Surname und Name: Jędrysiak Jacek
ORCID- Number: 0000-0002-5472-136X
Academic degree: PhD
Private address: Glowna Street 68/16, 54-061 Wroclaw, Poland
Business address: Historical Institute, University of Wrocław, Szewska Street 49, 50-139 Wroclaw, Poland
E-Mail: jacek.jedrysiak@uwr.edu.pl
Phone number: +48 503 636 096
Patriotism or Chauvinism? “Liberal Faction” in the Prussian Army and the Poles in the Years 1816-1848.
Abstract:Representatives of the liberal faction in the ranks of the Prussian army after 1815 are often presented today as supporters of reforms in a democratic spirit. Using the achievements of the French Revolution in a creative way, they were to rebuild Prussian society. One of the most important elements of this concept was the army built according to the new model.The success of the spontaneous 1813 uprising of Prussian subjects gave Hermann von Boyen, the Prussian minister of war between 1814-1819, the impetus to realize his ideal scenario of a true national army. A step in the right direction was undoubtedly the introduction of universal military service, proclaimed in the Wehrgesetz of September 3, 1814. Boyen considered the patriotic education of citizens to be fundamental to the rebuilding of the state and believed this task should be entrusted to the Landwehr.
This famous system had failed almost completely on the Polish lands, especially in the Grand Duchy of Posen. The Prussian reformers were always distrustful towards Polish recruits. Already in the years 1814-1815 Boyen planned a special military organization of the regained Polish territories, which would allow for the scattering of Polish recruits in German regiments. Therefore, he considered it optimal to subordinate certain regions of Greater Poland to the Generalkommandos of Silesia and Pomerania respectively. For political reasons, this did not happen, but Generalkommando of Posen (than V Army Corps) had a specific structure. One of his divisions was stationed in German Silesia, with its headquarters in Glogau. The units of the Generalkommando of Pomerania (than V Army Corps) also had their garrisons in the Regierunggsbezirk Bromberg. As a result, from the beginning, only a small part of Polish recruits went to regiments in their native province. Despite this, there was constant fear of a Polish uprising in Prussia, and in 1816, on the occasion of conscription to the Landwehr, a combat alarm was even mistakenly raised in the capital of the province. Already in 1817, Boyen's closest friend, Karl von Grolman postulated a policy of Germanization of the provinces, the element of which, apart from military colonists, was to be "scattering-policy", i.e. sending Polish recruits to proven regiments in old provinces for their Germanization. This plan was not implemented until 1830.
After November Uprising Prussian liberals finally had lost the hopes for the win the souls of the Polish subjects for the Prussian state. After the outbreak of the uprising, it was necessary to withdraw the unreliable "Polish" regiments from the provinces. The Poles were recognised as an enemies of the state, ready to anti-Prussian insurrection in every moment. The face of the anti-Poles course was Grolman. As the commander of the V Army Corps in Posen (1832-1843) he tried to implement his the complex plan of the Germanisation of the Grand Duchy of the Posen, which included military colonisation, specific garrison structure, sending the Polish recruits to the German regiments, building of the cities’ fortification etc. Until the death of King Frederick William III, who was reluctant to such actions, these actions were undertaken to a limited extent. Liberal Frederick William IV, despite his initial sympathy for Poles, twice had to face an uprising in Greater Poland, which radically changed the Prussian optics to the Province of Posen (since 1848).
It should be noted that, despite pressure from the liberals, successive Prussian governments until 1864 did not decide to implement the Grolman plan. The January Uprising in the Kingdom of Poland and the war with Denmark in 1863-1864 finally changed this state of affairs. The nationalist turn in Prussia led to discussions on the implementation of "scattering-policy" in the Province of Posen, which finally took place in 1871. The fate of Polish recruits was soon shared by Danish conscripts from Schleswig and Holstein. Grolman’s plan was so specific, that it was under considerations also after 1871, and made from him the symbol for the Germanisation of Posen Province even during the Nazis time.
The aim of this paper is the presentation the incomplete of the positive picture of so called "Prussian liberals". The part of the "Ghost of 1813" were also the chauvinism and nationalism, clearly visible not only during the Prussian occupation of France between 1814 and 1818. Longtime Prussian policy towards Grand Duchy of Posen is a best example of the thesis, that the patriotism build on the war myth very easy could become dysfunctional and aggressive not only against exterior enemy, but also the minorities within own country.
Biography
Jacek Jędrysiak – PhD of Humanities in history, a graduate of history and international relations at the University of Wrocław. Assistant Professor at the Institute of History at the University of Wrocław. Editor-in-chief of the quarterly Przegląd Historyczno-Wojskowy published by the Military Historical Bureau. Winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for distinguished doctoral dissertations in 2015. He specialises in the 19th century history, Prussian and German history, history of military thought, German military policy in Polish lands 1815–1918 and issues of universal military service in the People’s Army of Poland. Author of the monograph Prussian Strategic Thought 1815–1830: Beyond Clausewitz (Brill, Boston-Leiden 2020). Co-author of the edition of Józef Maria Ruszar’s memoirs Czerwone pająki. Dziennik żołnierza LWP [Red Spiders. Diary of an LWP Soldier] (IPN, WBH: Warsaw 2017). Head of the research grant of the National Science Center entitled The Prussian Army in the Polish Lands in the Years 1815-1919: organizational, social and economic Aspects (2022-2025).