was to be foreseen, the Pope was opposed to the selection of a German. In the meantime the question of filling the vacant bishopric of Strassburg arose, an equally delicate situation, in view of the strained relations in Alsace. Leo XIII in this instance acceded to the wishes of the government and in January 1891 agreed to a candidate pleasing to

24Adam Galos, "Hakata w pierwszych latach istnienia (1894-1900)," in Dzieje Hakaty, ed. Janusz Pajewski (Poznan', 1966), pp. 85 and 137; Marian Orzechowski, Narodowa Demokracja na Gornym Sla,sku (do I918 roku) (Wroclaw, 1965), pp. 74, i6o, 217, 218, 221, and 269; Rogalski, Koscid6 katolicki na .alqsku, pp. 241-44; Michat Pirko, Niemiecka polityka wywiaszczeniowa na ziemiach polskich w latach 1907-1908 (Warsaw, 1963), pp. 58, 124, and 156.

25 Karwowski, II, 452-54, 458-59.



632 SLAVIC REVIEW

Berlin. A quid Pro quo from the Prussian side was then in order, and after a few months the German government took action. Seemingly unexpectedly the candidature of a Pole, a parson from Wrzesnia, Florian Stablewski, appeared on the scene. He was a cleric actively engaged in politics, for he was a deputy to the Prussian diet, where he had often spoken out in behalf of the Polish language. In the course of time he changed his opinions and identified himself with a group of conservative Polish landlords who desired to cooperate with the partitioning power. The moment which undoubtedly tipped the scales in Stablewski's favor was his appearance at a meeting of Catholics in Toruii, where, on September 27, 1891, he delivered an ultraloyalist speech, emphasizing the necessity of cooperation with the government in combating the Social Democratic movement and in the event of an armed conflict with Russia. Shortly afterwards, in October, he was named archbishop. This appointment was undoubtedly advantageous to the state, for it strengthened the position of the Polish loyalists, took into account the suggestions of the Vatican, and at the same time placed in the archiepiscopal see a man loyal to the state.26

Stablewski found himself in a very difficult situation. He attempted to mitigate conflicts between the state and the Polish community, a task which was, however, impossible in practice. The increasing tempo of the government's Germanization policy and the agitation of the Hakaty?ci aggravated the struggle between the Germans and the Polish people. In such unfavorable circumstances Stablewski constantly tacked between the two extremes, shifting from one side to the other. The authorities expected that, above all, Stablewski would divert a part of the clergy from its participation in the national movement, but compliance with these demands on a larger scale would have led to the complete isolation of the Archbishop. He did, however, make certain efforts. In 1906 he forbade the clergy to join "Straz," an organization founded in 1905 for the purpose of advancing the Polish cause by legal means. The Archbishop soon found himself in a tragic situation. In June 1906 a school strike broke out, provoked by the introduction of German into the religion classes of the primary schools. Polish was thus completely eliminated from the school system. About 46,ooo children took part in the strike in Poznan province, and Stablewski found himself in a dilemma. In the period preceding the strike the Archbishop's chancery had attempted to persuade the authorities of the fatal consequences involved in the abolition of Polish from religion classes, and at the same time it advised the clergy to exercise a calming influence on the faithful. When the strike broke out, Stablewski did not officially take a position. The government expected the Archbishop to oppose the movement, while the Polish community hoped for support from the Archbishop. The authorities discussed the subject with Stablewski, who was seriously ill at the time, but the talks failed to produce satisfactory results for the government. On October 8, 1906, Stablewski published a pastoral letter in which he

26 Lech Trzeciakowski, Polityka polskich klas posiadajfcych w Wielkopolsce w erze Capriviego (I89o-i894) (Poznafi, 1960), pp. 97-107.




called attention to the efforts which he had made in regard to religious instruction and urged that the teaching of this subject be undertaken in the home and in the church. This document was very moderate in tone, and therefore neither side was satisfied with it.27 The authorities, meanwhile, ruthlessly put an end to the children's resistance. In this situation, when everyone was waiting for Stablewski to take a stand, he died on November 24, 1906.

For the next eight years discussions continued between the Prussian authorities and the Vatican over filling the vacancy. Among the many candidates, the name which appeared most frequently was that of the ad- ministrator of the Poznaii diocese, Bishop Likowski. His attitude toward the government was conciliatory, and he did not hide his dislike of the Polish National Democrats and their nationalist slogans. The question was not settled before the outbreak of World War I, and only in September 1914, after the publication of a pastoral letter by the administrators of the Gniezno-Poznan' archdiocese calling upon the faithful to serve bravely in the ranks of the German army, did Likowski receive the desired appointment.28

With regard to the episcopacy in the eastern provinces the government in large measure achieved its objective. Despite the fact that all the bishops of German descent, except Kopp, avoided official involvement in the struggle with "Polonism," in fact they cooperated in carrying out the government's Germanization policy. The authorities also succeeded in separating from the national movement the Church dignitaries of Polish descent who had a conciliatory attitude toward the government.

