The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty-Four

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/F 1
"Germany Versus the Soviet Union" Part One "Background"

Going back to his book "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle"), Hitler talked often about Germans needing "Lebensraum" ("living space"). In Europe (and elsewhere, for that matter), looking well back in history, as various peoples settled into areas, developing their respective homelands, they often lacked various resources to help with their existence or to keep up with the changes taking place over the centuries, or to keep up with their own population growth. This led to one of two things happening; either they developed some sort of commerce with other people to get the items or land they needed, or they tried to take what they needed by conquest. If you have followed this series, you have seen how rulers tried to gain lands or specific resources by a variety of methods, including "strategic marriages," trade deals, and certainly wars (indeed "ego" played a part, too). For centuries, the "ethnic" composition of a region did not much matter to the rulers. They wanted certain territories for waterways, raw materials or other resources, including later, factories these areas possessed, not necessarily for the people who lived there. Later, however, the people living in these various territories developed a much more cohesive sense of "belonging to particular groups," which brought on the development of "nationalism" and the desire of these groups of people to live together and be ruled by people with much their same background, especially language, and often other characteristics, like religion. With so many territorial changes over the centuries having been made with little or no regard to the "ethnic background" of the population, the new sense of nationalism was bound to bring conflict. With western and central Europe more densely populated, Hitler saw the more sparsely populated, but agriculturally, and even industrially productive, areas of the Ukraine and other parts of the Soviet Union as the target for German expansion.

The population of these areas would become slaves to Germans, or be "eliminated." In Poland, many Poles in the areas annexed to Germany were moved to other regions, and per the agreement with the Soviet Union, Germans were resettled from Soviet controlled areas to places like the former Polish Corridor. Further, again per the German-Soviet agreement, in 1940 the Soviets moved into the small Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and they then annexed them to the Soviet Union. There were German minority settlements* within both Latvia and Estonia, some of these German settlements dating back centuries. A process of resettlement of these "Baltic Germans" to former Polish territory started, but it was interrupted by Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

Further, also per the German-Soviet agreement, the Soviet Union pressured Rumania for a large region of its eastern boundary, called Bessarabia, and also a part of the Bukovina region, and these areas were annexed to the expanding Soviet empire. The turmoil caused the abdication of the Rumanian king, who was succeeded by King Michael, a great-great grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria. However, much of the real power lay with right wing general, Ion Antonescu, who became Prime Minister. Antonescu was pro-German, and Rumania became much closer with Hitler's Reich as a consequence. Rumania signed the Axis alliance within weeks of Antonescu's taking power. Rumania was very important to Hitler's plans, because of extensive oil reserves and oil refineries located there.** German troops and military advisers were permitted on Rumanian territory. Germany now had a common border with the Soviet Union from northern Europe to southern Europe; that is, with its own border in East Prussia and in occupied Poland, combined with the pro-German nations in eastern Europe, and Finland, in the far north, a nation anxious to get back the territory it ceded to the Soviets in 1940. Hitler now prepared to use that lengthy border to invade his "pact partner," the Soviet Union.

* These Germans were often referred to as "Baltic Germans."

** So, as you can see, the battle over oil was well under way long before our own era. It also demonstrates the point I made in the opening part above about nations and resources. Germany was technologically advanced in the automotive and aviation industries compared to many other nations, including the various military aspects of these industries, but it lacked extensive oil of its own as fuel for its vehicles, although this was not a situation limited to Germany, as other nations suffered similar low domestic oil production.

WORD HISTORY:
Soviet-This word came into use in English in the aftermath of the Bolshevik takeover in Russia. It is a compound formed from "su" and "vetu;" "su" meaning "with" and "vetu" meaning "counsel, advise." The history of both of these words is sketchy beyond about 900 A.D., but the compound goes back to Old Church Slavonic "suvetu," with a general meaning of "with agreement" (to something). Old Church Slavonic was the oldest form of written Slavic, developed back around 900 to translate religious texts into Slavic; thus the "church" terminology. The term passed into Old Russian, still with the same spelling, before altering to "sovet" ("совет" in the Cyrillic alphabet used by Russian, Serbian, and Bulgarian, for instance), which meant "council." The Bolsheviks used the term for a type of "governance council of workers." Once in power, the Bolsheviks "united" these various councils, giving the former Russian Empire the name "Soviet Union," a shortened form of "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Eight
"Memel Rejoins Germany"

