The Occupation of Poland in WW1

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In today’s episode, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the largely forgotten occupation of Poland during WW1. The German occupation completely changed Poland forever and granted its people many rights they hadn’t had before and paved the way for Polish independence. Simultaneously, Germany ruthlessly exploited the land and even sent thousands of people into forced labour. This video will look at all the various aspects and then discuss how the occupation should be viewed today.
Literature:
- Bemmann, Martin: „... kann von einer schonenden Behandlung keine Rede sein“. Zur forst- und landwirtschaftlichen Ausnutzung des Generalgouvernements Warschau durch die deutsche Besatzungsmacht 1915-1918, in: Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 55 (2007), Nr. 1, pp. 1-33.
- Kauffman, Jesse: Warsaw University under German occupation. State building and nation Bildung in Poland during the Great War, in: First World War Studies 4 (2013), Nr. 1, pp. 65-79.
- Lehnstaedt, Stephan: Besatzungswirtschaft im Generalgouvernement Warschau und in Osteuropa, in: Boldorf, Marcel (Ed.): Deutsche Wirtschaft im Ersten Weltkrieg, Berlin 2020, pp. 575-600.
- Lehnstaedt, Stephan: Imperiale Polenpolitik in den Weltkriegen. Eine vergleichende Studie zu den Mittelmächten und zu NS-Deutschland, Osnabrück 2017
- MacLean, Pam: Control and Cleanliness. German-Jewish Relations in Occupied Eastern Europe during the First World War, in: War & Society 6 (1998), Nr. 2, pp. 47-69.
- Polsakiewicz, Marta: Warschau im Ersten Weltkrieg, Marburg 2015.
- Steinberg, John W.: Warfare 1914-1918 (Russian Empire), in: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, encyclopedia.1914-1918-online... (accessed on 08.02.2024).
- Westerhoff, Christian: Zwangsarbeit im Ersten Weltkrieg. Deutsche Arbeitskräftepolitik im besetzten Polen und Litauen 1914-1918, Paderborn 2011.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:55 CyberGhost
2:22 The Occupation of Poland
6:07 German Views towards Poles and Jews
9:31 Politics and Administration
14:23 Education
18:49 Economic Exploitation
23:07 Labour Policies
27:48 Conclusion
29:25 Outro

[@SirManateee]

Get CyberGhost for just $2.03 per month and an extra four months for free here: www.cyberghostvpn.com/SirManatee 🦦

[@Medvelelet]

Good video mate

[@panzerknackerpaul2061]

In Hightech-Germany is no Wifi in Trains. :D

[@Luxnutz1]

Excellent broadcast as usual. It is interesting how the German Empire went to great lengths to be seen as liberators while the British and Americans portrayed the Germans as blood thirsty. I hope there will be a story told about the War between Poland and Germany over Posen in the Early 1920's and the Austrian occupation and Russian Occupation of Austrian Przmysl. I will watch over again and again now.

[@filipkopec525]

It was not a war between Germany and Poland. It was an uprising

[@gloverfox9135]

They very much acted like occupiers in northern France and Belgium

[@Burobrody]

They went to great lengths to portray themselves as liberators because they've needed manpower. Maybe they weren't as bloodthirsty as british propaganda tried to portray them, but germans never were some godsend liberating angels this is just german propaganda.

[@hstochla]

@@gloverfox9135There was no possible way for Germany to justify that they were liberating Belgium or France, so they didn’t try.

[@nathbaker]

What changed from this time to 1939 at which point Poles (and all Slavs) were viewed as “Untermenschen” and mortal enemies of Germany?

[@Wilderness-Will]

All eight of my immigrant ancestors came to the United States from Poland during the late partition years, between 1891-1922. My paternal Great-Grandfather left a village in Austrian "Galicia" in December 1913, with the specific intention of earning some money in a Chicago factory to bring home with him after two or three years of work. About nine months after he arrived, the Russians invaded Galicia and any thought of returning home became impossible. There's shockingly little information in the English language about the Polish everyday experience during the partition, and even during WW1. Thank you for adding a little more to what's out there.

[@ekesandras1481]

I know an elderly Romanian woman who was born in Chicago. Her parents also went from Austria-Hungary there to earn some money between the wars, where their daughter was born. After some years, they had saved enough to go back to their home village, bought land and founded a farm. A few years later communism came. They expropriated their farm and all the years of hard work on construction sites in the US were in vain. Their daughter, who is now the elderly woman, doesn't remember the English language, but in her passport is still written Chicago, Illinois as place of birth.

[@funki4896]

Lets just ignore that Galicia only became part of Poland after Moscovy and Poland divided Ukraine among themselves and that it was basically Karma when Poland was partitioned.

[@aleksanderkorecki7887]

​@@funki4896Nonsense. Lwów was a part of Poland since 14th century, with no involvement from Muscovy. Then Ukraine's fall was karma for Khmelnitskyi?

