Editing Polish Corridor (section)

== Land reform of 1925 ==

According to Polish historian Andrzej Chwalba, during the rule of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and the [[German Empire]] various means were used to increase the amount of land owned by Germans at the expense of the Polish population. In Prussia, the [[Szlachta|Polish nobility]] had its estates confiscated after the [[Partitions of Poland|Partitions]], and handed over to [[German nobility]].<ref name="historia2">Historia Polski 1795-1918. Andrzej Chwalba. Page 177</ref> The same applied to Catholic monasteries.<ref name="historia2"/> Later, the German Empire bought up land in an attempt to prevent the restoration of a Polish majority in Polish inhabited areas in its eastern provinces.<ref name="Chwalba">[[Andrzej Chwalba]] - Historia Polski 1795-1918 page 461-463</ref> [[Christian Raitz von Frentz]] notes that measures aimed at reversing past Germanization included the liquidation of farms settled by the German government during the war under the 1908 law.<ref name="Frentz"/>

In 1925 the Polish government enacted a land reform program with the aim of expropriating landowners.<ref name=Blanke>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=80r6Mbnxf8IC&q=orphans+of+versailles&pg=PP1 |title=Richard Blanke, Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland 1918-1939 |access-date=2009-06-30 |publisher=University of Kentucky Press |year=1993 | isbn=978-0-8131-1803-1}}</ref> While only 39% of the agricultural land in the Corridor was owned by Germans,<ref name=Blanke/> the first annual list of properties to be reformed included 10,800 [[hectares]] from 32 German landowners and 950 hectares from seven Poles.<ref name=Blanke/> The [[voivode]] of Pomorze, Wiktor Lamot, stressed that "the part of Pomorze through which the so-called corridor runs must be cleansed of larger German holdings".<ref name=Blanke/> The coastal region "must be settled with a nationally conscious Polish population. ... Estates belonging to Germans must be taxed more heavily to encourage them voluntarily to turn over land for settlement. Border counties ... particularly a strip of land ten kilometers wide, must be settled with Poles. German estates that lie here must be reduced without concern for their economic value or the views of their owners".<ref name=Blanke/>

Prominent politicians and members of the German minority were the first to be included on the land reform list and to have their property expropriated.<ref name=Blanke/>