The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty-Four

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Ten
"Last Grasp At Peace"

The British and French wanted Poland and Germany to negotiate directly over Danzig, but Poland was reluctant, and Hitler had said he would not do so after the Polish government had rejected his offer in the spring of 1939. Public opinion in both Britain and France had hardened against Hitler, but in spite of this, the French and British governments still did not believe Danzig was worth war. Hitler finally told the British ambassador to Germany that he would be willing to negotiate directly with a Polish representative who had full power to come to an agreement, and that his basic demands were the return of Danzig to German rule, and a plebiscite (referendum) in the Polish Corridor to determine, which, if any, territory there would return to Germany. The problem now became how to get the Polish government to send such a representative, or to even listen to Hitler's terms.* Finally the Polish ambassador to Germany met with the German Foreign Minister, von Ribbentrop, but the ambassador was not empowered to negotiate an agreement. The talks ended and so did peace. Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland to go forward, as it did on September 1, 1939.

Though Hitler was a son-of-a-bitch, his unification of so many Germans had been quite a remarkable matter, but now he was to rely on war, not diplomacy.**

* While I still believe that by this time Hitler was aiming for war against Poland, some of his actions suggest that he may have been willing to accept another "Munich" type agreement, without war. It is very difficult to tell. He may well have supposed that British and French pressure on the Polish government would force the Poles to send a representative to negotiations, but that the tough Polish position on the matter would remain unchanged, and that the negotiations would therefore break down, leaving little sympathy for Poland in Britain and France, and thus allowing him (Hitler) to invade Poland without serious consequences. Understand, that's just a theory, not fact.

** I say "remarkable," because if you have been following this series, you know how divided the Germans had been for centuries.

WORD HISTORY:
Wehrmacht-This compound word was borrowed into English from German during the World War Two era, as it was the name then used for the German Armed Forces; that is, the combined army, air force and navy, although popular usage made it the term for the Germany Army (ground forces), which technically was "Deutsches Heer;" "Heer" being closely related to English "harry" and "harrow." German "Wehr" means "defense/resistance." For those studying German, in this case it is feminine; thus "die Wehr," but when used to mean "dam" (something that "protects you from water"), as in the now archaic, but closely related English word, "weir," it is neuter; thus "das Wehr." Like English "weir,"^ it goes back to Indo European "wer," which meant "to cover, to shut." The notion of "cover" gave Old Germanic "warjanan," which meant "protection, defense." This same meaning continued in the various Germanic dialects, including Old English, but in both English and German it also took on the meaning of "dam up;" that is, "protect from water," in the Old English verb form "werian," and also the noun "wer," which meant "dam, enclosed area of water." Dutch has "weer," Danish and Norwegian have "forsvar," Swedish "försvar," Icelandic has "varnir," Frisian has "ferwar," "some" Low German has "wäare," all of these versions with the general meaning "defense." The second part of the compound, "Macht," is the same as English "might," as in "power, force." For the history of "might," and therefore, German "Macht," see the "Word History" here: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/07/german-question-part-one-hundred_15.html

^ For the history of the word "weir" in English, here is the link to the article:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/06/danish-sandwich-with-egg-shrimp.html 

The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty-Two

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Nine/2
"Toward War Over Danzig" Part Two

With the British and French governments still cleaning egg from their faces from Hitler's occupation of the Czech lands, the prospect of another crisis, this time involving Poland, confronted them. They needed to make a statement to reassure, not only Poland, but their own people, who had now hardened their positions about Hitler. British Prime Minister Chamberlain gave that assurance, saying that Britain and France would support Poland, "if" Polish independence were threatened. The assurance was verbal only, although negotiations with Poland for a formal treaty were promised, and there was no specific mention of Danzig or of the Polish Corridor. Why? Because neither the French nor the British governments felt Danzig was worth war, especially since both governments agreed with the basic German position that Danzig should return to Germany. Their problem was, they could not get Polish leaders to agree with that position. Their intentions were to support Danzig's rejoining Germany, but in return, to have Hitler join in serious peace negotiations. How to accomplish this? A show of strength.

