From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The land is mostly flat, drained by two major watershed systems; the Netze (Polish: Notec) in the north and the Warthe (Polish: Warta) in the center. Ice Age glaciers left moraine deposits and the land is speckled with hundreds of "finger lakes", streams flowing in and out on their way to one of the two rivers.
Agriculture was the primary industry, as one would expect for the 1800s. The three-field-system was used to grow a variety of crops, primarily rye, sugar beets, potatoes, other grains, and some tobacco and hops. Significant parcels of wooded land provided building materials and firewood. Small numbers of livestock existed, including geese, but a fair amount of sheep were herded.
When this area came under Prussian control, the feudal system was still in force, and the last vestiges of it held out until the end of the 1800s. This resulted in (primarily) Polish serfs living and working side by side with free (predominantly German) land owners and renters. Typically, an estate would have its manor and farm buildings, and a village nearby for the Polish laborers. Near that village, there might be a German settlement. And in the woods, there would be forester's dwelling. The estate owners, usually of the nobility, owned the local grist mill, and often other types of mills or perhaps a distillery. In many places, windmills dotted the landscape, reminding one of the earliest settlers, the Dutch, who began the process of turning unproductive river marshes into fields. This process was finished by the German settlers who were used to reclaim unproductive lands (not only marshland) for the host estate owners.
Changing hands
Originally part of the Kingdom of Poland, this area roughly coincided with the Polish region known as Great Poland. This area became
controlled by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Partitions of Poland. The first Partition (1772) took just the northern portion, north of the Netze (Polish: Notec) river. The Second Partition added the remainder in 1793. Prussia lost control briefly during the Kosciuszko Uprising (1794).
Initially, it was called "South Prussia". Prussia (and later Germany) retained control until the end of World War I, with the exception of the period of time when Napoleon changed the landescape of Europe (1806-1815). The Grand Duche de Varsovie (Grand Duchy of Warsaw), was created following the Prussian defeat at the Treaty of Tilsit Polish people were the main Napoleon ally in the Central Europe, participated in the Great Poland Uprising of 1806 and supplied militias for his wars.
After the fall of Napoleon in 1815 according to the Vienna peace congress, Great Poland returned to Prussia, and became the Grand Duchy of Posen (1815-1846), an autonomous province under Hohenzollern rule with the rights of "free development of Polish nation, culture and language", and outside the German Confederation. At this time the city of Posen was the administrative center and the site of the royal governor Duke Antoni Radziwill. The province was renamed in 1846 to Province of Posen.
With the unification of Germany, the province of Posen became part of the German Empire (1871-1918) and the city of Posen was officially named an imperial residence city.
Most of it passed to the restored Poland after Great Poland Uprising 1918 and become Poznan Voivodship. The part remaining in Germany formed Grenzmark Posen-Westpreussen with Schneidemühl as capitol, until 1938, when it was divided between Silesia, Pomerania and Brandenburg.
Ethnic conflict
Due to high number of German settlers, the presence of powerful, warring nations on all sides and the internal strife between three major religious faiths, the area was often a battleground of ethnic conflict. (see Ethnic conflicts in western Poland.)
During the first half of the 1800s, the German population grew due to state sponsored colonisation. In the second half, the Polish population grew gradually due to the Ostflucht. The clash peaked during the Kulturkampf, when most Catholics, even of German origins, joined Polish opposition to Prussian government.
{| border=1 cellspacing=1 bgcolor="#F4F4DB"
|Kreis ("County")
|Polish spelling
|1905 Pop
|Polish
|German
|Jewish
|Origin
|-
|Posen district (southern)
|-
|City of Posen
|Poznan~
|
|55%
|
|
|
|-
|-
|Adelnau
|Odolano~w
|
|90%
|
|
|
|-
|Birnbaum
|Miedzycho~d
|
|51%
|
|
|
|-
|Bomst
|Babimost
|
|49%
|
|
|
|-
|-
|Fraustadt
|Wschowa
|
|27%
|
|
|
|-
|Gostyn
| Gostyn
|
|87%
|
|
|
|-
|Grätz
| Grodzisk
|
|82%
|
|
|
|-
|Jarotschin
| Jarocin
|
|83%
|
|
|
|-
|Kempen
| Ke~pno
|
|84%
|
|
|
|-
|Koschmin
| Koz~min
|
|83%
|
|
|
|-
|Kosten
| Kos~cian
|
|89%
|
|
|
|-
|Krotoschin
| Krotoszyn
|
|70%
|
|
|
|-
|Lissa
| Leszno
|
|36%
|
|
|
|-
|Meseritz
| Mie~dzyrzecz
|
|20%
|
|
|
|-
|Neutomischel
| Nowy Tomys~l
|
|51%
|
|
|
|-
|Obornik
| Oborniki
|
|61%
|
|
|
|-
|Ostrowo
| Ostro~w
|
|80%
|
|
|
|-
|Pleschen
| Pleszew
|
|87%
|
|
|
|-
|Posen Ost
| Poznan~, Wsch.
|
|72%
|
|
|
|-
|Posen West
| Poznan~, Zach.
|
|87%
|
|
|
|-
|Rawitsch
| Rawicz
|
|55%
|
|
|
|-
|Samter
| Szamotul~y
|
|73%
|
|
|
|-
|Schildberg
| Ostrzeszo~w
|
|90%
|
|
|
|-
|Schmiegel
| S~migiel
|
|82%
|
|
|
|-
|Schrimm
| S~rem
|
|82%
|
|
|
|-
|Schroda
| S~roda
|
|88%
|
|
|
|-
|Schwerin
| Skwierzyna
|
|5%
|
|
|
|-
|Wreschen
| Wrzes~nia
|
|83%
|
|
|
|-
|Bromberg district (northern)
|-
|City of Bromberg
| Bydgoszcz
|
|16%
|
|
|
|-
|Bromberg
| Bydgoszcz
|
|38%
|
|
|
|-
|Czarnikau
| Czarniko~w
|
|27%
|
|
|
|-
|Filehne
| Wielen~
|
|28%
|
|
|
|-
|Gnesen
| Gniezno
|
|67%
|
|
|
|-
|Hohensalza
| Inowrocl~aw
|
|7%
|
|
|
|-
|Kolmar
| Chodziez~
|
|18%
|
|
|
|-
|Mogilno
| Mogilno
|
|76%
|
|
|
|-
|-
|Schubin
| Szubin
|
|56%
|
|
|
|-
|Strelno
| Strzelno
|
|82%
|
|
|
|-
|Wirsitz
| Wyrzysk
|
|47%
|
|
|
|-
|Witkowo
| Witkowo
|
|83%
|
|
|
|-
|Wongrowitz
| Wa~growiec
|
|77%
|
|
|
|-
|Znin
| Znin
|
|77%
|
|
|
|}
Statistics
Area: 28,970.4 km2
PopulationDivisions
Note: Prussian provinces were subdivided into units called "Kreise" (singular "Kreis", abreviated "Kr.", English circle), which were similar to large counties in US terms. Cities would have their own "Stadtkreis" (English: municipal county) and the surrounding rural area would be named for the city, but referred to as a "Landkreis" (English: rural county). In the case of Posen, the Landkreis was split into two: Landkreis Posen West, and Landkreis Posen East. (Data is from Prussian censuses, during a period state-sponsored 'germanization', and includes military garrissons.)See also
