German Parliament resolves against the Prussian deportations

Background. The Prussian deportations involved mass expulsions of Poles from Prussia between 1885 and 1890. On 26 March 1885, the Prussian ministry of internal affairs ordered provincial authorities to expel ethnic Poles and Jews holding Russian citizenship. In July 1885, the order was extended to include Polish Austrian citizens. More than 30,000 Poles without German citizenship were deported to their countries of origin.

Parliamentary Condemnation. The matter was laid before the parliament of the German Empire, forwarded by ethnic Polish MPs and supported by the Centre Party, Social Democratic Party, and German progressives. On 16 January 1886, the parliament condemned the expulsion with a great majority of voices. However, the Prussian government ignored this resolution. A similar attempt in the Prussian parliament failed due to stronger anti-Polish forces.

Diplomatic Impact. The German ambassador in Russia, Schweinitz, advised Bismarck to abstain from further expulsions, fearing they would provoke Pan-Slavism and trigger repressions against German settlers in Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Nikolay Giers stated that Bismarck’s conduct aggravated hostile feelings towards German colonists and spread seeds of new ethnic antagonisms, worsening Russo-German relations.