The attitude of the lower clergy was more varied, being dependent on several factors: nationality, the influence of the upper ranks of the Church hierarchy, and the nationality relations in a given area. The majority of the clergy of German descent more or less officially opposed the Polish national movement. Only in Poznaii, where Poles constituted go percent of the Catholic population, did the clergy, with some exceptions, avoid involvement on the side of the government, fearing the reaction of the faithful. The clergymen Joseph Tasch of Leszno and Klemens Prandke from Smilowo were known in this area for their anti-Polish attitude. There were, however, occasional instances in which the German clergy supported the interests of the Polish community. The Rev. Leo Kittel from Stodoly in Poznaii province, who in 1906 spoke out against the abolition of Polish from religion classes, was such an exception. The contribution of the German clergy to the government's Germanization policy lay in their introduction of German into sermons and into the Church's teaching of religion and in their bitter criticism of the Polish national movement, often exploiting the pulpit for this purpose; sometimes an anathema was pronounced against

27Zygmunt Hemmerling, "Walka rzadu pruskiego o obsadzenie stolicy arcybiskupiej gniez'nieAisko-poznafiskiej w latach 1906-1914," Roczniki Historyczne, XXVI (1960), 197-98; Hutten-Czapski, pp. 569-71; Rudolf Korth, Die preussische Schulpolitik und die polnische Schulstreiks (Wurzburg, 1963), pp. 131-32, 161-62; Tims, pp. 92-93.

28 Hemmerling, pp. 199-221.



634 SLAVIC REVIEW

those active in the movement. The clergy of Silesia, supporting the German Center Party, were particularly engaged in the political struggle with the Poles.29

The authorities fully appreciated the role of the German clergy in combating "Polonism" and not only conferred state honors upon them but also were quick to provide financial assistance. Every year from 1905 on groups of German clergymen received subsidies from the disposable funds (Dispositiosfonds) of the presidents-general of the provinces, funds intended for the strengthening of the German element. During 1905-14 in Poznan province 78,780 marks were allocated from a special item called "Support .of the German Catholic Clergy and German Catholic Endeavors." 30

There were many different attitudes among the Polish clergy. In the Pomorze-Gdainsk area, Warmia and Masuria, and Upper Silesia, where they remained in the minority, where the German Catholics constituted a large percentage of the faithful, and where a German episcopate exercised power, the majority of the Polish clergy took no part in the resistance to Germanization. It was characteristic that in 1907 in Upper Silesia only fourteen priests officially sided with the Polish movement. Obviously it is not possible to generalize about this phenomenon. There was no lack of priests who directed Polish organizations and who lent support to the school strike, for example, the clergy in the deanery of Lubawa in the diocese of Chelmno. Others known to have been active in the Polish cause were the clergymen Pawel Brandys and Aleksander Skowronski in Upper Silesia and Piotr Dunajski and Antoni Wolszlegier in the Pomorze-Gdansk area.31'

In Poznan province, however, as already pointed out, the Polish Catholics constituted a decided majority of the Catholic population, as did the Polish clergy among ecclesiastics. Here the part of the clergy in the life of the Polish community was considerable, for they directed numerous economic, social, and cultural-educational societies. Among the outstanding figures in this field were the priests Augustyn Szamarzewski and Piotr Wawrzyniak. Also from the ranks of the clergy were well-known deputies to the Prussian diet and the German Reichstag who took a stand in defense of "Polonism"-Ludwik Jadiewski, Jozef Kurzawski, and Antoni Stychel. During the school strike several scores of the clergy openly sided with the children, calling upon them to resist. There is a lack, unfortunately, of the full particulars of the participation of the clergy in the national movement. However, records of Poles active in the movement that were kept by the Prussian administration for thirteen districts (powiaty) of the province of

"9Dziennik Kujawski, No. 219, 1906; Goniec Wielkopolski, No. 202, 1906; Lech Trzecia- kowski, Walka o polskosc miast Poznanskiego na przelomie XIX i XX wieku (Poznadi, 1964), p. ii8; Orzechowski, pp. 32-34, i6o, and 220; Rogalski, Kokcio katolicki na Warmnii i Mazurach, pp. 334-36; Wajda, p. 303.