[@funki4896]

@@aleksanderkorecki7887 Ukraine's Karma for the audacity to rise up against the Polish slavers?!? Are you high?!? Polish nobles literally enslaved the Ukrainians!!! How do I explain it to you??? And still Lviv was NEVER a Polish city!!! Just the fact that Polish slavers occupied parts of Ukraine doesn't make Ukrainian cities Polish. Same as Stalingrad did not become German just because they conquered the city. If I would brake into your house would it become my house??? What kind of barbaric way of thinking is that??? Do you support lilliputin too??? Or is it only ok when Poles conquer, murder and enslave??? But Poles never talk about that. They only get upset when their slaves rise up and try to free themselves. But when Poles rebel against the Moscovite slavers than everything is fine. Alright I get it: you and the whole "Western World" and Russia too view Ukrainians as subhuman. Other rules and standards apply to Ukrainians. Good thing is: Ukrainians are fed up with that. They don't give a shit anymore. They will kill every conqueror from now on. And they feel the West's pressure to capitulate but they don't give a shit. They would rather die on the battlefield quickly than to slowly and painfully die in Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Jaworzno, Bereza Kartuska, Solovki or Gulag...

[@angelo77138]

@@funki4896 Ukraine's current suffering is basically karma for Stepan Bandera's attempt to ethnically cleanse western Ukraine's Jewish and Polish minorities. Your line of thinking stings a little when it's used against you, doesn't it?

[@baqterya]

Great video, I never expected a non-polish speaker to pronounce Dąbrowa so well, it shows your diligence

[@mr.sidious9163]

Dźwięk ą nie jest ekskluzywny do języka polskiego, francuski ma go, na przykład. Jednak nie znam innego języka z dźwiękiem ę.

[@stephanottawa7890]

Minor correction at 20:00 - In English ships do not swim, even German ships. They sail or travel. Fish usually swim as do some people, animals and birds.

[@SirManateee]

That's funny, but thanks for pointing that out

[@fintonmainz7845]

Birds are animals you pedant.

[@allangibson8494]

Steam, motor or paddle would also be acceptable depending on the engine and propulsion system of the ships in question. That’s related to the prefix given to ship names, SS for Steam Ship, MV for Motor Vessel (diesel engined usually) or PS for paddle steamers.

[@Andre-by4su]

The latest Eastory video had me wondering, how was Poland under German occupation during WW1? Thanks for this!

[@SornGeorge]

Greetings fellow man of culture

[@olgagaming5544]

Well, we in Poland don't learn about this short period that much. Because the land was occupied anyway for 120 years so 4 years wasn't that much of a deal esp well u know, a fcking WW1 is happening and then shitload of stuff happened just after the ww1. But I've never seen a youtuber so well versed in Eastern europe's history and that is pretty strange to see lol

[@olgagaming5544]

Well, for most ww1 on our lands would be like - well, if these battles happened on our lands, it means a lot of stuff got destroyed

[@bartoszgolik2430]

this is fundamental error which I am trying to point out to the author of this clip, the title is misleading and possibly Eastory got it wrong too. Poland regains its independence on 11 November 1918 (after 123 years of non-existance, partitions by neighbours) so Poland does NOT exist in 1915. It was just convenient for Germans to call it Poland so to take the spotlight from the region of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland region in the West) which they happily occupied. And were asstonished to lose it in 1918 in the Powstanie Wielkopolskie (the only uprising that was succesful and kicked the oppressors). So yes you were right to wonder, and now you just think you got explained that Poland was occupied by Germans in 1915 only by the fact that the error is repeated. Germans occupied Warsaw in 1915 which was under Russian rule for a hundres years at that time... it is a huge difference.

[@michalsawa881]

​@@bartoszgolik2430Czyżby kolega zapomniał o 3 powstaniach śląskich oraz walk o zaolzie, ktore odebralismy w ten sam sposob co oni nam w 1938

[@Caught2602]

Well researched video, you are doing a great job helping to bridge a deeper understanding between Poles and Germans. Having a German going to great lengths to showcase our history is great to see.

[@mateuszgigon3724]

Hello, a Pole here :) Very educative video, even for me, though main topics i remember from high school ;D Kalisz bombardment, confiscations for German army, attempts to bond Poles with emphasize unity of culture (against "Asiatic hordes"), more liberal ordinances, cultural life... Maybe it will be interesting, that average Polish citizen don't recalls this period of our history. It was very short and not extremely aggravating - last but not least, the Poles these times thought about chances for independention and wish the war end soon. Now in history coursebooks in Poland this period is quite short described. There is one little ortograph mistake in 7:35 - should be "Kujawian" instead of "Kajuwian" (Kujawy is a historical region, north-west from Warszawa, near Włocławek and Bydgoszcz).

[@rafanadir6958]

Did Poles trust the Germans in that time? Weren't you closer back then, because of language and culture, to the Russians?

[@bartoszgolik2430]

if you go to the Netherlands do not ever tell them that they are just like or close to Germans (even they do belong to the same family of language. This is the most optimal way I can answer your second question.

[@mateuszgigon3724]

@@rafanadir6958 We never trusted neither Germans nor Russians. Both nations were at least rivals, often enemy for us. But if we had to choose, we rather choose Germans, because of their culture - at least until WW2. Russians was always our rivals in struggle for domination in Eastern Europe (todays Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Baltic states) and we never trust them, they never deserved trust.

[@mateuszgigon3724]

@@bartoszgolik2430 Yup, they hate German most.

