Editing Warmia (section)

=== Prussia and Germany ===
By the [[First Partition of Poland]] in 1772, Warmia was annexed by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]; the properties of the [[Archbishopric of Warmia]] were secularized by the Prussian state. In 1773 Warmia was merged with the surrounding areas into the newly established province of [[East Prussia]]. [[Ignacy Krasicki]], the last [[prince-bishop]] of Warmia as well as [[Enlightenment in Poland|Enlightenment]] Polish poet, friend of [[Frederick the Great]] (whom he did not give [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] as his new king), was nominated to the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno|Archbishopric of Gniezno]] (and thus [[Primate (bishop)|Primate]] of Poland) in 1795. After the last partition of Poland and during his tenure as Primate of Poland and Prussian subject he was ordered by [[Pope Pius VI]] to teach his Catholic Poles to 'stay obedient, faithful, and loving to their new kings', [[Papal brief]] of 1795. The Prussian census in 1772 showed a total population of 96,547, including an urban population of 24,612 in 12 towns. 17,749 houses were listed and the biggest city was [[Braniewo|Braunsberg (Braniewo)]].

Between 1773 and 1945 Warmia was part of the predominantly [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] province of [[East Prussia]], with the exception that the people of Warmia remained largely [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]]. Most of the population of Warmia spoke [[High Prussian|High Prussian German]], while a small area in the north spoke [[Low Prussian|Low Prussian German]]; southern Warmia was populated by both Germans and Polish [[Warmiak]]s.<ref>Nationale Minderheiten und staatliche Minderheitenpolitik in Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert, Hans Henning Hahn, Peter Kunze, p. 109</ref> The Polish population was subjected to intense [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|Germanisation]] policies. Warmia was divided into four districts (''Kreise'') - [[Landkreis Allenstein|Allenstein (Olsztyn)]], Rössel ([[Reszel]]), Heilsberg ([[Lidzbark Warmiński]]) and Braunsberg ([[Braniewo]]). The city of [[Olsztyn|Allenstein]] was separated from the Allenstein district in 1910 and became an independent city.

On 6 May 1863, the village of [[Bredynki]] was the site of a massacre of Polish inhabitants. Local farmers protested the taking of the lake from the village and handing it over to a local miller.<ref name=bg>{{cite magazine|last=Groniewska|first=Barbara|year=1960|title=Rola Prus Wschodnich w powstaniu styczniowym|magazine=Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie|language=pl|issue=1|pages=13–14}}</ref> Prussian troops fired on the crowd, killing more than a dozen people, including women, and wounding 30.<ref name=bg/>

In the winter of 1863–1864, Polish insurgents of the [[January Uprising]] who fled the [[Russian Partition]] of Poland, found shelter in Warmia.<ref>Groniewska, p. 32</ref>
[[File:Warmia Ethnic Map 1905.png|thumb|Mother tongues of Warmia, according to the 1905 Census]]

{| class="wikitable"
|+Ethnolinguistic structure of Southern Warmian districts (1825, 1910) <ref>{{Cite book|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|url=https://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/search?isbn|title=Sprachliche Minderheiten im preussischen Staat: 1815 - 1914 ; die preußische Sprachenstatistik in Bearbeitung und Kommentar|date=1998|publisher=Herder-Inst.|isbn=978-3-87969-267-5|location=Marburg}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=von Haxthausen|first=August|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gsj1FBg0gvUC&pg=RA1-PA78|title=Die ländliche verfassung in den einzelnen provinzen der Preussischen Monarchie|publisher=Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung|year=1839|location=Königsberg|pages=81|language=de}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |Year
! rowspan="2" |District
! rowspan="2" |Population
! colspan="2" |German
! colspan="2" |Polish / Bilingual
|-
!Number
!Percent
!Number
!Percent
|-
! rowspan="4" |1825
|Allenstein (city)
|2,637
|1,371
|'''52.0%'''
|1,266
|'''48.0%'''
|-
|Allenstein (district)
|27,820
|3,556
|'''12.8%'''
|24,264
|'''87.2%'''
|-
|Rössel
|30,705
|23,927
|'''77.9%'''
|6,778
|'''22.1%'''
|-
!'''Total'''
!'''61,162'''
!'''28,854'''
!'''47.2%'''
!'''32,308'''
!'''52.8%'''
|-
! rowspan="4" |1910
|Allenstein (city)
|33,077
|29,344
|'''88.7%'''
|3,683
|'''11.1%'''
|-
|Allenstein (district)
|57,919
|22,825
|'''39.4%'''
|35,079
|'''60.6%'''
|-
|Rössel
|50,472
|43,189
|'''85.6%'''
|7,283
|'''14.4%'''
|-
!'''Total'''
!'''141,468'''
!'''95,358'''
!'''67.4%'''
!'''46,045'''
!'''32.5%'''
|}
[[File:Gazeta Olsztyńska old 2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Former headquarters of the pre-war Polish newspaper ''Gazeta Olsztyńska'' in [[Olsztyn]], destroyed by the Germans in 1939,<ref>Leon Sobociński, ''Na gruzach Smętka'', wyd. B. Kądziela, Warszawa, 1947, p. 61 (in Polish)</ref> rebuilt in 1989, now a museum]]
In 1871, along with the rest of East Prussia, Warmia became part of the [[German Empire]]. In 1873, according to a regulation of the Imperial German government, school lessons at public schools inside Germany had to be held in German, as a result the Polish language was forbidden in all schools in Warmia, including Polish schools already founded in the sixteenth century. In 1900 Warmia's population was 240,000. In the [[Jingoism|jingoistic]] climate after [[World War I]], Warmian Poles were subject to persecution by the German government. Polish children speaking their language were punished in schools and often had to wear signs with insulting names, such as "Pollack".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.domwarminski.pl/www.domwarminski.pl/content/view/294/416|title=Strona główna - Dom Warmiński|website=Dom Warmiński|access-date=25 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227151518/http://www.domwarminski.pl/www.domwarminski.pl/content/view/294/416|archive-date=27 February 2017}}</ref>