30 DZA, Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern, Zentralbiureau, Acta betreffend Beforderung des Deutschtums und die polnische Agitation, Sygn. Rep. 77, Titel 871, No. i, Adh. 1, Band 5, 6, 7, 9, io: annual reports of the presidents-general of disbursements from the disposable fund.

81 Orzechowski, pp. 221, 218; Rogalski, Kosciol katolicki na Slasku, pp. 223-32; Karol Rzepecki, Naprzod czy wstecz? (Poznan', 1912), pp. 135, 146; Wajda, pp. 295, 297.



ChIURCH AND STATE IN PRUSSIAN POLAND 635

Poznan during 1910-13 have been preserved, and of the 415 names listed 112 were priests.32

For many of the clergy involvement in the Polish movement led to difficulties, and even persecution. The archbishop's chancery, which attempted to find a modus vivendi in relations with the authorities, did not always look with pleasure upon the patriotic attitude of the clergy. It accepted their participation in social and economic organizations, but their political activity prompted serious reservations. Various kinds of pressure were brought to bear to keep priests away from such activity. Admonitions were often administered; for example, in 9gog Bishop Likowski wrote a letter to the clergyman who was chairman of the Polish electoral committee in the Rawicz district of Poznan' province, Zdzislaw Zakrzewski, warning him to avoid excessively bitter declarations in his speeches about the policy of the government. When this failed, in 1912 the Bishop threatened him with disciplinary punishment. Likowski also did not consent to Zakrzewski's be- coming a candidate for a deputy's seat in the Prussian diet. Sometimes in- convenient clergymen were transferred to other posts which made their participation in public life difficult; such was the transfer of the Rev. Dr. Kantecki from PoznaA to Gniezno mentioned above. In 1907 the ecclesiastical authorities took disciplinary action against the clergyman Jan Piotrowicz for his participation in the school strike and transferred him from Gniezno to Skalmierzyce.33

The government used various means to separate the clergy from the national movement. Efforts were made to win loyal clergymen by bestowing state honors on them on the occasion of priestly jubilees. The clergyman Jacek Kuczyn'ski in 1882, the canon Hieronim Sibilski in 1883, and the clergyman Maksymilian Labe,dzinski in 1884 were awarded the Order of the Black Eagle, fourth class. With regard to the priests who uncompromisingly opposed the government's policy of Germanization, various repressive measures were applied, beginning with monetary fines and ending with particular harshness. The thirty-three clergymen punished in Poznan province on these grounds were sentenced to a total of eleven months and five days in the fortress, seventeen months and eleven days imprisonment, and fines of 7360 marks.34

32Archivum Panstwowe miasta Poznania i wojew6dztwa poznanskiego, Polizeiprasidium zu Posen, Acta betreffend die polnische Bewegung im Kreise: Bromberg, Sygn. 2750, fol. 81-82, 2o7-8; Gnesen, Sygn. 2752, fol. 3; Gostyn, Sygn. 2754, fol. 103-1o; Hohensalza, Sygn. 2756, fol. 4-13; Jarotschin, Sygn. 2758, fol. 35-40; Mogilno, Sygn. 2766, fol. 3-4; Ostrowo, Sygn. 2768; Posen-Ost, Sygn. 2771, fol. 204-9; Samter, Sygn. 2774, fol. 13-16; Schrimm, Sygn. 2776, fol. 361; Schroda, Sygn. 2777, fol. 86-89; Strelno, Sygn. 2779, fol. 3; Wongrowitz, Sygn. 2781, fol. 5-6: lists of Polish activists. Witold Jak6bczyk, "Ks. Piotr Wawrzyniak, 1849-1910," in Wybitni Wielkopolanie XIX wiehu, ed. Witold Jak6bczyk (Poznan', 1959), pp. 382-4oo; Korth, pp. i65-66; Rzepecki, pp. 86 and loo; Trzeciakowski, Polityka, pp. 62- 91.