[@ozyrysozi6186]

​@@rafanadir6958I mean we never been friendly with Russia or Germany. Before and during WWI (especially at the begining) there were few visions how Poland could gain it's independence again. We knew we needed big conflict between countries that partitioned Poland. Going to 1914 there were two visions for Poles living in partitioned country - some said that going along with Austro-Hungary can get us our country back. Some said Russian Empire can give us opportunity. And of course there were people on emigration that thought and will try to sway Entente powers like France, United Kingdom, United States to recognize polish independence. German Empire and Russian Empire was very harsh and tried to eradicate polish nationality, so they were never seen as allies. Austro-Hungary gave Poles limited rights, but also they weren't keen to support Poles and took action against them. After some time some of polish politicians and also some Poles got higher in the Russian Empire, so that gave them hope that maybe it was possible to sway Russia to help Poles in a very limited manner - like if they won a war they could take polish land from other partitioners, maybe reestabilish Kingdom of Poland. They never though that Poland can get independence from Russia, but uniting, getting some rights and maybe along the way finding how to get independnce was good enough. With Austria it was a bit simmilar, but also - I doubt amyone though that Austro-Hungary would take land from Germany (they were close allies). But thanks to Austria maybe russian partitioned land could be united with austrian partitioned part. We never trusted that German Empire would give Poles more rights or created even Kingdom or country that wouldn't be German, that's why there was pretty much no organisations estabilished on prussian partitioned land. Mostly becouse Germany often fought with it and also becouse rights of Poles were most limited there. Of course all of this was much more complicated and there were people with different views on the matter, but as to answear your question - we never been more friendly with Germans, Russians or Austrians, even though for some it might make sense that looking at language, culture we would be close with Russia. World War I (or Great War seen at the time) created opportunity for Poles - for the first time all three partitioners were at war and they fought each other. So it might seem grim, but it was occasion to get closer to independence. Of course everyone couldn't see that it will escelate to a Great War and going further into the war vision of fully independent Poland was closer to the reality. So I tried to explain it best way I could. If there would be any more questions, I will try my best to respond (with my limited knowledge).

[@Pioneer_DE]

Can you do more videos about the german population in Poland after WW1?

[@Zzzooooppp]

lol this guy wants some material that’ll console him

[@Pioneer_DE]

@@Zzzooooppp what?

[@sasukeuchihaa1447]

dont mind him. he is just on his whataboutism rant@@Pioneer_DE

[@rhysnichols8608]

Led to ww2 😂

[@Zzzooooppp]

@@Pioneer_DE just like the most recent poster above alluded to, I am accusing you Germans of wanting to hear about how poor Germans were treated so you can feel better about voting Moustache man into power. Nobody actually thinks it led to WWII except for Germans who want to whitewash their own history.

[@unrelatedcamri]

I like how you cover history commonly taught in Poland but not widely known in the west. Spreading knowledge is one of the greatest virtues

[@invit87]

very interesting material. I am full of admiration for your ability to pronounce Polish hieroglyphs

[@SirManateee]

I took Polish classes at uni for one year so that might explain it

[@jaykita2069]

@@SirManateee One year is significantly more than the average student in the US. I have a bit of German from college but only fragments of words from my (Polish) grandparents.

[@halnywiatr]

The Russians had just a few years earlier completed the construction of their Orthodox Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw. The building was despised by Poles as a symbol of Russification. The Germans converted it to serve as the garrison church for their soldiers, but also stripped the copper roof off for the war effort. The ensuing water damage made the Polish decision to demolish the structure after the war an easy one.

[@sofiaormbustad7467]

The russians also built a red orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, which still stands. Though the russofication wasn't as intense in Finland as in Poland, and they were able to maintain their autonomy to a greater extent

[@SirManateee]

I didn't know that actually, thanks a lot for sharing

[@francisdec1615]

In the Russian upside-down world Russia "liberated" Finland from the oppressive Swedes and it was also fascist Finland that attacked peaceful Soviet Union in 1939.

[@adifreitag8579]

​@@francisdec1615 You're talking nonsense. After the Napoleonic Wars, Finland was not liberated from the Russians. Russia received Finland as a spoil of war. Finland achieved its freedom and state independence at the end of the First World War with the help of the Germans. And in 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland and not the other way around. Rüdiger von der Goltz - liberator of Finland kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5q1e6JmirWirtU Finnish song in honor of the German Emperor Wilhelm II. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6Goo4utiLh4lac Finland in the Winter War of 1939/40 against the Soviet invaders kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2S5maSKiciqiMk kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4K7aqidl7GBjbM

[@francisdec1615]

@@adifreitag8579 Do you know what " " means?

[@georgios_5342]

This is the sort of long format videos I love to see. It's quite rare these days. Thanks for the amazing work, keep it up!

[@michaireneuszjakubowski5289]

"Marsz marsz, narodzie, o głodzie i chłodzie, za przewodem Beselera weźmie nas cholera!" I'll add that I was told this pastiche of what is now the national anthem by my grandpa, who had been told the song (it's an entire song, but I can only remember this one line) by his grandpa, who, by the way, was a distinguished fighter Greater Poland uprising (an official commendation for which is framed in my grandpa's room). PS: FIxed a silly mistake; I guess I need sleep...

[@Rapture-nv5vj]

Yeeeeeeey, another video from my favorite german manatee, about polish history. Also, i passed my math test, so it's the best day this month so far 😅

[@SirManateee]

Congrats, mate :D

[@Rapture-nv5vj]

@@SirManateee Thanks, mate :D

[@vulpix3783]

Absolutely amazing Video!! Thanks a lot! Greetings from Poland!!