Hitler used the "unification of Germans" as a potent issue, and I'm sure he essentially believed in it himself, given his history going back to his younger days among German nationalists in Austria.* It was not only a potent issue with Germans, but with many non-Germans, who sympathized with his attempts to put Germans living adjacent to, or near, Germany, under Germany's rule. This issue was, in my opinion, one of the reasons Britain and France did not act against him, up to that point;** they did not feel comfortable in risking war over issues where Hitler held sort of a "moral high ground." In the case of the occupation of the true Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia (German: Böhmen und Mähren; Czech: Čechy) by Hitler, he no longer held that moral high ground, as he could NOT justify it by saying he was just taking in Germans. In this case, he used the "historical connection" between these lands and Germany, as these territories had belonged to the Old German Empire, and later, as a possession of the Habsburgs, to the German Confederation in the 1800s. This position was far less defensible, and world opinion now took a serious turn against Hitler.

Just days after Germany occupied the Czech territory, the city of Memel (called "Klaipeda" by Lithuanians) and its environs entered the picture. The area had been detached from Germany and put under the League of Nations after World War One, but it had been taken over by Lithuania a couple of years later. The area had a population of about 140-150,000, about 27% of whom were Lithuanians, with the rest being German and "Germanized" Lithuanians, and it had been under some form of German rule for centuries (Prussia, German Empire, Weimar Republic). As Hitler's rule in Germany continued, pro-German unification elements increased their representation in elections to the local Memel legislative body to nearly 90%. These elements planned to vote for unification with Germany in a meeting in late March 1939. A Lithuanian representative met with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, who verbally threatened Germany would militarily enter the region. The British and French, still stung by Hitler's move into Bohemia and Moravia, could offer no help to far off Lithuania and Lithuania signed an agreement ceding the region to Germany on March 23 and German troops entered, followed by Hitler, who came by ship.

* I say "he essentially believed in it," because he was first and foremost a politician. Being a politician obviously means he was subject to changes of opinion when it suited him.

** The Great Depression had caused many nations, including the United States, to turn inward in an attempt to solve their own economic problems. The German areas, those then outside of the German boundaries, were an exception. As Germany's unemployment dropped under Hitler, these Germans were drawn even more in their desires, beyond just being "Germans," to become a part of Germany. The British and French leaders, perhaps more in an effort to justify inaction against Hitler, also said they needed extensive rearmament programs before they could consider risking war to oppose Hitler. The problem was, early on in Hitler's aggressiveness, the German military was NOT all that strong, although the British and French "seemed" to have misjudged German strength, believing Hitler's "claims" of German military might. Certainly as time passed, the German military continued to strengthen, making British and French beliefs in German might closer to reality.

WORD HISTORY:
Horse-You would think this word is common in many Indo European languages, since the "horse" has been so important to humans. Well the forms of this word are not common, except in the Germanic languages, and even some of those languages do not use those forms any longer as their primary word for "horse." It goes back to Indo European "kers," with the meaning "run," a word base befitting of "horse," and which makes it related to "hurry." This then gave Old Germanic "(k)hursaz," or perhaps "(k)hrusaz," which meant "horse." No matter which form, some Germanic dialects transposed the "r" and vowel sounds. This gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "hors" (ah...no snickers!), before the modern spelling. German has "Ross" (obviously with the "h" sound gone), and with the more specific meaning "steed." In more modern times, German uses the word less and less, as they borrowed a word from Latin for their every day word for horse, that being "Pferd" (pronounced like 'pfairt'). West Frisian has "hoars," Dutch has "ros," Icelandic has "hross." The other Germanic languages, or dialects (from further back) had forms of the word, too, but they have either died out, or they are seldom used anymore.

