Prusy, Rzesza i Mitteleuropa. Wokół niemieckiego tła Aktu 5 listopada 1916 r.
Prussia, Reich and Mitteleuropa (Middle Europe). The German background of the Act of 5th November 1916

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the issue of the German background of a declaration of Two Emperors of the 5th of November 1916 which announced restitution of the Polish Kingdom. This background resulted from several separate decision centres: the Reich’s government, the Prussian cabinet (Staatsministerium) and the German Military Headquarters (OHL). Notably, the German government and (to certain degree) the OHL had to overcome the resistance of the Prussian government which regarded the concessions made to Poles excessive and as such posing a threat to the vital Prussian interests (predominantly territorial integrity). In this context, the endeavours to solve the Polish question in Germany during World War I is a clear example of the persistence of particular interests within the Reich and the painful process of ultimate abandoning thereof. The idea of Mitteleuropa provides evidence that “a sense of strategic imagination” (as far as the Polish cause was concerned) was much more vivid among German political writers during WWI than among German political decision-makers of that time. However, there was one important exception to this rule, namely general H. Beseler, head of the German occupation apparatus in Poland (1915–1918). He used to criticise the lack of understanding of the importance of the Polish cause in the Berlin government circles, the OHL and among radical nationalists (the Pan-German League, the German Eastern Marches Society).

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