Greater Poland Uprising (1848) - Aftermath and Consequences

Aftermath and Consequences

The Grand Duchy of Posen was subsequently replaced with the Province of Posen and the Prussian government rejected any ideas of autonomy. As a Prussian Province it was completely incorporated into the German Confederation, however when the Frankfurt Parliament finalized the German Constitution on 28 March 1849 Poznań wasn't mentioned. In the elections to the Prussian diet in May 1849 Polish delegates achieved 16 out of the 30 seats of the Province, but the elections to the German Constitutional Parliament were largely boycotted by Polish parties in protest against the incorporation. Others called “Now we will go against Prussians not with scythes but with votes”.

1,500 Poles were imprisoned in Poznań Citadel, mostly peasants who took part in the fighting. Stefan Kieniewicz, and marked by Prussian authorities with non-healing wounds. a Polish historian, in his scholary work analysing the Uprising published in 1935 and republished in 1960, writes that blame for this was shifted between Colomb and his lower-ranking officers, the incident was widely publicised by Polish press . Mierosławski himself, whose mother was French and who lived in Paris prior to 1846, was released after French diplomatical protest and commanded German insurgent units in Baden and the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1849 during the revolutions of 1848 in the German states.

The Uprising showed to Poles that there was no possibility to negotiate with Germans regarding Polish statehood. The so-called “Polen-Debatte” in Frankfurt Parliament on July 1848 concerned the issue of Poland and showed the attitude of German politicians regarding this. They opposed Poland and any concessions to Poles in Poznań. Those who in the past have claimed to be friendly towards Poles, rejected all of their former declarations and called them mistakes and the idea of restored Poland “insanity”. At the same time the demands of German representatives were not only directed against Poland, they also wanted a war with Denmark, opposed autonomy for Italians in South Tyrol, called Alsace-Lorraine German, and talked about German interests in Baltic provinces of Russia. While the Uprising was focused in Wielkopolska, it also reached out to other Polish inhabited areas, in Pomerania Natalis Sulerzeski organized Polish armed forces and together with Ignacym Łyskowskim arranged a meeting in Wębrzyn of Polish delegates was organized who created Tymczasowy Komitety Prus Polskich. It was to start talks on reorganization of Western Prussia provinces on 5 April in Chełmno, but it never came to that, as Prussians arrested most of its members and put them in prison in Grudziądz. Seweryn Elżanowski in response organized a military formation counting several hundred people which took part in combat near Bory Tucholskie after which it moved into Wielkopolska. The Polish national movement in Pomerania decided after those events to pursue its goals by legal means, and remained in this position till First World War The events of the failed Uprising inspired Polish movement. A crucial point was that unlike in Galicia or Congress Poland the peasantry took active and decisive part on behalf of Polish resistance. The Polish peasants had seen in German colonization a primary threat to their national and social interests. The post-uprising repression’s spawned defensive reactions within the Polish society. Some of the Polish activists, mostly members of the landed gentry and the intelligentsia, abandoned armed insurrection and began to propagate a doctrine of organic work by strengthening the economic potential and educational level in Polish territories. Others favored an armed struggle for independence and formed the Poznan Committee (Kormitet Poznanski), which represented the democratically oriented landowners and intelligentsia, or the socialist Society of Plebeians (Zwiazek Plebejuszy). Both organizations worked for an uprising that would encompass all three parts of the partitioned Poland. In Pomerania during elections three Polish representatives were elected to the Prussian Parliament. They were led by Ignacy Łyskowski, a landlord and journalist, who printed a Polish newspaper “Szkółka Narodowa” in Chełmno. The 1848 was a turning point for Polish national movement in Pomerania, which gained support of city inhabitants and Polish peasants, and especially strong support among Polish clergy, who were subjected to hostile policies by German bishopric in Pelplin. The Polish activists from Pomerania soon came in contact with Masurs and Gustaw Gizewiusz, who encouraged Masurs to defend their local traditions and language. Unfortunately he died soon after being elected to Berlin Parliament. In Silesia the movement from Wielkopolska reached out to Józef Lompa and Emanuel Smołka who organized the Polish national movement in Upper and Lower Silesia. A Polish pastor Józef Szafranek was elected to parliament in Berlin.

The Poles in western partition decided to focus their energy on increasing economic and political position of Poles before deciding for military confrontation. For 70 years Poles would work on developing their organization, increasing wealth and development of Polish lands. The first organization to do so was Polish League created in Summer 1848. Made by liberal politicians it was led by Count August Cieszkowski-writer and philosopher. Its aims were the increasing of national self-awareness among Polish population, rising its life standards and defense of Catholic faith and Polish-owned land. By Autumn 1848 it counted already 40,000 members. Its main directorate was led by count Gustaw Potworowski. The organization supported agricultural reforms by Polish rural dwellers, and spread information connected to improving agriculture as well as strengthening civic unity. While it was completely legal and didn’t violate any laws, the Prussian government disbanded it in 1850. In practice its members continued to work and soon numerous successor organizations were founded leading way to Polish resistance in Prussian Partition of Poland based on economic and legal opposition.