[@quaker2636]

Great video, it's great to see more content about the largely forgotten parts of Polish history like this. Will you make a vid about the Ober-Ost occupation districts? They also included a part of Congress Poland's territory and much of it was incorporated into Poland after the war

[@countravicchio1050]

🎉 I'm so happy to be here for the release of a videos, you make amazing content

[@JulianSki]

Wow! This video was well detailed and very in-depth! Love your stuff man, keep it up!

[@filipsocha]

Excellent stuff, as usual. I especially love your thorough pronunciation of Polish names which is not the easiest thing in the world. Another reason I enjoy your work so much is these kinds of topics are rarely touched by Polish history content creators, they tend to be more 2nd Republic, WWII and PPL - focused. It makes me now looking forward even more to a video about Austrian rule in Lublin.

[@franko7033]

Illuminating. Very interesting part of history I had no knowledge of till now. Thanks

[@piop]

Once again, great and interesting presentation.

[@Ver-qb2ju]

Thanks for the videos. Greetings from Poland :)

[@benwars9524]

A Polish historian once pointed out a bitter Polish-Belgian paradox associated with two German occupations: While in 1939 Warsaw's inhabitants HOPED that the WW2 occupation would resemble WW1, in 1940 the people of Brussels FEARED that it would be similar. Both were wrong.

[@tornation5609]

Great video once again ! Thanks !

[@theprezydent6250]

Thank you for these videos 😊

[@cactuscartocratus7228]

Greetings from Poland. Very nice video, I learned a lot, we aren't taught too much about this period in schools. Though ne thing I've learned on this topic that I'm surprised wasn't mentioned was the "border strip" annexation plan.

[@joethegeographer]

Excellent topic, thanks for sharing!

[@sheridansherr8974]

Thank you for the very interessting video Sir Manatee! I love your videos. I learned many things I didn't knew. Keep up the great work! 💖💖💖👍👍👍

[@sheridansherr8974]

Thank you for the very interessting videos! Highly appreciated 💖. I learned a lot of new things. 😊

[@arbuz_kawon]

Love your videos, man! And your pronounciation is amazing, kudos ♥

[@dragoe7441]

Fairly tale compare to the GG we would see 20 years later What a shame

[@sahhaf1234]

again, an infinitely interesting presentation

[@kidmohair8151]

thank you for covering an aspect of WW1 that has gotten short shrift on this platform.

[@oiytd5wugho]

I don't got nothing constructive to add, but you have the best Polish pronunciation out of all (non-polish) historians I ever heard speak. Like, everything except the alveolo-palatals was on point!

[@jasse803]

I honestly applaud you for such a great effort on prenounciating polish names. Very well done! As to material itself, awesome. (Ps: Central Powers did not much wanted poles as "allies" but rather as "cannon fodder". They would also try to play on polish fear and, to put it mildly, dislike of all things from moscow. If you catch my drift)

[@nicoschmid668]

German Manatee back again with the consistently great history vids ❤

[@michaekrynicki8330]

love youre videos

[@user-yu4du4ru3j]

I think you meant the Gregorian Calendar

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

Nobody ever talks about the austrians. That's what happens when your country seizes to exist after the war

[@dropandy1453]

okay i’m gonna be that guy. it’s ceases not seizes lol. but the point of your comment is correct. english is a funny little language

[@krainex]

​@@dropandy1453english is the littlest language of all

[@NathanDudani]

Ironic​@@krainex

[@SirManateee]

I was actually going to talk about both Germany and Austria in this video but the amount of information I found was just way too much

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

@@SirManateee It's a time of great "source-density", it's a blessing and a curse. My original comment was just a bit of bitterness after finishing "Radetzkymarsch" and "Kapuzinergruft" by Joseph Roth

[@moonman9227]

another banger

[@klimafooty5954]

As a Pole, this part of history in the partitions in often overlooked, we know the brutality of the Russian partition and the Prussian treatment of Poles under Bismarck. Not much is taught about Poland during WWI despite being the battleground for the 3 empires. Greatly appreciate this video, so informative!

[@user-tm6wg5xt8v]

Great video

[@listkiewska]

As a Pole, I would like to congratulate you on this video. Some of the facts featured here are indeed surprising and unexpected for me. Much respect!

[@ThomasBoyd-wv7qj]

Awesome. Brilliant content. Spot on. Poland Warsaw. Matthew Ludwiniski US actor Polish catholic American. He supports your video on Poland Warsaw.

[@tylerlarm9878]

great info! my great grandfather was a gun runner during the great war, and resided in Bielsk Podlaski. He fled and came to america in 1917. Its not easy finding info on what was going on throughout the eastern front. This was great!

[@sliftylovesyou]

You're my favourite historytuber!

[@SirManateee]

[@MightyGames7]

very good video :D

[@VIRTUALESENCE]

I have no idea why this era in history activates my neurons but thank you for making these videos so it does haha, thank you

[@manugamer9984]

I mean... is it even possible to judge the WW1 occupation without considering the WW2 occupation? Everything before nazism inevitably looks pristine and angelic in comparison. Mauthausen concentration camp is truly telling as an example: thousands of Italian POWs died there in both world wars, but there's a big difference between nazi guards wanting you dead and Habsburg guards starving almost as much as you...

[@bartek07k]

I know the pronunciation of the Polish names was tough, but I am impressed how well you nailed it. Thank you for another excellent material about the lesser-known part of the history.

[@bcvetkov8534]

Excellent video. Can't wait to see the video detailing the Austro-Hungarian administration of things in occupied Poland.