With the unification of Germany in 1871, the French eventually signed an alliance with Russia. This gave France a strong ally on Germany's eastern frontier, while France provided Russia with a strong ally on Germany's western frontier. Any war would require the Germans to divide their forces to combat the two major European powers on opposite sides of their country. When war broke out in 1914 ("the Great War," later called "World War One"), the Germans had a plan to try to deal with this two-front war, which failed (see the articles in this series dealing with World War One for more info). In 1939, the idea of the British and French governments was to once again form an alliance with Russia, then called the Soviet Union. However, there were two major problems. First, the Soviet Union was communist. The other nations of Europe were highly suspicious of dealing with such a nation, and in fact, at that point in time, the nations of eastern Europe were likely far more fearful of Soviet Russia than they were of Nazi Germany. Second, unlike in 1914, Soviet Russia did not have a common border with Germany in 1939, thus limiting the Soviets' ability to help in any war. The British and French negotiated with the Soviets, who wanted to deploy troops in Poland, something the Poles would not allow. Negotiations between Britain/France and the Soviet Union broke down in mid August.* There was now no show of strength to deter Hitler and force him to talk peace, if Danzig were returned to Germany.

In an astonishing turn of events that probably had Stalin spilling his "borscht," German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop contacted the Soviets about a possible deal between Germany and the Soviet Union.

* The Polish leaders have been criticized for not accepting a pretty liberal offer from Hitler over Danzig (see previous article), and then rejecting Soviet troops on their territory; thus throwing a wrench into those negotiations. With Britain and France in western Europe, how the Poles would then defend themselves against a German invasion was very much in question.

WORD HISTORY:
Rat-This noun goes back to Indo European "redh," which had the notion of "scraping," and thus "gnawing." So it seems, our ancient ancestors saw the rat, or more generally, rodents, as "the gnawing animals." This then produced the Old Germanic offshoot "ratton," which was more specific in meaning, "rat." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "raet," and then what has become the modern form, which has existed in unaltered form for centuries. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German "Ratte" (originally ""ratta"), Low German Saxon "Rott," some other Low German dialects "Raut," Dutch "rat," Frisian "rot," Danish and Norwegian "rotte," Icelandic "rotta," and Swedish "råtta."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty-One

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Nine
"Toward War Over Danzig"

In April 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt communicated to Hitler a number of his concerns about events in Europe. Up until this point, "isolationist" America had largely stayed out of the developing situation in Europe. Hitler summoned the Reichstag into session as a platform to give a public answer to Roosevelt and to publicly lay out his proposals to Poland to deal with issues of the former German territories lost to Poland as a result of post-World War One border adjustments.*

The issues between Germany and Poland were over the city of Danzig and the area known as "the Polish Corridor." When Poland was re-established after World War One, the country needed an outlet to the Baltic Sea for trade. The territories along that part of the Baltic all belonged to just defeated Germany. These areas had been under German rule for quite some time, but still, the population of certain areas was mixed, with actual Polish majorities in many places.** An area was carved out to provide Poland with access to the sea, and this area came to be known as "the Polish Corridor." It was a "corridor," because it divided the largest part of Germany from its eastern province, East Prussia. Also in the eastern area of this corridor lay the port city of Danzig, a city with between 90-95% German population. Poland needed a port, but with the city so overwhelmingly German, it was decided to remove Danzig from German rule, make it a "free city," and place it under a League of Nations commissioner; Poland, however, was given special rights in Danzig to guarantee Polish use of its port facilities, and all routes in and out of the city, both by rail and roadway, were under Polish control.

