German Eastern Marches Society

German Eastern Marches Society (German: Deutscher Ostmarkenverein, also known in German as Verein zur Förderung des Deutschtums in den Ostmarken) was a German radical,[1][2] extremely nationalist[3] xenophobic organization[4] founded in 1894. Mainly among Poles, it was sometimes known acronymically as Hakata or H-K-T after its founders von Hansemann, Kennemann and von Tiedemann.[a] Its main aims were the promotion of Germanization of Poles living in Prussia and destruction of Polish national identity in German eastern provinces.[5] Contrary to many similar nationalist organizations created in that period, the Ostmarkenverein had relatively close ties with the government and local administration,[5][6] which made it largely successful, even though it opposed both the policy of seeking some modo vivendi with the Poles pursued by Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg[3] and Leo von Caprivi's policies of relaxation of anti-Polish measures.[7] While of limited significance and often overrated, the organization formed a notable part of German anti-democratic pluralist part of the political landscape of the Wilhelmine era.[8]

Initially formed in Posen, in 1896 its main headquarters was moved to Berlin. In 1901 it had roughly 21,000 members, the number rose to 48,000 in 1913, though some authors claim the membership was as high as 220,000.[9] After Poland was re-established following World War I in 1918, the society continued its rump activities in the Weimar Republic until it was closed down by the Nazis in 1934 who created the new organisation with similar activity Bund Deutscher Osten.

You are facing the most dangerous,
fanatic enemy of German existence, German honour
and German reputation in the world: The Poles.[10]

  1. ^ Geoff Eley, op.cit., p.43
  2. ^ Alon Confino (1997). The Nation As a Local Metaphor: Wurttemberg, Imperial Germany, and National Memory, 1871-1918. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Univ. of North Carolina Press. pp. 98–105. ISBN 0-8078-4665-1.
  3. ^ a b Gordon A Craig (1999). Germany, 1866–1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-822113-4.
  4. ^ Mary Fulbrook (2000). Representing the German Nation. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 0-7190-5939-9.
  5. ^ a b Richard J Evans (2004). The Coming of the Third Reich. London: Penguin Books. pp. 45–47. ISBN 1-59420-004-1.
  6. ^ Geoff Eley (1990). Reshaping the German Right: Radical Nationalism and Political Change After Bismarck. University of Michigan Press. pp. 58–67. ISBN 0-472-08132-2.
  7. ^ Eric Ames; Marcia Klotz; Lora Wildenthal, eds. (2005). Germany's Colonial Pasts. University of Nebraska. pp. 79–90. ISBN 0-8032-4819-9.
  8. ^ Mary Fulbrook; John Breuilly (1997). German History Since 1800. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 203–206. ISBN 0-340-69200-6.
  9. ^ David Blackbourn (2003). History of Germany, 1780-1918: The Long Nineteenth Century. Blackwell Publishing. p. 324. ISBN 0-631-23196-X.
  10. ^ Karl Friedrich Gründler (July 2004). "Nationalheld auf Rädern". Die Zeit (in German) (26). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 2006-05-24.


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