Editing Kashubians (section)

===German and Polish impact===
German [[Ostsiedlung]] in Kashubia was initiated by the [[List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes|Pomeranian dukes]]<ref name=Bookmann>Hartmut Boockmann, ''Ostpreussen und Westpreussen'', Siedler 2002, p. 161,{{ISBN|3-88680-212-4}}</ref> and focused on the towns, whereas much of the countryside remained Kashubian.<ref name=Herbers>Klaus Herbers, Nikolas Jaspert, ''Grenzräume und Grenzüberschreitungen im Vergleich: Der Osten und der Westen des mittelalterlichen Lateineuropa'', 2007, pp. 76ff, {{ISBN|3-05-004155-2}}</ref> An exception was the German settled [[Vistula]] delta<ref name=Herbers/> ([[Vistula Germans]]), the coastal regions,<ref name=Bookmann/> and the [[Vistula valley]].<ref name=Bookmann/> Following the centuries of interaction between local German and Kashubian population, [[Aleksander Hilferding]] (1862) and {{ill|Alfons Parczewski|pl}} (1896) confirmed a progressive language shift in the Kashubian population from their Slavonic vernacular to the local West-Germanic dialect ([[Low German]] [[Ostpommersch]], Low German [[Low Prussian]], or [[High German]]).<ref name="Gilbers2"/>

On the other hand, Pomerelia since the Middle Ages was assigned to the [[Kuyavia]]n [[Diocese of Leslau]] and thus retained Polish as the church language. Only the [[Slovincians]] in 1534 adopted Lutheranism after the [[Protestant Reformation]] had reached the [[Duchy of Pomerania]],<ref name="Buchholz pp.205-220">Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.205–212, {{ISBN|3-88680-272-8}}</ref><ref>Richard du Moulin Eckart, ''Geschichte der deutschen Universitäten'', Georg Olms Verlag, 1976, pp.111,112, {{ISBN|3-487-06078-7}}</ref><ref name="Realenzyklopädie, p.43ff">Gerhard Krause, Horst Robert Balz, [[Gerhard Müller (Lutheran theologian)|Gerhard Müller]], ''[[Theologische Realenzyklopädie]]'', De Gruyter, 1997, pp.43ff, {{ISBN|3-11-015435-8}}</ref> while the [[Kashubes]] in [[Pomerelia]] remained Roman Catholic. The [[Prussia]]n parliament (''[[Landtag]]'') in [[Königsberg]] changed the official church language from Polish to German in 1843 but this decision was soon repealed.<ref>Aleksander Hilferding: Resztki Słowian na południowym wybrzeżu Morza Bałtyckiego, tłum. Nina Perczyńska, oprac. Jerzy Treder, Gdańsk 1989, p.46</ref>

In the 19th century the Kashubian activist [[Florian Ceynowa]] undertook efforts to identify the Kashubian language, and its culture and traditions. Although his efforts did not appeal to locals at the time, Kaszubian activists in the present day have claimed that Ceynowa awakened Kashubian self-identity, thereby opposing both Germanisation and Prussian authority, and Polish nobility and clergy.<ref name=Lerski>Jerzy Jan Lerski, Piotr Wróbel, Richard J. Kozicki, Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, p. 62, {{ISBN|0-313-26007-9}}</ref> He believed in a separate Kashubian identity and strove for a Russian-led [[Pan-Slavism|pan-Slavic federacy]],<ref name=Lerski/> He considered Poles "born brothers".<ref name="ReferenceA">''Historia Polski 1795–1918'' Andrzej Chwalba, p. 439</ref> Ceynowa was a radical who attempted to take the Prussian garrison in Preussisch Stargard ([[Starogard Gdański]]) during 1846 (see [[Greater Poland uprising (1846)|Greater Poland uprising]]),<ref>''The Lands of Partitioned Poland, 1795–1918 (History of East Central Europe)'' Piotr S. Wandycz page 135</ref> but the operation failed when his 100 combatants, armed only with scythes, decided to abandon the site before the attack was carried out.<ref>Ireneus Lakowski, ''Das behinderten-bildungswesen im Preussischen Osten: Ost-west-gefälle, Germanisierung und das Wirken des Pädagogen'', LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2001, pp.25ff, {{ISBN|3-8258-5261-X}}</ref> Although some later Kashubian activists tried to push for a separate identity, they further based their ideas on a misrepresented reading of the journalist and activist [[Hieronim Derdowski]]: "There is no Cassubia without [[Polish diaspora|Polonia]], and no Poland without Cassubia" (''Nie ma Kaszeb bez Polonii a bez Kaszeb Polsci''").<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Further stanzas of Derdowski's tribute also point to the fact that Kaszubs were Poles and could not survive without. The [[Society of Young Kashubians]] ([[Towarzystwo Młodokaszubskie]]) has decided to follow in this way, and while they sought to create a strong Kashubian identity, at the same time they regarded the Kashubians as "One branch, of many, of the great Polish nation".<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