In his speech to the Reichstag, Hitler told of the proposal he had made to the Polish government about Danzig:
-Danzig would return to German rule, but Germany would recognize and acknowledge Polish economic rights in Danzig
-Germany would build and control a rail line through the (Polish) corridor, as a sort of corridor through the corridor, to have direct land connection to her territories in Danzig/East Prussia
-Germany would then "accept the borders between Germany and Poland as final"
-Germany and Poland would sign a "non-aggression pact" of 25 year duration.

This proposal is actually quite astounding to me. Hitler was giving up any claim on the Polish Corridor territories, which had been a sore spot for many Germans (of course, what were they going to do, protest to Hitler?). He wanted Danzig returned to Germany, but he would then guarantee Polish economic rights there.*** Why the Polish government refused the offer is puzzling (although just how the "corridor through the corridor" would have worked, I'm not sure), except that they had seen Hitler deal with Czechoslovakia recently, and they had decided the safest deal with Hitler was no deal.****

Prominent, but controversial, British historian, A.J. P. Taylor believed Hitler was willing to put such an offer on the table to Poland, because he wanted Poland as an ally in a war against the Soviet Union. I tend to agree with Taylor on this point, as there was no love lost between Poland and the Soviet Union; the former Russia. Taylor argued that Hitler needed an area with a fairly large common border with the Soviet Union, and Poland certainly qualified for that. By having Poland as an ally in such a war, Hitler would have been able to send troops and supplies for those troops through Poland, without having to worry about occupying and garrisoning the country, which would have been necessary, if he were to take it over by force; thus creating an adversary in the rear of his armies fighting the Soviet Union. Whatever Hitler's reason(s), the Polish rejection of the proposal caused rising tensions in Europe over the summer of 1939.

Hitler's speech of that day, April 28, 1939, is perhaps his most famous, and its best remembered segment had to do with one of his answers to Roosevelt. Who advised Roosevelt to send such a letter to Hitler, worded as it was, must have been under the influence of some strange substance. Roosevelt asked for the assurance that Germany would not invade any of the countries enumerated in Roosevelt's question. Hitler, on friendly grounds in the German Reichstag, and with a huge radio audience in Europe and elsewhere, turned the question into a belittlement of Roosevelt by sarcastically reading off the names of the individual countries, ALL 30 OF THEM. The German delegates broke into laughter as the list went on and on (American correspondent and writer William L. Shirer mistakenly says in his book, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," that Hitler left out Poland from the list, but that is not true. I've seen the clip of that part of the speech numerous times, and Hitler did indeed mention Poland, which in German is "Polen"). Hitler then also turned the question on Roosevelt, by asking by whose authority the American president was asking for assurances for these countries. Further, by noting that Roosevelt had mentioned "Ireland" as one of the countries, Hitler said that he checked with Irish officials to determine whether they felt threatened by Germany, and he had received the answer that they were far more fearful of Britain, than Germany.***** He noted too that some countries mentioned in Roosevelt's list were not independent countries at all, but under "occupation" by British or French forces. It was quite an embarrassment for Roosevelt and his foreign policy people.

* Hitler had already communicated his proposals to Poland, but the Polish government, with Jozef Beck as Foreign Minister, had rejected them, although the Poles agreed to ponder some of the proposals. I've given the essentials of Hitler's proposal in the text above.

** After these areas became part of Poland, large numbers of Germans moved over the border, in one direction or the other, into Germany over the following years, but by 1939, there was still a German minority there, but much reduced in size.

*** Poland had been developing her own port at Gdynia, not far from Danzig, but that only lessened the importance of Danzig to Poland somewhat.

**** The Polish government also had claims against Czechoslovakia, as I noted in the earlier articles about the Czech crisis, so they weren't exactly innocent in the dismemberment of that country.

***** Of course, in case you did not already know, Ireland and Britain had very bitter feelings between them, something that has settled down somewhat, but not completely, even in our own time.