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

"The Dismantling of Poland" Part One

While this is about German history, you might wonder why a segment about Poland is included. Well, two of the German states, Prussia and Austria, were involved in what is known to history as "The Partitions of Poland," and both added Polish territory to their realms. The overall politics of these partitions (there were three partitions over about a 23 year period) is far more complicated than I want to deal with here, but I'll leave it as a basic effort to maintain a certain balance of power between Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Just a little background: Poland and Lithuania had been joined in a commonwealth in the 1500s.* Initially it was very powerful, both militarily and economically, but over time its power and political stability declined. There were many reasons for this decline, but one reason was the vast diversity of its people, both ethnically and by religion. While Poles were the largest group in the commonwealth, there were substantial numbers of Lithuanians, Jews, Ukrainians, Ruthenians and Germans.** Roman Catholicism was the largest single religion, but there were significant numbers of Eastern Orthodox, Protestants (mainly Lutherans), Eastern Catholics (some referred to as Uniate members), and Jews. A decline in trade, uprisings by some Ukrainians, and out and out civil war conditions helped weaken the commonwealth, and eventually Russia became its protector.

The first partition, known by the unique name....ah..."The First Partition of Poland," was mainly engineered by Frederick the Great in 1772, even though he got the smallest amount of territory. Prussia took much of the northern parts of Polish territory, which included tacking on lands to northeastern Prussia, aka "East Prussia" (Ostpreussen, in German). It also obtained the lands along the Baltic coast and inland, thus depriving Poland of seaports (this issue would come back in the future, and I will cover it when we get to the aftermath of World War One). Much of this new land was called "West Prussia" (Westpreussen, in German). This new territory then linked East Prussia with the rest of Brandenburg/Prussia. Austria received a huge portion of what was known as "Galicia" (in southern and sw Poland) and a further part of southeastern Poland, including the town of Oświęcim, later to become infamous during World War Two, and better known by its German name...Auschwitz. Russia received large territories to the east and northeast. Russia at that time was ruled by Catherine II, better known as "Catherine the Great," who was a German by birth. Only a small rump of Poland remained at that time outside the borders of her neighbors.

The two German states together added more than three million people to their populations, although Prussia gained many people of German or mixed German-Polish background, and Austria gained many non-Germans. The fact that Austria had so many non-German populated territories was an issue that would gradually begin to disqualify Austria, more specifically the Habsburgs, from leading Germany in the eyes of some Germans.

One little humorous note, if there is anything humorous about carving up a country: While Maria Theresa's son and co-ruler of the Habsburg lands (and German Emperor), Joseph, had actually helped plan the partition of Poland, Maria Theresa initially opposed the plans as detrimental to Poland. Frederick the Great later noted something to the effect that (Maria Theresa) cried (in sympathy for the Poles) when she took their land, but the more she cried, the more land she took!

* As I've cautioned previously in this series, national and geographic terms, like in this case, Poland from those times, do not always correspond to our more modern concepts of these territories, as borders changed, sometimes, substantially so.

** The percentage of the population of these various groups changed as the borders periodically changed during the time the commonwealth lasted.

WORD HISTORY:
Court-This goes back to the Indo European root "gher," which meant "enclose/fence or wall in." This gave the Latin offshoot "cohors/cors," which meant "an enclosed area surrounding a house or building." From this, Old French, a Latin-based language, got "cort/curt," which took on the the more specific meaning of "king's or noble's enclosed yard around his residence." This came to English in the latter part of the 1100s from Anglo-Norman, but is more commonly rendered in modern English as the compound "courtyard" ("yard" is from the Germanic roots of English). This basic notion, perhaps associated then with the similar Latin word "curia," which meant "sovereign's assembly/personnel," gave us this further meaning, perhaps seen as "king's personnel assembled in the court(yard)." Further still, association with "curia," which meant "council," gave the term the more legalistic sense that we still use, as in "court of law," as originally, a king/ruler literally sat at the head of a council (or by himself) to decide legal matters of the citizenry. It seems some linguists believe that the verbal meaning "pay court to someone," came from the Italian form "corteggiare" (pay honor to someone) of the above Old Latin word. Others seem to feel it just came from the same path as "court" itself, simply meaning "to behave in a proper manner in court, or to behave as if in court." The verb seems to have come into English usage in the 1500s.

