Polish speakers in Prussia and northern Germany according to the census of 1905 and 1910

Polish speakers in Prussia and northern Germany according to the census of 1905 and 1910

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‘why did they get Danzig?

They didn’t get the city itself, it was run by League of Nations with the Polish mandate (and the city officials certainly didn’t let the Poles run it like they would like to, they controlled some aspects of the city but it had it’s own parliment and currency, Poles controlled the post, maintained a military garrison and were ment to dictate the economics of the city state, but it failed soon due to the toll war with Germany), also the coastline had no Poles because it was majority Kashubian at the time (really, the Polish corridor was mostly rural, full of these Kashubian speaking villages, with some resort towns pre ww1) and the minority is still present there to this day’

1944 National Geographic map of Germany

1944 National Geographic map of Germany - showing international boundaries as of September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland

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‘Shoulda quit while they were ahead.

The thing is they really couldn’t, because their rearmament was funded with massive debt spending on the expectation of looting neighboring countries. You can look at Germany on a 1939 map and say “what a nice shape; they should’ve been happy with that” – but by then the regime was already on a do-or-die course.

That is the issue with expansive imperialism. You need neighbors to conquer and exploit if you want to prevent a collapse.

But at least austria and the sudetenland would’ve been gone through if they stopped at the right time. Both were predominantly german population and the idea of “bringing people home” would’ve been accepted. But Poland and France? There is no way anyone would allow that.’

1945 map of Stalag IV-B in Mühlberg, Germany

1945 map of Stalag IV-B in Mühlberg, Germany, one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps during World War II

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‘My grandfather had to make a death march (20 hours a day) all the way to this camp after being captured by the Germans in Ravenna, Italy. One small piece of bread every 48 hours is all they gave him to eat, and if he didn’t keep up they put a gun to his head … Oh I got a hold of my Grandfather’s pow reclamation request (he couldn’t work after coming back home due to what he lived through), it described in detail what happened to him from capture to liberation. The death march was horrendous, and several of his fellow servicemen died by friendly fire from allied combat aircraft as they marched North. There was no mention of torture or forced anything pertaining to his actual imprisonment in the camp itself, however, he did have to spend 2 months in a British hospital for malnourishment after being liberated’–svmtl81

1950s map of Germany showing places where fairy tales take place

1950s map of Germany showing places where fairy tales take place.

Included are the Pied Piper walks in Hamelin; the forest Red Riding Hood picked the flowers, where the glass box of Snow White stood; and the candy cottage that Hansel and Gretel found

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‘The other day I learned that Hansel and Gretel has roots in famines of the 1300s when kids were abandoned in the woods’–Fue_la_luna

Ethnolinguistic structure of eastern territories of the Kingdom of Prussia in years 1816-1831

Ethnolinguistic structure of eastern territories of the Kingdom of Prussia in years 1816-1831

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‘As for West Slavs in Pommerania, those would be Slovincians or other Pommeranian groups that hadn’t been assimilated by the 1830s.

Lithuanian minority in East Prussia was quite huge, they were the majority in the countryside around Tilsit, and Tilsit itself acted as a big Lithuanian cultural centre at the time. Lithuanian was banned in Imperial Russia, so they printed the books in Tilsit and smuggled it across the border.

And it isn’t that different than the situation just before WW1 or WW2 even, as even up to 1945, Lithuanians formed a big minority in eastern East Prussia while Polish speaking Mazurians were a large minority along the Polish border (southern East Prussia)‘–Vitaalis

The legal systems of Germany (1895)

The legal systems of Germany (1895)

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‘Translations into English -

• hauptsächlich nur Gemeines Recht - Mainly just common law

• subsidiär nur Gemeines Recht - Subsidiary only common law

• württembergisches Land Recht - Württemberg country law

• Bairisches Land Recht - Bavarian country law

• subsidiär Preussisches Landrecht mit Prov. Recht v. Bedeutg - Subsidiary Prussian land law with Prov. Right v. Meaning

• hauptsächlich nur Preussisches Landrecht - mainly only Prussian land law

• hauptsächlich Sächsisches Recht - mainly Saxon law

• primär hauptsächlich Sächsisches Recht - primary mainly Saxon law

• sächsische Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch - Saxon Civil Code

• Jütisch Low - Jewsih Low [Law ]

• friesisches Recht - Frisian law

• dänisches Recht - Danish law

• hauptsächlich Französisch Recht - mainly French law

• theilweise Französisch Recht - partly French law

• badisches Landrecht - Baden land law

• städte, deren Recht von dem der Umgegend erheblicht abweicht… - cities whose law differs significantly from that of the surrounding area…

Jütisch Low = Jutish Law, not Jewish’

River basins of Germany

River basins of Germany

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‘This is awesome. Each one of those big, and sometimes smaller ones, has an amazing cycle path running along it if you’re into long bike rides and camping out. I’ve done most of the stuff in the southwest because i live there so this is interesting to see where to go next when its safe to get back out on the roads’–youwutnow

Dissemination of the German Language (1913)

Dissemination of the German Language (1913)

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‘People, cultures, and languages all move and change, and it’s never about one factor. Who/what would you blame for English being the primary language in the US? There is no one firm answer. There was a long series of events that led to that, and it may well change again. Likewise, in what is now Germany, 100 years ago, I don’t think people would guess that English, Turkish, and Arabic would be so widely spoken, yet they are. 100 years ago, who would have expected most people in the Philippines to speak English?’–Von_Kissenburg

The sociodemographic development of Germany after reunification: - Population development - Employees subject to social insurance - Unemployment rate

The sociodemographic development of Germany after reunification: - Population development - Employees subject to social insurance - Unemployment rate

‘The second map really blew my mind. The East lost between 16% and 40% of its (basically) full-time employees between 1990-96. That’s quite insane’–CeterumCenseo85