[@travissutherland8502]

Haven’t watched it yet, but great video

[@CatnamedMittens]

Shout out to Smetana's Die Moldau in the background there.

[@jcoker423]

The Cz's might say the Vltava. Alot of Cz rivers end in -ava, which I am told is an old IndoEuropean word (German/Keltic) for water. Like aqua in Latin.

[@CatnamedMittens]

@@jcoker423 I just know it as Die Moldau from school and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

[@adamzieba8364]

22:27 There is a district in my home city of Łódź called Polesie which could be translated as "post-woodland". It was a forested area outside of city limits before WW1 but due to severe shortage of any fuel for cooking and keeping the homes warm this forest was completely chopped down for firewood. This cleared land was utilized for urban development after WW1 and became a new city district.

[@bartoszgolik2430]

Lodz got its forests gone already when it started to be built in XiX century. WW1 only added to the trend. Lodz needed wood to be built and to power the machinery, the steam engines of the textile industry.

[@tenstrateq6262]

Great video as always! When I first came across your channel I thought, judging by the amount of material about Poland, that you were Polish😅. Hence the question of where you got such a curiosity about 19th century Polish history, and in fact the history of Polish-German relations? Grüße aus Warschau :3

[@SirManateee]

Thanks a lot! There is no single reason for why this particular topic fascinates me so much. It's just sort of developed during the past few years, with me visiting Poland like two times per year. And I always found it quite a bit of a shame that your history is always so overlooked here in Germany, despite the fact that our two countries have shaped each other in so many regards.

[@tenstrateq6262]

@@SirManateee I am glad that not only Poles are interested in their history haha but I'll admit that although I've been interested in history for a long time some of the events you talk about completely shocked me. I had no idea about the Polenbegeisterung, it came as such a big shock to me. In Poland, unfortunately, Polish-German history is only presented from the bad side, only the dark pages of history are presented. The Battle of Cedynia, Partitions, World War 2, Germanisation. The legend of Wanda, who did not want a German*. And although there is also talk of, for example, the Congress of Gniezno and the warm relationship between Otto III and Bolesław Chrobry, clearly these brighter pages of our history are not as highlighted as they could be. And after all, we Poles are so fond of being talked about abroad.... I am so surprised why the Polenbegeisterung is not widely known in Poland. This story is so fascinating, at least for me. Well, I'm glad that in Germany at least a few people are talking about it, it's an interesting contrast to the dark pages of our joint history like ww2. Im happy that at least from the German side I can learn about these, sometimes brighter chapters haha Anyways great job, your videos always touch on interesting topics and present them in depth. Thanks for this! * thats an interesting fairytale (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Wanda)

[@bartoszgolik2430]

small correction 1915 is the 20th century. If the video was about the Congress of Vienna 1815 yes it would be 19th century thing affecting Polish history.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

There are few books (in English) about World War 1 in Eastern Europe. Very few English speakers know a second language -- including historians. The few English speakers who know a second language usually know only a Western European language (French, Spanish, or German). Thus the histories of Poland, the Baltic states, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, ... are a closed book [unknown] to English speakers. So thank you for producing this video. I learned much.

[@GeneralCurtisEmersonLeMay]

Can you make a Video about the Russification of Poland until WW1??? That’s an interesting topic and cause you‘ve already made a Video about the Prussian Settlement Commisson it would be nice to know what was going on in Congress Poland at the time. :)

[@pilum3705]

24:53 Kilian Experience Reference

[@Dawid.O]

another great video fromn you. I'm, really shocked how good you know polish history from this time.

[@AJ-lu3wx]

Glad you made a vid of this lesser know aspect. Not trying to troll here but if you retreat backwards, are you not actually advancing? 2:33

[@Artur_M.]

I love all of your videos, especially the ones that mention Łódź, my city! This reminds me of an interesting video by a local museum (in Polish but with English subtitles). It's mostly about November 1918; taking control over the city by independent Polish authorities and disarming the German troops, (which did end up in some fighting) but it also provides some context, talking about the situation during the occupation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZ_Ic4aCga9sr7ssi=Y_CcoB7WmRDeab8p

[@piotrczaplinski6320]

My my, don't you look cool in that video 😉

[@Artur_M.]

@piotrczaplinski6320 😁 Cześć! My shameless sneaky self-promotion got exposed. [A disclaimer for everyone else: Yes, I took part in the making of this video. I'm one of the guys looking like a dollar store version of the Peaky Blinders in that one scene.]

[@penguinsfan251]

That was a great video.

[@Argacyan]

It feels like I see you in the comments under most videos I watch

[@Artur_M.]

@Argacyan We either have a similar taste in videos, or I have a bit of a problem with watching and commenting too much. Probably both. 😉

[@emilianohermosilla3996]

Sir manatee is cool AF!

[@IrishCarney]

You should have mentioned a crucial context item of Germany's agricultural exploitation of Poland and its drafting of Poles into farm labor in both Poland and Germany. That being the British-led Allied blockade which caused widespread hunger in Germany and Austria and ultimately a large number of deaths of German civilians from starvation and of various diseases which proved fatal from being in a weakened state due to hunger. That's not to justify Germany's exploitation policy, but it helps explain it.

[@thelvadam2884]

and they protraised us as bloodthirsty monsters during WW1 ... ohh the irony

[@hashkangaroo]

or the Schweinemord, or German over-conscription of farmhands, or German requisition of plow-horses for military service, or German redirection of all ammonia for explosives production instead of fertilizer, The German government shot themselves in the foot several times over. Had they not done these things, the German dinner table would have weathered the blockade much better.