The German Question, Part Eleven

The Germans, along with Swedes and Danes, also advanced into the eastern Baltic areas for trade and to Christianize the various peoples there, who were to become the modern Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians.* Gradually Germans began to settle in these areas, especially due to trade. In one area the Germans became a significant majority of the population, although I’m sure they absorbed the local, non-German population over time. This was an area centered around a German-built castle called “Memel,” and the region did indeed become part of Germany.** Further east and northeast, in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, German communities developed, but in these areas, the Germans never became anything like a majority of the population, although they tended to have high social status due to commercial interests and even military positions, essentially ruling these areas and developing large estates there. Later, when these “Baltic States” became part of the Tsarist Russian Empire, a number of these Baltic Germans, as they came to be called, joined in the Russian government or military.

Further to the south in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, Germans were invited by Bohemian kings to settle in places largely devoid of population due to the Mongol invasion. These Germans tended to settle in the northern, western and southern fringes of Bohemia, where in many places, areas became pretty much exclusively German, but many areas became very mixed, being shared between Czechs and Germans. This general area later came to be known, even in English, as the Sudetenland; so called because of the Sudeten Mountains there. Some Germans also migrated into interior Bohemia, areas that were predominantly Czech, where they established German communities, or where they were eventually assimilated into the majority Czech population.

Transylvania had been conquered by the Hungarians, but the Hungarian king invited Germans to settle in parts of the territory to help defend it against intruders. Most of these Germans were Saxons, and they came to be called “Transylvanian Saxons,” although over time, other non-Saxon Germans came to the region. The Germans were also seemingly welcomed by the Hungarian king because of their expertise in business and mining, and they held an elevated status in Transylvania, even later, when much of the region became part of Rumania.**** (A “Word History” is below the notes)

*The Estonians are closely related to the Finns, both linguistically and ethnically, and they speak a Uralic language. The Lithuanians and Latvians are closely related, and speak Indo European languages; that is, they speak  languages related to English, but further down the family tree, as these are classified as Baltic languages, or also called Balto-Slavic by some.

** Memel was located on what later became the German-Lithuanian border.

*** Parts of the Sudeten Mountains are actually in Poland and Germany. The word is pronounced as if "sue-DAY-ten."

**** The world has been full of political “hot spots” over the centuries, including in our present time, and Transylvania has been one of those areas. The territory’s “rightful ownership” has been at the center of a bitter dispute between the Hungarians and the Rumanians. The question centers around the very origins of the modern Rumanians, but that’s another subject. The overall dispute has been so bitter, that during World War Two, Hungary and Rumania, both allied to Hitler’s Germany, sent substantial military forces to fight against the Soviet Union, but the Germans had to keep these forces separated from one another, lest they attack each other rather than the Soviets. Further, the Germans accused both nations of keeping too many troops on the Hungarian-Rumanian border opposing each other, rather than sending the units to Russia.

WORD HISTORY:
Holt-While this is now an antiquated word in English, it is part of a number of place names, especially in England, and also is a family name, so I included it. It goes back to Indo European "khald," seemingly with a connection to "wood/timber/trees," from the base "kel," which had the notion of "cut" (you "cut" down trees for wood/lumber). The Old Germanic offshoot was "khulto," (with the "h" sound being more prominent) which in turn gave Old English "holt," which meant "woods, cluster of trees, grove." The spelling has remained consistent in English through the centuries. Forms in the other Germanic languages are: Dutch and West Frisian "hout" (where the "L" sound died out, meaning 'wood, timber'), German Holz (wood, timber), Low German "holt" (wood, timber), Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic "holt" (hilltop grove) and Swedish "holt/hult" (from what I understand, now only dialect, with the spelling variations, for "grove, woods"). Interestingly, the name "Holland" likely derives from "holt" and "land," thus meaning a "woodland."