WORD HISTORY:
Rathskeller-Some of you may live in an area where you have a bar and restaurant with the name "Rathskeller," so I thought I'd keep the tie in with this series on Germany by doing this compound word, borrowed into English from German, although English also has forms of both parts of this compound on its own. Since it is a compound, first the "rath" part, which is NOT related to our word "rat," the rodent ("rat, the animal, IS, however, related to the first part of "rodent")." Since we're at the part of German history about Hitler, I think I will do the history of "rat," the animal, next, as it is appropriate. German "Rat(h)," is closely related to English "read" and the archaic "rede" (advise/council/counsel), although since these are verbs, the actual related German verb is "raten." It goes back to Indo European "re(i)," with the general meaning of "to reason," and thus, "to consider." This gave the Old Germanic spinoff "raedaz," with the notion of "consider, interpret, advise" (all tied to "reason"). Modern German "Rat," a noun, means "advice, counsel," and was originally "rad," in Old High German. By the way, German "Rathaus" is not a "rat house," but rather "city hall," or "town council house." The modern meaning of its English relative, the verb "read," came from the notion of "interpreting a text." The "Keller" part, as does English "cellar," goes back to Indo European "kel," which had the idea of "conceal, cover;" thus by extension "save, protect." This gave Latin "cella," which meant "storage room, storeroom." This then produced "cellarium," a word for "pantry, storeroom." Old French inherited the word from Latin as "celier," and it meant an underground storage room" (people kept many things in underground storage to keep them cool). English then borrowed the word, probably from Norman French (the Normans would have brought their form of the word with them to England), as "celer," and then the modern spelling. German also borrowed the word from French "cellier," as "chellari," which then became "kellari," before the modern spelling. "Rathskeller" developed from the practice of selling beer from the cellar of town halls, where is was kept cool before refrigeration was available.

The German Question, Part Ninety-Seven

"A Divisive Treaty" Part Six/C-2

"Territorial Changes/Eastern Boundaries"

The most contentious provisions of the Versailles Treaty were not really about the establishment of a Polish state, but rather what borders that new state would have. The Allies, much supported by American President Woodrow Wilson, wanted the new Polish nation to have an outlet to the Baltic Sea, mainly for the purpose of trade. The problem was, German East Prussia was directly to the north of most of the core of the new Polish nation, to the northeast lay Lithuania, and to the northwest lay much of German West Prussia. Lithuania was also just being established from the former Russian Empire, and was overwhelmingly Lithuanian.* East Prussia was overwhelmingly German, with some pro-Polish elements, mainly along its border areas with Poland.** This left West Prussia. The population of the region was somewhere between about 550,000 and 600,000 Poles and about 375,000 to 425,000 Germans. The area was given to Poland, providing a "corridor" to the Baltic Sea between German East Prussia to the east and the rest of Germany to the west. In the midst of the area lay the city of Danzig (Gdańsk in Polish) with a population of about 360,000, very heavily German. The combined Polish and Kashubian percentage of the population is tough to pin down, but "about" 10-12%. Kashubians were a Slavic people and thus related to the Poles. Danzig was made a "free city" under the administration of the newly established "League of Nations," but it was to serve Poland as a port.

No question about it, the "Polish Corridor," as it came to be called, and the detachment of Danzig from Germany, was a VERY sore spot for many Germans, and undoubtedly not just with right wing elements. This became a very significant territorial dispute with Poland a few years after Hitler took power and I will cover it later.

* The city of Memel (called "Klaipeda" by Lithuanians) and the area around it became part of Lithuania, after initial control by the League of Nations. The area had a population of about 140,000, about 27% of whom were Lithuanians, with the rest German and "Germanized" Lithuanians. The idea was to eventually hold a referendum to determine if the area should return to Germany, but it never happened. The loss of this territory remained something of a grievance for some Germans.

** East Prussia was a mixture of Germans and people of Slavic background who, over time, had been "Germanized," and thus many (probably most) saw themselves as "Germans." There were also some elements of Lithuanian background along its eastern border, many of them "Germanized." A referendum (plebiscite) was held in the border areas in accordance with the Versailles Treaty. The results were overwhelming for most areas remaining in Germany, and only a couple of small areas in the western part (bordering West Prussia) were made part of Poland.

