Editing Masuria (section)

=== Kingdom of Prussia ===
The region became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] with the coronation of King [[Frederick I of Prussia]] in 1701 in [[Königsberg]]. Masuria became part of a newly created administrative province of [[East Prussia]] upon its creation in 1773. The name ''Masuria'' began to be used officially after new administrative reforms in Prussia after 1818.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visit.olsztyn.eu/en/category/2/the-history-of-olsztyn|title=The history of Olsztyn - zobacz The history of Olsztyn|website=visit.olsztyn.eu|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-date=14 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814170211/http://visit.olsztyn.eu/en/category/2/the-history-of-olsztyn|url-status=live}}</ref> Masurians referred to themselves during that period as "Polish Prussians" or as "Staroprusaki" (Old Prussians)<ref name=Wang>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0b6HKgl9ewC&q=Germanization+Masuria
|title=The many faces of Clio: cross-cultural approaches to historiography
|first1=Q. Edward|last1=Wang|first2=Franz L.|last2=Fillafer |publisher=Berghahn Books |year=2007|isbn=9781845452704|page=375|access-date=31 January 2012}}</ref> During the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and [[History of Poland (1795–1918)|Polish national liberation struggles]], in 1807, several towns of northern and eastern Masuria were taken over by Polish troops under the command of generals [[Jan Henryk Dąbrowski]] and [[Józef Zajączek]]. Some Masurians showed considerable support for the [[November Uprising|Polish uprising]] in 1831, and maintained many contacts with [[Russian Partition|Russian-held areas]] of Poland beyond the border of Prussia, the areas being connected by common culture and language; before the uprising people visited each other's country fairs and much trade took place, with smuggling also widespread.<ref name=Wang/> Nevertheless, their Lutheran belief and a traditional adherence to the Prussian royal family kept Masurians and Poles separated. Some early writers about Masurians - like [[Max Toeppen]] - postulated Masurians in general as mediators between German and Slav cultures.<ref name= Wang/>
[[File:Lithuania Minor and Masuria within East Prussia.png|thumb|alt=Lithuania Minor and Masuria within East Prussia|Masuria within East Prussia]]
[[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|Germanisation]] policies in Masuria included various strategies, first and foremost they included attempts to propagate the [[German language]] and to eradicate the Polish language as much as possible; German became the obligatory language in schools from 1834 on.<ref name="Wang" /> In 1813 the old Polish school in Ełk, founded in 1546, was transformed into a German gymnasium.<ref name=esb/> Fryderyk Tymoteusz Krieger, superintendent of the school, actively defended the rights of local Poles to use the Polish language, becoming the first pastor in Masuria to protest against the initiated Germanization of Polish schools in the region.<ref name=esb/> Prussian authorities launched investigations against Krieger three times.<ref name=esb/> Polish people who had acquired knowledge of the German language, including children whose parents did not speak German, were officially classified as ethnic Germans by the authorities, and were denied the right to attend Polish church services.<ref>Sukertowa-Biedrawina, p. 67</ref> In 1836, a [[synod]] was organized in [[Olecko]] which protested against Germanization policies.<ref name=aw>{{cite book|last=Wakar|first=Andrzej|editor-last=Wakar|editor-first=Andrzej|year=1974|title=Olecko. Z dziejów miasta i powiatu|language=pl|location=[[Olsztyn]]|publisher=Pojezierze|pages=122–127|chapter=Zarys historyczny}}</ref> The synod's protest was signed by all the pastors in the Olecko County, and its arguments were later used by the well-known defenders of the Polish language in Masuria, [[Gustaw Gizewiusz]] and [[Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius]].<ref name=aw/> The protests were successful, however, the campaign of Germanization was resumed in 1865 and later intensified.<ref name=aw/> The Lutheran churches and their vicars principally exerted their spiritual care in Polish as concerned to Polish mother tongue parishioners.