The German Question, Part Five

Updated slightly 7/1/2015, then updated again (the Word History) on 6/9/22

Remember, it is believed by many historians (and seemingly supported by archaeology) that Germanic peoples spread into other parts of Europe, including eastern and central Europe, from the northern areas of Europe. Beginning in the 500s A.D., Slavic tribes* spread into areas often vacated by Germanic tribes in the eastern parts of Europe. It is believed that the primary reason that these Germanic peoples left the area was that they fled invaders from central Asia, especially the Huns.** In modern geographic terminology, the areas involved were Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, part of Belarus, and part of Ukraine (and undoubtedly a part of Lithuania***). Also included were parts of modern Germany, up to the area of the Elbe River. (A Word History is below the notes)

*Many linguists seem to agree that the various Slavic elements didn’t show great diversification in dialects for quite some time, making communication between these tribes relatively easy. Slavic is an Indo European language and is therefore related to English, but further down the family tree.

** The Huns were a nomadic group of people, long thought to be from Asia. They were excellent horsemen and fierce warriors, but their origins are murky. They appear in distant southeastern Europe in the vicinity of the Black Sea in the mid 300s A.D. Historians have generally believed them to be from central Asia and related to the Turks, but even the answer as to why they might have moved westward into Europe has never been clearly established. "Typically" the various tribes moved to find better sources of food, or because they lost their homeland to invaders. The Huns are, of course, best known for one of their leaders, Attila. The Huns took over large parts of Europe for a time, but eventually a coalition, largely of Germanic tribes in eastern Europe, defeated them in the mid 400s. The center of their empire became Pannonia, now basically modern Hungary.      

*** All of these modern countries still speak Slavic languages, with the exception of Lithuania. Many linguists feel there was a period of overlap between the Slavic languages and the Baltic languages, which includes Lithuanian, but that the two diverged from one another. On the other hand, some linguists still use “Balto-Slavic” as the term for these languages, as they feel the two are too closely related to be grouped separately. Lithuanian is thought by some (many?) linguists to be the least altered, and thus the closest, living language to the original Indo European, but this is a subject in its own right, and is thus beyond the scope of this article.

WORD HISTORY:
Toy-While this is a fairly common word in English, its origins are uncertain. In writing, as "toye," it came to be used in the 1300s with the meaning "amorous dalliance;" that is, "casual sexual affair." This later (in the 1500s) brought about the more expanded meaning of anything done for "fun, entertainment, or amusement," including "funny remarks," and by the late 1500s, "object for a child's entertainment" developed. Where did English get it? Did English already have a spoken form of the word in English dialect that was simply not used by the literate element of English society? Did an Old English form die out, ^ only to be resurrected by borrowing the word? The English traded goods heavily with the areas of the North Sea coast, which included the close relatives of English: Dutch, Frisian, and German (both Low German and High German). Low German has "tüg," and standard German has "Zeug" (the "eu" is pronounced as English "oy," and the "Z" is pronounced "ts"), with the generalized meaning "tool/implement (usually as the compound "Werkzeug;" literally, "work implement"), implement, stuff," and standard German has "Spielzeug," meaning "toy." Dutch has "tuig," also generally meaning "tool," and "speeltuig" meaning "toy." Danish and Swedish, also Germanic languages, have "toi/toj," and "tyg," respectively, with the meaning "stuff, gear." The verb "toyed" was derived from the noun during the 1500s. Some linguists have speculated (with good reason) that "toy" could be related to "tug" and "tow." English "tug" and "tow" are part of a "family of Germanic words" related through forms in Old Germanic. One of the other members of this family is German "ziehen" ("ziohan" in Old High German), which means "to pull, to drag, to draw." The Old English form of this word was "teon" (infinitive form, same basic meanings as the German word), and it's important to remember that German "z" is pronounced "ts." In this same family are the nouns, English "tug," and German "Zug," with the English word noun being the word for "a small boat that pulls a larger ship," and the German noun meaning, "a train (an engine that pulls a number of railway cars"). It most certainly seems that "toy" is a member of this overall family of words and it may well trace back to a form in Old English (see note below).

^ English once had "suhlgeteog," which meant "plowing tool/implement." A number of English words lost the ending "g" sound over time, as for instance, "day" and "may" (the verb form) both had an ending "g" at one time ("dæg" and "mæg"), as their German cousins still do: "Tag" and "mag/mög," the second form being the root for the infinitive and for the subjunctive.