History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Many thanks for this. I've actually picked this book up recently and have had a quick look through (not that it's easy to 'quickly' look through a book like that). I think it is a good place to start - but I'm a detail obsessive! If you read anything else that has some specifics then please get in touch.

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


This is intriguing, thanks for posting. Interesting that by 1901 the originally Polish population has overcome successive attempts at German integration through kulturkampf etc. I'm very interested in what happened immediately after the partitions were complete (though I realise that the partitions were somewhat gradual, being spread over a period of 23ish years). Once the Prussian territory was redefined and you found yourself suddenly under Prussian control, what were the implications?

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


This is good. Hadn't spotted this, but crave more detail (like what things were like day to day). Ideally accounts of people's lives would be fantastic. Obviously I'm yearning after something pretty specific, but a man can only dream...

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]

I think it's interesting to try and imagine what it was like for a family who suddenly slipped out of one country and into another (without even moving house). There must have been terrible uncertainty and knee-jerk resentment to what was happening to them. I imagine that people felt utterly powerless. I don't know enough about it yet to form an opinion on whether the Prussians were overbearing or not in their attempts to assimilate large chunks of Poland and the Polish population. It sounds like a very difficult process to manage, with tensions on both sides. I also imagine that the immediate response in the Polish community was horror/outrage, but that this gradually wore down to simple resentments once a reasonable amount of time had passed (but resentments that could flare up at any time). Still, it's all just my imagination at the moment. And my imagination has been pretty wrong before. :-)


Excellent tip, I'm going to go and dig around in this for a while, thanks.


This is interesting. So there were active attempts at intensifying Prussian ownership of land. Do you know any other sources on this?

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


This book sounds perfect. If you have any more information on where I might be able to obtain a copy then that would be much appreciated. Also, do you know who the author is? It's frustrating that I seem to always run out of sources in English. All of the best books are (unsurprisingly) written in Polish. I'd gladly learn Polish, but it may take me a bit of time! Anyway, the summary in English sounds really good. This is a bit off topic, but as a general comment I would like to see more English translations of Polish texts, especially the classics of Polish literature. It's very hard to get hold of any translations, let alone decent ones.

Also, thanks for reminding me about the impact of the Duchy of Warsaw, I was overlooking that rather large and important detail.

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]

Thanks to everybody for their posts so far. It's a fascinating response which will take me a while to fully digest. Please keep all your views coming.

I think it's very easy to get sucked into wider debates on Poland's history. I'd like to avoid this if possible, and try and keep things centred on the partitions. As much as possible, I want to try and think about what those original generations felt about changes to the Polish state and its eventual collapse. I'm sure that the Poles would have had certain pre-conceived opinions of Prussians, and the Prussians would have had certain pre-conceived ideas of Poles, but those opinions are likely to be very different to the kinds of opinions we hold today. I also think you have to try and forget about both World Wars for a second. These are huge events that can colour our perception of the history behind them to the detriment of our understanding. Also, we need to be careful to think of history as regional. People didn't necessarily understand the global implications of what was happening to them (they had much cruder, slower forms of communication). I'm sure a lot of what they reacted to was based on rumour and conjecture, and on what was happening in the next town, next village, next farm (like the scenes in Pan Tadeusz where the village is full of rumours about the whereabouts of Napoleon's army etc.).

It's difficult to know how people felt, but I'm sure I would have been very frightened and anxious if I was suddenly left in a land that was no longer my own. I'd be very angry and confused if I was suddenly forced to speak a language that I didn't recognise in order to achieve basic everyday things I'd always taken for granted. Whatever benefits the Polish people derived from being subsumed into the Prussian state (and there probably were some benefits), I'm sure there were vast numbers of people who would have rather lived a life that was self-determined.

Anyway, keep it all coming. Sorry I can't reply to you all individually. I have to go to bed!

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Hey, it's okay... I like to see people having fun :-) You are all having fun right....?

It's all been helpful so far. I'm learning a lot, so that can only be a good thing.

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]

Thanks for the additional link, will read it later when I get a moment.

I'm actually trying to do some research for a novel I'm writing. The novel will follow one Polish family all the way from the eighteenth century up to the 1950s (and potentially beyond, though I think not). This is probably a very foolish thing to do for a man who has no real connection with Poland, but I've found the country very interesting, and want to turn that interest into something a bit more substantial. Would appreciate all the help I can get. My queries are not restricted to the Prussian Partition, they go all over the place!

Sometimes I feel it might actually be insulting for a foreigner like me to try and write about the intricacies of Polish history. In more 'challenging' moments I start thinking that I don't have the scope of knowledge, or the feeling for the Polish people, that it requires. But still, it might throw up some intriguing results. What do you think about the moral aspects of taking on another country's history? Be interested to know. I'd like to do the subject justice.

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]

Thanks for all the responses. It's great to get people's opinions on what I'm doing.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about whether it is a good idea to continue with this idea. I've decided that it is, because I think that I can write something that will be interesting and compelling. Elements of the story also take place in England, so I'm not totally out of my comfort zone, just significantly uncomfortable I guess.

There's no point in me being unrealistic about my shortcomings. There are going to be massive gaps in my understanding, and somebody from Poland will probably be able to pick the final product apart. But all historical fiction has its weaknesses. This will be my interpretation. It can't be real, it can only be fiction. That is a blessing and a curse.

I understand that it will take a lot of hard work, I've put quite a lot of work into it already. I was in Poland for a week in March just trying to get a feel for the place and walking around some of the areas which I intend to feature in the book. It all helped a lot, but I'd like to get away for longer (work always gets in the way).

Language is the biggest barrier. I'd happily learn Polish, but it will take me some time to get up to the point where I'll be able to read Polish texts. This, obviously, means that I am greatly limited in terms of what has been translated. I know how little there is out there (believe me I've looked).

Paulina, keep sending over the book and film ideas, they're invaluable.


I've seen a number of Andrzej Wajda films (Ashes and Diamonds, Kanal, Man of Iron [can't find a copy of Man of Marble], A Generation, Katyń), but so much is left without a subtitled release for general distribution.

I've read 'The Doll' by Prus, good read if somewhat overburdened in areas, but that's realism for you. I try and work my way through Miłosz's History of Polish literature, digging out what I can find from libraries. It's slim pickings. I haven't managed to find any of the books you've mentioned so far, but will keep looking.


Yep, it's a lot to take on. The first generations are basically scanned through. They set the scene for the real heart of the story which stretches from the end of the first world war to the mid fifties. It's doable. Trust me :-)


Thank you


Maybe, but sometimes you can't choose your inspirations. You just have to go with it, even if it's the literary equivalent of putting your head in a blender. :-)

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]

Good suggestion, have ordered a copy. Could point me in the right directions.

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Another good suggestion, thanks for your continued input Paulina.

Unfortunatley, I've looked for this before. The only Zeromski in translation that I can find is The Faithful River, which would be good (will get round to reading it), but not as useful as The Spring to Come. Back to learning Polish I suppose...


I never said I had left school did I? In fact, I'm here asking to be schooled... That comment is, if you don't mind me saying, extremely condescending.