The German Question, Part Fifty-Eight

Bismarck" Part Five/C "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

"Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/(North)West"

In the western part of Germany, there were tens of thousands of Danes living in the northern part of Schleswig, called "Nordschleswig," in German, and "Sønderjylland," in Danish; that is, "South Jutland" (see earlier articles in this series about Schleswig). The region borders on Denmark, and the main city in the area was Flensburg. Danish language newspapers were common in the area, and as it had not been all that long since this area came under Prussian rule (then a few years later under a united Germany), there was still strong pro-Danish sentiment among the Danish minority (in some local areas, there was a Danish majority). Just as it was with other minorities, these Danes were now German citizens and were protected by the German Constitution.* Former Danish inhabitants of Schleswig with strong pro-Denmark feelings came back over the border into Schleswig (now we're talking about non-German citizens NOT protected by the constitution), some taking jobs with the Danish language newspapers.** As part of the crackdown by Bismarck and his government, they were often expelled from Germany or arrested. Gradually, German became the only language of instruction in schools, but Danish did not falter as much as German officials had hoped, and North Schleswig remained Danish in character, although German settlers from other parts of Germany began to be more of a presence in Danish areas. While this is getting ahead of sequence, just to sort of tie this up, after World War One, a public vote was held in the northern and central regions of Schleswig to determine if the border between Denmark and Germany should be altered (southern Schleswig was heavily German, and no vote was needed). The vote in the north was 75% for return to Denmark (the 25% shows the inroads Germans had made, however), while in the central area, which included Flensburg, it was 80% for remaining with Germany. In 1920, the northern region was ceded by Germany to Denmark, along with a fairly small German minority. It has remained this way ever since, although eventually both Germany and Denmark both permitted their respective minorities to use their own language without persecution. (A Word History is below the notes)

* When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the United States had many people who had come here as immigrants, especially from Europe. Some came here as far back as around 1900, give or take a few years. There was a tendency to use the term "nationality" in reference to a person's "background," but often this term was incorrect, at least as to how it was often meant back then. A person's "nationality" simply means the country (nation) where you have citizenship. A little later, the term "ethnic background" became more popular, and this was often what many Americans had previously meant when they used "nationality." In the previous segment, I covered the Poles living in Germany. Their "nationality" was "German," as they were German citizens, but their "ethnic background" was "Polish." In a country as large as the United States, and with most people having come here of their own free will (with the huge exception during the time of slavery) it is easy to forget that in other parts of the world, like Europe, national borders were seldom set by "ethnicity," and often many different "ethnic groups" lived relatively close to one another, even overlapping. "King XYZ of Pneumonia" wanted the iron ore of "Prince ABC of Diphtheria," and he got possession of it by a deal or by war. The population's "ethnic background" was immaterial, and they became "citizens" of "Pneumonia" (what's that deep cough I hear?). Hm, I wonder what the "Duke of Tuberculosis" had? (Hey, there's a hacking cough.) During the 1800s and later, "ethnicity" began to matter much more to people in Europe, as we saw in the fairly recent articles I did in this series about the Austrian Empire, where its minorities wanted either independence, or, like the Italian minority, wanted to become part of Italy. All in all, the term "nationality" is still misused at times.

** When Prussia took control of Schleswig, many thousands of Danes chose to move into Denmark. Later some of these people, unhappy with their situations, crossed back into Schleswig. Who knows how many, but it certainly would not seem to be unreasonable to assume "most" hoped for a return of Danish rule to Schleswig.

WORD HISTORY:
Schön/Sheen-Since I did "Danke" in the last segment, this word is often paired with it, and in fact, there was a famous American song by Wayne Newton called "Danke Schön" (pronounced similarly, but not exactly, like "shane," and it can also be spelled "Schoen"). Many of you may already know that it is the German equivalent to "Thank you very much." Anyway, you get two words again (Hey, I'm going to have to start charging double...let's see...what's 2 x 0?"). There are differing opinions about the ultimate origin of these words. Some believe them to be related to "shine" ("Schein" in German, for all practical purposes pronounced just like its English cousin), and certainly "sheen/schön" are similar in appearance and meaning to "shine." For those unaware, "sheen" means "lustre, gleam, glistening beauty." Its German relative, "schön," means "beautiful (of objects, and also for women), handsome (for men), nice, pretty." The German word is still used far, far more than we use "sheen" in English, and it is used in many expressions, just like "Danke schön," to add emphasis ("danke schön," literally "thanks beautifully," but really, "thanks a lot"). Other linguists feel there is no connection between "sheen/schön" and "shine," except coincidence. You can take your pick, but I tend to favor the idea that there is a relationship, but that's just my opinion. It seems Shakespeare is given credit for using "sheen" (then spelled "sheene") in the noun form, circa 1600. Both "sheen/schön" go back to Old Germanic "skaunaz/skauniz," which then gave Old English "sciene/scene" (the "sc" being pronounced as modern "sh"), and Old High German "sconi/skoni." Later in English the spelling became "shene," while in German it became "schoen." All sources agree that the Old Germanic form came from Indo European, but which root is the question. I prefer "skeu." "Skeu" had the notion of "look at, pay attention to, be aware of." It is the original source of "shine" and "show," which, by the way, in German is "schau(en)," in the verb form ("Schau" as a noun). The idea is, a person would be "aware of, pay attention to," something that "shines, glistens, is beautiful." There are various forms in the Germanic languages besides English "sheen" and German "schön:" Low German has "schöön," "Dutch has "schoon," Norwegian has "skjønn," Swedish has "skön," Danish has "skøn." I could not find a form in either Icelandic nor West Frisian (although Old Norse had "skjoni" and Frisian once had "skene"). By the way, "sheen/schön" are related to English "scone," the cake/cookie, which seems to have come from Scottish English from Dutch "schoonbroot," or "fine, glistening bread." Of course, in this case, English uses the hard "c" sound. Hey, now that's THREE words! What's 3 x 0?