[@IrishCarney]

@@hashkangaroo The German way of war comes from back in the 18th century when Prussia was a small, resource-poor, low-population backwater on the fringe of Europe that couldn't sustain long wars of attrition against big enemies. It relied on maximum intensity short engagements winning decisive victories, after which you'd resume peace. Worked well for a while, into the late 19th century. Then they got themselves entangled in two long wars of attrition. Oops.

[@IrishCarney]

@@hashkangaroo On the issue of horses, I think it was David Stahel who pointed out that German farm horses were huge and could pull heavy loads, so German logistics assumed such horses. But the horses, while willing to do their jobs, were accustomed to a "contract" - in which they got Sundays off, were protected from harsh elements, and were given high-quality fodder. When stuck in an endless Russian quagmire in harsh weather with no breaks and expected to eat mere (shudder) grass, they protested in the way that these temperamental animals do: they died, en masse. The Germans captured rugged little Rusisan ponies descended from the Mongol animals could happily eat any grass laying around and were used to the horrible conditions, but they couldn't deal with the big German carts (loaded down, of course, with complex, over-engineered suspensions that assumed mild Central European conditions).

[@Kiritanpo_Nabe]

I wondered a month ago, why is there nothing on yt about Poland during ww1... 🤔

[@vulpix3783]

Great pronunciation man!!

[@Flupenius]

As a pole who has always admired the German Empire and favoured their chances at victory in ww1 due to the regimes that came from the entente victory. It's been really interesting to learn about just exactly what our nation went through in this period because I never really knew the extent of German exploitation other than that it was definitely less brutal than the Nazi or Soviet or Russian Imperial regimes. Although not perfect and insignificant due to later events, it definitely feels relieving to learn that Germany weren't cold-blooded killers and occupiers and further cements my and many others's belief that there wasn't a good side in ww1. It's such a shame that the path we went down could've been entirely avoided through either a german victory in ww1 or no war happening at all. This was incredibly interesting though and makes one of my favorite periods in history even more interesting because beforehand I always thought we didn't have any autonomy under Germany in ww1 but now I know otherwise. This video was amazing though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@lempereurcremeux3493]

Just wait until someone tells him about the Polish Border Strip plan. He's probably gonna feel so betrayed and lied to by Sir Manatee.

[@spyczech]

"most workers signed up voluntarily" 23:45

[@spyczech]

28:30 exporting food from a hungry country, kind of soft pedalling that. "sensible" policies you say in next sentence

[@herbertschulz4313]

I would be interested in a history video of prewar Gdasnk, or mayhaps one on the Göttinger Sieben

[@vetarlittorf1807]

You mean Danzig.

[@Sidneymoch]

​@@vetarlittorf1807No he means Gdańsk

[@ChatGPT_ChatbotTest]

​@@Sidneymoch It was called danzig prewar

[@onurbschrednei4569]

Günter Grass wrote some books about pre-war Gdansk, he even won a Nobel literature prize for it.

[@vetarlittorf1807]

@@Sidneymoch No. Danzig is the correct name.

[@KiljiArslan]

3:21 oh that is quite interesting.

[@paulmattt]

Kingdom of Poland already was using the Gregorian Calendar.

[@somfing4872]

Can you talk about German Namibia?

[@SirManateee]

Certainly, one day

[@kaanyasin3733]

If i could afford it, even by 1 cent, i would pay you to make this full time

[@Igor-zp2tu]

One thing about Occupation that i dont think you have adressed in the video (i hope that im wrong on this one) is the question of who would be the king of Poland and who were the most likely candidates to be the king. Im maybe misremenbering it, but im sure that an Austrian candidate was the most likely to take the title.

[@bartoszgolik2430]

The last king of Poland name was Poniatowski (like the bridge in Warsaw, named after him) Russian Tsars had these title mania, and even the hitlerite Hans Frank had this obsession to be the king of Poland, with the Wawel castle events he was organising. Anyone can call himself a king, this would not be Poland's, and nobody was expecting Germans to give us permissions to have Poland back in 1915 (a bit like the creation by Napoleon with the Duchy of Warsaw), after WW1 Poland did not want any scraps anymore, we were fed up with Russians and Germans equally. Had some better feelings to Austrians as they did not opress the language,and tradition but Austria evaporated... so it was perfect time and therefore 11 Nov is the Polish Independence. this is the only thing we care about WW1 it does not exist much in our mind map, we are interested only in its end/result. In a nutshell. I would not be astonished (after reading "historical" essays by V. Putin) to hear that he wants to be king of Poland too. But the bad news is.. the last king was Poniatowski haha. Poland is the Republic (Res Publica =Rzecz Pospolita). On a positive note It is great that at least US policies turned Germany into a democratic country (the attempt after ww1 failed possibly because Weimar Republic had to pay hard the contributions- terrible mistake which was not repeated after ww2) - and let it stay that way! It works for the Germans and the World. And lets hope Russia will be normal in the future too, for themselves and the World. However nobody sees this coming in a decade or two.