The leader of the movement was [[Aleksander Majkowski]], a doctor educated in [[Chełmno]] with the [[Society of Educational Help]] in Chełmno. In 1912 he founded the Society of Young Kashubians and started the newspaper ''{{ill|Gryf (newspaper)|lt=Gryf|pl|Gryf (czasopismo kaszubskie)}}''. Kashubs voted for Polish lists in elections, which strengthened the representation of Poles in the Pomerania region.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>''Gdańskie Zeszyty Humanistyczne: Seria pomorzoznawcza'', p. 17, Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna (Gdańsk). Wydział Humanistyczny, Instytut Bałtycki, Instytut Bałtycki (Poland) – 1967</ref><ref>''Położenie mniejszości niemieckiej w Polsce 1918–1938'', p. 183, Stanisław Potocki, 1969</ref><ref>Rocznik gdański organ Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauki i Sztuki w Gdańsku – p. 100, 1983</ref><ref>''Do niepodległości 1918, 1944/45, 1989: wizje, drogi, spełnienie'' p. 43, Wojciech Wrzesiński – 1998</ref>
Between 1855 and 1900, about 100,000 Kashubs emigrated to the United States, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia in the so-called [[Kashubian diaspora]], largely for economic reasons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bambenek.org/kashubia/the-kashubian-emigration/|title=The Kashubian Emigration – Bambenek.org|website=bambenek.org|language=en-US|access-date=26 July 2017|archive-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811103459/http://bambenek.org/kashubia/the-kashubian-emigration/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1899 the scholar [[Stefan Ramułt|Stefan Ramult]] named [[Winona, Minnesota]] the "Kashubian Capital of America" on account of the Kashubian community's size within the city and its activity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bambenek.org/winona-2/kashubian-capital-of-america/|title=Kashubian Capital of America – Bambenek.org|website=bambenek.org|language=en-US|access-date=24 July 2017|archive-date=9 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809043153/http://bambenek.org/winona-2/kashubian-capital-of-america/|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to their Catholic faith, the Kashubians became subject to Prussia's [[Kulturkampf]] between 1871 and 1878.<ref name=Borzyszkowski>Jozef Borzyszkowski in Hans-Henning Hahn, Peter Kunze, Nationale Minderheiten und staatliche Minderheitenpolitik in Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert, Akademie Verlag, 1999, p. 96, {{ISBN|3-05-003343-6}}</ref> The Kashubians faced Germanification efforts, including those by evangelical Lutheran clergy. These efforts were successful in Lauenburg ([[Lębork]]) and Leba ([[Łeba]]), where the local population used the Gothic alphabet.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> While resenting the disrespect shown by some Prussian officials and [[Junker (Prussia)|Junkers]], Kashubians lived in peaceful coexistence with the local German population until World War II, although during the interbellum, the Kashubian ties to Poland were either overemphasized or neglected by Polish and German authors, respectively, in arguments regarding the [[Polish Corridor]].<ref name=Borzyszkowski/>

During the Second World War, Kashubs were considered by the [[Nazis]] as being either of "German stock" or "extraction", or "inclined toward Germanness" and "capable of Germanisation", and thus classified third category of [[Deutsche Volksliste]] (German ethnic classification list) if ties to the Polish nation could be dissolved.<ref>Diemut Majer, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, ''"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich: The Nazi Judicial and Administrative System in Germany and Occupied Eastern Europe with Special Regard to Occupied Poland, 1939–1945, Von Diemut Majer, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum'', JHU Press, 2003, p. 240, {{ISBN|0-8018-6493-3}}</ref> However, Kashubians who were suspected to support the Polish cause,<ref name=Borzyszkowski/> particularly those with higher education,<ref name=Borzyszkowski/> were arrested and executed, the main place of executions being [[Massacres in Piaśnica|Piaśnica]] (Gross Plassnitz),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senat.gov.pl/k5/dok/diar/70/7004.htm|title=Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej / Nie znaleziono szukanej strony...|access-date=17 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402111033/http://www.senat.gov.pl/k5/dok/diar/70/7004.htm|archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> where 12,000 were executed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naszekaszuby.pl/modules/news/article.php?storyid=997|title=Wiadomości – Aktualności – Musieliśmy się ukrywać : Nasze Kaszuby|access-date=17 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402153912/http://www.naszekaszuby.pl/modules/news/article.php?storyid=997|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>"Erika z Rumii" Piotr Szubarczyk, IPN Bulletin 5(40) May 2004</ref> The German administrator of the area [[Albert Forster]] considered Kashubians of "low value" and did not support any attempts to create Kashubian nationality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum/rozdz2,6.htm |title=Strona w trakcie tworzenia |access-date=6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122132637/http://www.kki.net.pl/~museum/rozdz2%2C6.htm |archive-date=22 January 2009 }}</ref> Some Kashubians organized anti-Nazi resistance groups, ''[[Gryf Kaszubski]]'' (later ''Gryf Pomorski''), and the exiled ''[[Zwiazek Pomorski]]'' in Great Britain.<ref name=Borzyszkowski/>

When integrated into Poland, those envisioning Kashubian autonomy faced a Communist regime striving for ethnic homogeneity and presenting Kashubian culture as merely folklore.<ref name=Borzyszkowski/> Kashubians were sent to Silesian mines, where they met [[Silesians]] facing similar problems.<ref name=Borzyszkowski/> [[Lech Bądkowski]] from the Kashubian opposition became the first spokesperson of [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarność]].<ref name=Borzyszkowski/>

As a result of political mistrust and coercion to declare Polish identity many Kashubians turned away from Poland and chose [[Emigration from Poland to Germany after World War II|opting for Germany]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Kulczycki | first=J.J. | title=Belonging to the Nation: Inclusion and Exclusion in the Polish-German Borderlands, 1939–1951 | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-674-96953-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4CgCwAAQBAJ | access-date=2023-08-11 | pages=245 | archive-date=3 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203131533/https://books.google.com/books?id=p4CgCwAAQBAJ | url-status=live }}</ref>