WORD HISTORY:
Eat-This word goes back to the Indo European root "ed/et" (see note) which meant "to bite." This then gave Old Germanic "etanan," meaning "to eat," which then gave Old English "etan," with the same meaning. It later was spelled "eten," before acquiring the modern spelling "eat." Frisian has "ite," Dutch and Low German Saxon have "eten," standard German has "essen," Luxembourish has "iessen," Swedish has "äta," Icelandic has "eta." Both modern Danish and modern Norwegian use a different word for "eat," but Danish had "aede," and Norwegian had "ete" (might still be used in dialect?). The modern German and Luxembourgish "s" sound compared to the "t" in the other Germanic languages traces back centuries ago and is not uncommon in other words, like English "kettle," but German "Kessel." It was part of the sound shift that took place in the Germanic dialects generally stretching from central Germany southwards dating back about 1200 to 1400 years ago.

Note: In reference to "et," many, many years ago I heard this little joke: A boy in school told his teacher, "Teacher, I et six eggs for breakfast." The teacher said, "You mean ate, don't you?" The boy said, "Hm, maybe it was eight that I et." (Hey, no falling on the floor in laughter.)

The German Question, Part Thirty-Seven

Just ever so slightly edited 8/15/2015


"Aftermath of Napoleon" Part One

When Napoleon was first sent into exile in 1814, representatives of many of the major European powers assembled in Vienna to work out the many border issues left in the wake of Napoleon's fall. By the time final agreements of this Congress of Vienna, as it was called, were signed in 1815, Napoleon was again on the march, after having escaped from his captivity on the island of Elba (off the western Italian coast). His final defeat came only days AFTER the agreements had been signed.

The Congress of Vienna changed the map of Europe, and the changes were far too numerous to enumerate here, but many dealt with the German states and what to do with them now that the Holy Roman Empire (the German Empire) had been dissolved. The negotiations and diplomatic twists and turns are also far too complex for this article. The Napoleonic creation, the Duchy of Warsaw, was divided between Russia and Prussia, with Russia receiving the largest portion (including Warsaw), but with Prussia receiving the territory in and around the city of Posen (Poznan, in Polish). This area was heavily Polish in ethnicity, with a German minority of about 25%.* Prussia also received a large chunk of Saxony (one of the German states),** Danzig,*** Westphalia (another German state), and the Rhineland, much of which had been occupied and then annexed by France during Napoleon's rule.**** Prussia came out of Vienna much larger.

To be continued.... (Two Word Histories are below the notes)

* Even after a hundred years of Prussian/German rule, about two-thirds of the population still considered themselves to be Polish.

** Saxony had been known previously as the "Electorate of Saxony" (" Kurfürstentum Sachsen," in German); that is, it had a vote in the election for German emperors, but it was given the elevated status of "Kingdom of Saxony" ("Königreich Sachsen," in German), by Napoleon. The ruler of Saxony, with the new title, "King Friedrich August I," allied himself to Napoleon. Previous family ties to the kings of Poland, which by then no longer existed (it had been partitioned out of existence-See previous parts of this series for details), had Napoleon choose Friedrich August as head of the French created "Duchy of Warsaw." The king's strong ties to Napoleon made it very difficult for him later, when other German states banded together to drive Napoleon out of German territory. He tried to have it both ways by establishing ties with his fellow German rulers, but by also remaining as an ally of Napoleon. Napoleon demanded that the king put Saxon (and Polish) military forces into the field against the other German and allied armies, but in the end, most of the Saxon forces defected and joined their fellow Germans against Napoleon. During the Congress of Vienna, the king's ties to Napoleon did him no good, and there's no question those ties helped negotiators decide to award part of Saxony to Prussia, although Friedrich August remained on the throne of the reduced kingdom, probably more out of Austrian concern that Prussia, its arch competitor in German affairs, would become too strong.