[@aymankhan2670]

Please make a video about Venetia Lombardy under Austrian Empire. There's so less about this era on KZbin

[@SirManateee]

Uuuuh, that's a great idea

[@johngorentz6409]

Very informative. Thank you. Outside of Congress Poland, many of the Germans in politics had displayed a sense of cultural superiority in the areas they had ruled since the partitions, in their on-again, off-again attempts to Germanize the Poles. It was a contested issue among the Germans, as the German liberals preferred to do it with carrots rather than sticks. But I imagine that historical background played some role in how the Poles in Congress Poland viewed the Germans and interacted with them during WWI.

[@bcvetkov8534]

3:23 anyone get chills? No just me? Cool thanks. I'll take that XL bag of traumatic historical events in the future to go please.

[@sanngrita]

idea: do a video on lithuania and latvia under german occupation (oberost)

[@lordjim3109]

There is an important correction that has to be made about this video. Germany did not occupy Poland in WW1 in the same sense as it did in WW2, for in 1915 Poland had ALREADY been under occupation for over a century. Germans were occupying western Poland, from where they attacked Russinas, who were occupying eastern Poland. One occupier attacked another. When both occupiers got badly damaged in the war, the Poles successfully used this opportunity to regain independence in 1918. If you are as unlucky as Poland to have 3 enemies more powerful than yourself (Russia, Germany and Austria), your only chance arises when they fall out with one another.

[@ozyrysozi6186]

I have to agree and I seen it that that question gets here in some comments. Occupation isn't really good word used here. There was no Poland for a long time at that time (about 120 years as in 1918 after 123 years we Poland gain independence). It was really terrain of partitioned Poland changing it's owner. And yes, WWI or Great War was seen by many Poles as opportunity as German Empire, Russian Empire and Austro-Hungary finally got into conflict with each other - Germany and Austro-Hungary as allies versus Russia. So it was something special as before in history we seen how those empires fought together against Poles or at least supported each other. So in 1915 there were no Poland to occupy really as it didn't exist, we can talk about terrain got in partitions and with changes after Congress of Vienna (with for example Kraków that was a republic untill the annexation by Austria 1846, we can call it somewhat independent, but in reality it was still under Austrian influence and was dependant on Austria). When we talk about Kingdom of Poland - there was entity like this and it was third partition land of Prussia and Austria combined (so Grand Duchy of Warsaw created by Napoleon). It was created at the time of Congress of Vienna (1815). Kingdom of Poland wasn't fully a country though as it was given to Tzar of Russia - he would become king and the land would be in personal union with Russian Empire. But at the time of 1915 Kingdom of Poland didn't exist for a long time - I don't want to talk to much, so I will skip some parts. It was already part of Russia and was also renamed, becouse Kingdom of Poland wasn't seen warmly by russian goverment after many events and slowly renaming it to Kraj Nadwiślański (Priwislinskij kraj) as to get rid of part of polish nationality. Hope I added some context there and sorry if it seems long, but as many things it's complicated matter.

[@lordjim3109]

@@ozyrysozi6186 If a country is occupied by the enemy forces doesn`t mean this country doesn`t exist. If you are in a gulag, for example, it doesn`t mean you don`t exist, does it. It was a dream of Russian and German occupiers of Poland that Poland would never exist, so what you are saying is very much along the lines of Putin`s propaganda.And this ridiculous lecturing tone is really annoying. Are you a Russian troll?

[@ozyrysozi6186]

@@lordjim3109 I was agreeing with you about missleading title, but what I was also saying that Poland as a country on the map - didn't exist untill 1918. Same could be said about Czechia - there was no country on the map, but that doesn't mean there were no Chechs. So I never claimed that there was no national identity of Poles as it was very strong - they lived in partitioned parts, emigrated to many countries and of course some were sent to Siberia, forced to move to other places, etc., but they still fought for independent Poland (in different ways). As for the the rest of my message I wanted to add some context, guess I made a mistake there.

[@lordjim3109]

@@ozyrysozi6186 Ok, I get it. Your intentions were good. No hurt feelings, ok? Peace.

[@ozyrysozi6186]

@@lordjim3109 I don't use much of my feelings in this discussion, so no worries there. Just wanted to comment and also point out that saying occupation might be missleading. As the situation and reality was much more complicated, as it is with most of history. And also I was curious where the discussion might lead.

[@dunewalker3006]

24:51 Crab a la Pep(si) maximúm!

[@colindunnigan8621]

A good example of the excessive focus on the Western Front was the old PBS/BBC series The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century from 1996 (broadcast in the UK as 1914-18) The only mentions of the Eastern Front were the Battle of Tannenberg and the Russian Revolution.

[@brianfox771]

Even after 100 years, most English language media about the First World War is incessant, shameless pro-British propaganda. While you can find it, it is hard to find stuff that isn't repeating debunked propaganda from late 1910's to the mid 1920's from Great Britain. It became the de facto historical consensus, even though it is not data driven (welcome to history academia).

[@bartoszgolik2430]

It is hard to comment on this coverage probably as politics, lack of scientific neutrality, sympathies, or sheer neglect can be the root cause. But lets also be fai in WW1 the load of casualties was for the Western Front. France being the most severely affected, I need to look up the numbers but Russian losses (they did lose to Germany in WW1 and withdrew early) can be higher in their revolution and wars immediately after it. Contrary in WW2 starting with September 1939 invasion of Poland, then with all the glory of England standing firm alone after France losing fast when Soviets get attacked by Adi in 1941 (after some phenomenal cooperation between the tyrannies) yes it was them getting tremendous losses (20 million+) but also killing 8 out of 10 of german soldiers - with all my huge respect to D-Day, Sicily, Arctic convoys this statistics shows a lot. And when I talk to Russians and they start using these numbers to their advantage saying it is only us. I point to the tremendous importance of land lease when they needed it most, when their Ural factories were not warmed up fully... It is terribly hard to stay unaffected by emotions or sympathies and loads of commenters do not even try haha!

