Problem wychodźstwa polskiego na łamach „Gazety Grudziądzkiej” na przełomie XIX i XX wieku
The problem of Polish economic emigrations as presented in “Gazeta Grudziądzka” at the turn of the 19th and 20th century

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the evolution of the stance regarding Polish economic migration taken at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in “Gazeta Grudziądzka” (“Grudziądz Newspaper”), which was popular among Poles in the Prussian Partition. In the first years of publication, the problem of migration among Poles was only incidentally mentioned in this journal. Since 1897, when the circulation of the paper increased, the issue of migration started to gain importance; the phenomenon itself was viewed unambiguously negatively. A change in the way the emigrants and seasonal workers were seen occurred in 1901. The editorial staff toned down their opinions and strived to offer assistance to the leaving, at the same time unvaryingly persuading the emigrants to come back and to use their savings amassed abroad to strengthen Polish holdings on Polish territories under Prussian rule. This emphasis shift could stem from the growing number of subscribers among Polish population living abroad; it can also be seen an attempt to effectively protect them from Germanization. Presumably, the editors discerned the ineffectiveness of the previous methods of struggle against economic migration, which was a natural way to improve the financial situation of the Polish population living in the Prussian Partition. Wiktor Kulerski’s newspaper did not persuade to emigrate, but instead put an emphasis on cultivating the ties with Polish identity among the emigrants and using the saving amassed abroad to buy Polish land back. The issue of emigration was brought up in “Gazeta Grudziądzka” chiefly regarding migration within the German Empire because this was the main destination of Polish migrants previously living in the east provinces of Prussia. This topic was a part of a pattern of Polish–German antagonism – and this fact probably also played a role.

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