After the [[First World War]], Poland regained independence, and a [[1920 East Prussian plebiscite|plebiscite]] was held to determine the future of Warmia. In February 1920, Poland opened a consulate in Olsztyn in 1920,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ceranka|first1=Paweł|last2=Szczepanik|first2=Krzysztof|year=2020|title=Urzędy konsularne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1918–1945. Informator archiwalny|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych, [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Poland)|Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych]]|page=292|isbn=978-83-65681-93-5}}</ref> however, due to the German persecution of Poles and the advances of the [[Red Army]] towards Warsaw in the [[Polish–Soviet War in 1920]], the plebiscite resulted in a German victory, and the region remained within Germany in the interbellum.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-06-09|title=Rocznik statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej|url=http://quellen.herder-institut.de/M01/quellen/plebiszite.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609160009/http://quellen.herder-institut.de/M01/quellen/plebiszite.pdf|archive-date=9 June 2007|access-date=2021-06-27}}</ref>
[[File:Home Army-Armia Krajowa Monument Olsztyn Poland.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Home Army]] Monument in [[Olsztyn]]]]
Despite German hostility, the Poles founded numerous Polish organizations in Warmia in the interbellum. Persecution of Poles intensified after the [[Nazi Party]] rose to power in Germany. Due to severe persecution, from 1936 Polish organizations carried out their activities partly in conspiracy.<ref name=mc38>{{cite journal|last=Cygański|first=Mirosław|year=1984|title=Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945|journal=Przegląd Zachodni|language=pl|issue=4|page=38}}</ref> Polish organizations were heavily invigilated by the ''[[Sicherheitspolizei]]'' (German security police) through its undercover agents, known as the ''Vertrauensmänner''.<ref name=mw39>{{cite magazine|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2003|title="Intelligenzaktion" na Warmii, Mazurach i północnym Mazowszu|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|issue=12-1 (35-36)|page=39|issn=1641-9561}}</ref> Based on their information, the German police compiled files and lists of Poles who were supposed to be either executed or imprisoned in [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref name=mw39/> Nazi militants carried out attacks on Polish schools, organizations, printshops, shops.<ref name=mw39/> The persecution of Poles further intensified in 1939.<ref name=mw39/> In early 1939, many Polish activists were expelled.<ref name=mc38/> Afterwards, in an attempt to rig the results of an upcoming census and understate the number of Poles in the region, the Germans terrorized the Polish population, attacked Polish schools and organizations, and confiscated Polish pre-census information leaflets.<ref>Cygański, p. 39</ref> In summer 1939 the German terror against the Poles even exceeded the terror from the period of the 1920 plebiscite.<ref name=mc40>Cygański, p. 40</ref> Poles were subjected to expulsions and arrests, there were terrorist attacks on Polish organizations and schools, Polish libraries were looted or destroyed, and entire volumes of Polish press were confiscated.<ref name=mw39/><ref name=mc40/> In August 1939, Germany introduced [[martial law]] in the region, which allowed for even more blatant persecution of Poles.<ref name=mc40/> Germany co-formed the ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe V]]'' in Olsztyn, which then committed various [[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation|atrocities against Poles]] during the German [[invasion of Poland]] that began [[World War II]] in September 1939.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2009|title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=IPN|page=54}}</ref> In August and September 1939, the Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles, including activists, teachers, school principals, bank employees, newspaper editors, entrepreneurs, priests, scout leaders, and the consul and employees of the Polish Consulate in Olsztyn, and shut down or seized Polish newspapers and libraries.<ref>Wardzyńska (2003), pp. 39–40</ref><ref>Cygański, pp. 41–42</ref><ref>Ceranka; Szczepanik, p. 293</ref> Arrested Poles were mostly deported to concentration camps, incl. {{ill|Hohenbruch concentration camp|lt=Hohenbruch|de|KZ Hohenbruch}}, [[Soldau concentration camp|Soldau]], [[Stutthof concentration camp|Stutthof]], [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]], [[Gusen concentration camp|Gusen]] and [[Ravensbrück concentration camp|Ravensbrück]].<ref>Cygański, p. 43</ref> During [[World War II]], many Poles from the region were forcibly conscripted into the ''[[Wehrmacht]]''.<ref>Cygański, p. 63</ref> The Germans operated a notable Nazi prison in the town of [[Barczewo]] (Wartenburg) with several [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamps in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000988|title=Zuchthaus Wartenburg|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=15 April 2022|language=de}}</ref> The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]] was active in the region and [[Polish underground press]] was distributed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|year=2022|title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945|language=pl|location=Gdańsk|publisher=IPN|page=57|isbn=978-83-8229-411-8}}</ref>