[@timothychong7480]

No way, is that the CRABE A LA-PEP MAXIMUM?!

[@stephanottawa7890]

My final comment is that it was delightful to see how beautiful Warsaw was. A Polish friend of mine who had been a child in pre-war Warsaw said to me that it was a gem and cannot be compared with the present-day Soviet style mess.

[@milton911]

Yooo Poland :DD

[@livethefuture2492]

Whatever it was, it was a damn sight better than the bloody communists or nazis that came later. All this tells me is that frankly we screwed up the peace after ww1 so bad, that in some aspects it may have actually been better to have let Germany win the war itself. The treaty of versailles and the concurrent handling of the Russian revolution and civil war were among the greatest foreign policy disasters of the 20th century. All our greatest enemies of the 20th century can be tied back to this one moment...we very much laid the seeds for our future enemies. This is - our victory was so poorly utilized and managed, it was made null and void in laying the seeds for future greater conflict that would ultimately overshadow all of it, and especially for eastern and central europe, ultimately for the worse.

[@arthurmosel808]

The mention of the relatively non-violent bature of Germany in occupied Poland compared to behavior in Belgium related more to the presence of non-military snipers as Germany entered the country.

[@starapto9272]

Thank You for covering that part of Polish history, it is a near complete void in polish education apart from the mention of Piłsudski's arrest

[@bartoszgolik2430]

c'mon! you did hear how easily German soldiers were surrending to civil Polish groups by giving back their guns (they were tired of the war for sure) never heard of "Rozbrajanie Niemcow w Warszawie" in a book Przez Stulecia? Never heard of German troops eating the last European Bisons in Puszcza Bialowieza (Poland managed to restore the population of these lovely animals and they are proud proof showing that you can try eating us and you will fail! haha

[@starapto9272]

@@bartoszgolik2430 TBH for me Greater Poland Uprising isn't part of German occupation, more like last dying part of Pa rtitions but I can see it in both ways, and żubry, it isn't something that I learned in sc hool, but , from near extinction and 12 living inviduals into modern revival, fantastic story "Polak potrafi" heh

[@bartoszgolik2430]

@@starapto9272 this is why I am raising awareness that the title of this clip is biased, there was no Poland at that time so Jerries were occupying the Russian Empire, their rivals: Ivans (Pulawy south of Warsaw were called Ivanogrod - not by Polish decision, right? Seems like a good illustration) But look, German atlases in XiX century deliberately were using Kingdom of Poland for the part of former Poland annexed (partitioned) by Russia so people from afar would not question their presence in Poznan, Leszno, Bydgoszcz (Posen, Lissa, Bromberg). As the famous German dr.Goebels was saying, the lie repeated many times becomes true, this really seems to work even here. And I am uneasy that my co-patriots are singing praises about the amazing pronunciation of Polish names in the video while omitting the key fact that the old Bismarck trick to call Poland what was only its eastern part, still works...

[@craftthemoon]

If I may ask, what is the song at 15:35?

[@cultural-and-historical]

wait, is Sir Manatee Sorbian?

[@jannis.grossmann]

the new kalendar ist called Gregorian not Georgian

[@TrustyEngineer]

22:43 Greetings from Zagębie Dąbrowskie! May Lord bless you, Sir! 😏

[@douglasschliewen4302]

Poland had already been occupied by Prussia(later Germany as a whole), Austria and Russia since the 18th century when the country was partitioned by all three. So, it wasn't just during the Great War that the country was occupied. As a result, there were Poles in the armed forces of all three countries because of that.

[@d.annejohnson5631]

You do not need the music. Please remove it. Use it for your intro or end, but otherwise please no. As a lover of classical music I it too distracting and thus annoying. It does not at "class" or "gravitas", Please. Otherwise, interesting, well researched and written and well delivered. Thank you.

[@LeoMarchyok-od5by]

Exploitative labor recruitment reminds me of the conditions of south Asian migrant laborers in the gulf countries today.

[@AOT_HxH95]

Would you ever cover the Rzez Wolynska, aka the Volhynian Genocide?

[@PKowalski2009]

Marginal from Your point of view, but interesting book about eastern front of I WW: A. Watson, The Fortress: The Great Siege of Przemysl, Penguin 2019

[@inq.zeketer1964]

As for Austro-Hungary - if I had 1 złoty for every time Austrians came and decided to start mining copper in my region (Miedzianka mountain in Holy Cross Mountains), I'd have 2 zł... which isn't much, but it's funny since they've controlled this land twice and for a short period (1795-1807 and 1914-1918). Anyway, during the WW1 they've exploited most of the ore and thus ages-old industry of copper mining in the region ended.

[@posticusmaximus1739]

Are you sure the Destruction/pogrom of Kalisz only resulted in hundreds of deaths? According to English wikipedia, the city has a population of 65,000 before the massacre began, 5,000 after.

[@DDodo280]

Can you do a video on what life was like for Polish citizens of Germany in places like Prussia or Silesia under Nazi governance?

[@posticusmaximus1739]

It was brutal, any other questions?

[@calengr1]

21:11 food exports during ww!