83 Lech, No. 146, 1907; Hemmerling, pp. 205-6. 3 DZA, Merseburg, Ministerium der Geistlichen, Unterrichts und Medizinal-Angelegen-

heiten, Acta betreffend das Metropolitan Kapitel zu Posen, Sygn. Rep. 76, IV, Sektion 4, Abteilung V, No. 4, Band V: correspondence between the authorities on the question of the awarding of honors; DZA, Merseburg, Konigl. Geheimes Zivil-Kabinett, Acta betreffend



636 SLAVIC REVIEW

The relationship between the faithful and the clergy came to be dependent above all on their political position, a fact quite understandable at a time when the struggle between the two nationalities was steadily intensifying. A close union existed between the German people and the German clergy, most clearly exemplified in the cooperation between the German clergy and the Center Party. At the same time conflicts with the Polish clergy developed. At the beginning of the twentieth century member societies of the Union of German Catholics (Verein Deutscher Katholiken) began to spring up and to spread chauvinistic propaganda. Accordingly, the Polish clergy were attacked, being accused as a rule of neglecting the interests of the German Catholics. The ecclesiastical authorities in the Gniezno-Poznan' archdiocese forbade the clergy to join this organization, for it believed that inflaming nationalist passions acted to the detriment of the Church. Meanwhile the Prussian administration was quick to aid the Union of German Catholics and, within the framework of the disposable fund, not only lent assistance to the branches of the Union, but also subsidized their paper Katholische Rundschau, published in Krotoszyn in the province of Poznan.35

The Polish community was keenly aware of the attitude of the clergy toward the struggle taking place to maintain national identity. German clergymen who engaged in anti-"Polonism" were sharply criticized in the press and at public assemblies. Nor did the Poles hesitate to send a special letter to Leo XIII protesting, albeit cautiously, the selection of Archbishop Dinder.36 Polish ecclesiastics who adopted a conciliatory attitude toward the government were treated with animosity. For these reasons relations between the Polish people and Archbishop Ledochowski were not of the best at the beginning, and the Dziennik Poznanski, which was published by liberal-gentry circles, did not spare him its criticism. In time, however, his defense of ecclesiastical rights changed the mood of the faithful. Press attacks were also made on Archbishop Stablewski, who, it was asserted, owed his appoinment to his ultraloyalist attitude. A particularly vehement polemic erupted when Stablewski forbade priests to join "Strai." 37 On the other hand, those priests who participated in Polish public life enjoyed a great deal of authority. This is evident in the fact that the people entrusted to them the chairmanship of numerous societies and elected them as deputies. The clergy performed most important functions in the system of Polish organizations. For example, three clergymen-Augustyn Szamarzewski,

das Erzbistum und die Domkapitel zu Gnesen und Posen, Sygn. Rep. 89.H., Abteilung IX, Posen, No. 3, Band VIII, fol. 94, 95, 102, 104: correspondence between the authorities on the question of the awarding of honors; Korth, pp. i65-66.

85DZA, Merseburg, Rep. 77, Titel 871, No. 1, Adh. i, Band 9, io: annual reports of the presidents-general of disbursements from the disposable fund; Kurier Poznaiski, No. 30, 1907; Oredownik, No. 237, 1905; Wielkopolanin, No. 96, 1906.

8 Dziennik Bydgoski, No. 189, 1g9o; Dziennik Poznahiski, Nos. 133, 134, 149, 168, 170, 1903; OrCdownik, No. 6o, 1914; Cieglak, pp. go, io5-6; Karwowski, II, 434-35; 'Orzechowski, p. 216.

87Karwowski, II, 214, and III, 6i; Trzeciakowski, Polityka, p. 118; Trzeciakowski, Walka o polskose, p. 223.




Piotr Wawrzyniak, and Stanislaw Adamski-served successively as patrons of the savings and loans associations, which played a primary role in the economic strengthening of the Polish people.38

Relations between the Catholic Church and the state in Prussian Poland from 1871 to 1914 were very complicated. During the first period, the time of the Kulturkampf, there was bitter conflict between the two sides. The clergy and the faithful stood against the state in defense of the Church without regard to national origin. From the moment an understanding was reached between the government and the episcopacy, the situation changed. Alignments began to form not on the basis of religion but on the basis of nationality. The government and the clergy and faithful of German descent joined forces in a struggle with "Polonism" in Prussian Poland. The secular authorities succeeded, but not without the help of the German episcopacy, in keeping part of the Polish clergy from participation;in the national movement. On the other hand, many of the priests took a resolute stand with the Polish community in these struggles. In the final analysis the successes of the government do not appear very impressive. There is no doubt that because of the activity of the Germanizers among the clergy some individuals were denationalized. This was, however, fully compen- sated for by the fact that the majority of the Polish community not only shunned but rebelled against priests who took an anti-Polish attitude. A classical example was the Polish population of Upper Silesia, which ven- tured to defy the Church hierarchy and the Center Party. The close tie between many of the clergy and the Polish movement strengthened the leadership of the movement and thus considerably facilitated the struggle to maintain national identity.

39Jak6bczyk, "Ks. Piotr Wawrzyniak," pp. 386-4oo.



the prussian state and the catholic church in prussian poland 1871-1914

Documents