*** When the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, Napoleon had Danzig declared a "free city," separate from other German lands. Interestingly, this sort of pattern was used after World War One when Danzig was made a "free city," under the League of Nations. I'll deal much more with this later.

**** The Rhineland area in question was overwhelmingly German in population, but the French had long coveted the region for its many resources and industries, and they sought to make the Rhine River France's eastern boundary (as they had in Alsace), regardless of ethnic make up of the area (just as we can also say how German states took over areas often with Slavic or Hungarian majorities along their eastern borders).

WORD HISTORY:
Dale-This goes back to Indo European "dhel," which had the notion of "curve;" thus also, "valley." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dalam/dalom," which meant "valley, gorge." This then gave Old English "dael," with the same meaning, and this then became "dale." The other Germanic languages have: German "Tal," Low German Saxon "Daal," West Frisian "delling," Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic all have "dal." All these forms mean "valley, dale," in the other Germanic languages too.

Dell-Like its close relative "dale," this goes back to Indo European "dhel" (notion of  "curve," thus "valley"). The Old Germanic base "dal," then gave Old Germanic "daljo." This then gave Old English "dell," which later became "delle," before reverting to "dell." Other Germanic relatives include Dutch "delle" and German "Delle," with the meaning "depression, dent, hollow,"  A famous old childhood song is "The Farmer in the Dell."

The German Question, Part Thirty-One

"The Dismantling Of Poland" Part Two

Frederick the Great died in 1786 leaving no direct heir, as he was childless. His successor was Friedrich Wilhelm II (Frederick William II), the son of one of Frederick the Great's brothers. Meanwhile, in Russia, Catherine the Great was still in control (known as Empress or Tsarina). This information is important only because they were the rulers who participated in the Second Partition of Poland, during 1793.

What brought about this partitioning was simply this; the remainder of Poland after partition #1 was still a very troubled land, and much dependent upon Russia. The Poles decided to enter into an alliance with Prussia, hoping that it would give them some balance against Russia intervening in their affairs. Polish attempts to keep Russia out of their reforms only angered Catherine the Great, and she eventually sent in troops, who, along with Poles of pro-Russian sentiments, essentially took over Poland. Prussia chose not to intervene against the Russian military advance, in spite of its treaty with Poland. For this reason, and for Prussia's stand against the revolutionary government in France,* Friedrich Wilhelm demanded compensation of Polish territory from Catherine, and she agreed; thus the Second Partition of Poland.

Russia took a large part of what is known today as "Belarus," plus the area of Kiev, in the Ukraine (today just "Ukraine," with no preceding "the"), and part of Lithuania. Prussia received the very important city of Danzig (Gdansk, in Polish), some lands to the south of Prussia with a mixed German-Polish population (but mainly Polish), plus a large section of Polish populated territory. Many of the new lands were formed into the new province of "South Prussia" (Südpreussen, in German), with the provincial capital, for a time, at Posen (Poznań, in Polish). Poland still remained as an entity, but with only about a third of its former population (compared to what it had prior to the first partition). Worse was to come.

* Naturally, all absolute monarchies in Europe were worried that the ideas of the French Revolution would spread to their own lands, and Russia was certainly one of those lands.

WORD HISTORY:
Partition-This goes back to Indo European "per," which seemingly had variants, but the basic notion was "distributing;" and thus the idea of "dividing" and "portioning" comes out. This gave Latin the offshoot verb "partire," which meant "to divide up, portion off, split up." The verb's participle form "partitus," then gave Latin the noun form "partitio," which then was passed onto Old French (a Latin-based language) as "particion." English acquired it from French in about the 1430s, and one source notes that at first it was spelled "particioun" under the influence of the French of that time (modern French spells it as the English version), and with the meaning "division into shares," but within just a few decades, it had taken on the more modern extended meaning of "separation." The verb form seems to have come along in the 1700s.