[[Resistance movements in partitioned Poland (1795–1918)|Polish secret resistance]] was active and smuggled weapons through the region to the [[Russian Partition]] of Poland during the [[January Uprising]] of 1863–1864.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Groniewska|first=Barbara|year=1960|title=Rola Prus Wschodnich w powstaniu styczniowym|magazine=Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie|language=pl|issue=1|pages=15–16, 22, 39}}</ref> Polish insurgents fled from the Russians to Masuria and found shelter in various towns and villages.<ref>Groniewska, pp. 6, 16, 30–32</ref> Some insurgents reorganized in Masuria to return to the Russian Partition of Poland and continue the fight.<ref>Groniewska, pp. 33, 35–36</ref> Newly formed Polish units from the Prussian Partition of Poland also passed through Masuria, and even clashed with Prussian troops in the region.<ref>Groniewska, pp. 33–34</ref> Several local resistance members, smugglers and insurgents were arrested and imprisoned by the Prussians.<ref>Groniewska, pp. 18, 34, 40</ref> Local residents protested against the deportation of insurgents to the Russian Partition.<ref>Groniewska, p. 42</ref>

==== Ethno-linguistic structure ====

Mother tongue of the inhabitants of Masuria, by county, during the first half of the 19th century:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Ethno-linguistic structure of Masurian counties in the first half of the 19th century, according to German data<ref name=avh>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gsj1FBg0gvUC&pg=RA1-PA78|title=Die ländliche verfassung in den einzelnen provinzen der Preussischen Monarchie|last=von Haxthausen|first=August|publisher=Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung|year=1839|location=Königsberg|pages=78–81|language=de}}</ref><ref name=gj>{{Cite journal|last=Jasiński|first=Grzegorz|date=2009|title=Statystyki językowe powiatów mazurskich z pierwszej połowy XIX wieku (do 1862 roku)|url=http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie-r2009-t1/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie-r2009-t1-s97-130/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie-r2009-t1-s97-130.pdf|journal=Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie|language=pl|volume=1|pages=97–130|via=BazHum|access-date=2019-10-03|archive-date=2019-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003002441/http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie-r2009-t1/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie-r2009-t1-s97-130/Komunikaty_Mazursko_Warminskie-r2009-t1-s97-130.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|date=1996|title=Zur Frage des nationalen Bewußtseins der Masuren im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (auf der Basis statistischer Angaben)|url=https://www.zfo-online.de/index.php/zfo/article/viewFile/134/134|journal=Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung|language=de|volume=Bd. 45, Nr. 1|pages=35–71|via=zfo-online|access-date=2019-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003002444/https://www.zfo-online.de/index.php/zfo/article/viewFile/134/134|archive-date=2019-10-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>
!County (German name)
!Year
!'''Polish-speakers'''
!'''%'''
!'''German-speakers'''
!'''%'''
!'''Lithuanian-speakers'''
!'''%'''
!Total population
|-
![[Pisz]] (Johannisburg)
|1825
|28,552
|'''93%'''
|2,146
|'''7%'''
|0
|'''0%'''
|30,698
|-
![[Nidzica]] (Neidenburg)
|1825
|27,467
|'''93%'''
|2,149
|'''7%'''
|1
|'''0%'''
|29,617
|-
![[Szczytno]] (Ortelsburg)
|1825
|34,928
|'''92%'''
|3,100
|'''8%'''
|0
|'''0%'''
|38,028
|-
![[Ełk]] (Lyck)
|1832
|29,246
|'''90%'''
|3,413
|'''10%'''
|4
|'''0%'''
|32,663
|-
![[Giżycko]] ('''Lötzen)'''
|1832
|20,434
|'''89%'''
|2,528
|'''11%'''
|25
|'''0%'''
|22,987
|-
![[Mrągowo]] (Sensburg)
|1825
|22,391
|'''86%'''
|3,769
|'''14%'''
|5
|'''0%'''
|26,165
|-
![[Olecko]] (Oletzko)
|1832
|23,302
|'''84%'''
|4,328
|'''16%'''
|22
|'''0%'''
|27,652
|-
![[Ostróda]] (Osterode)
|1828
|23,577
|'''72%'''
|9,268
|'''28%'''
|0
|'''0%'''
|32,845
|-
![[Węgorzewo]] (Angerburg)
|1825
|12,535
|'''52%'''
|11,756
|'''48%'''
|60
|'''0%'''
|24,351
|-
![[Gołdap]] '''(Goldap)'''
|1825
|3,940
|'''16%'''
|17,412
|'''70%'''
|3,559
|'''14%'''
|24,911
|-
!TOTAL
!1825-32
!'''226,372'''
!78%
!59,869
!21%
!3,676
!1%
!289,917
|}

The Darkehmen/Darkiejmy (now [[Ozyorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast|Ozyorsk]]) and [[Gołdap]] counties, as transitional counties between Masuria and the [[Lithuania Minor]] region to the north, were inhabited by notable numbers of both ethnic Poles and Lithuanians.<ref name=avh/><ref name=gj/>