A map can tell a thousand words. The history of
Poland is also a history of changing borders and jurisdictions. For the
genealogist this can be very important and at the same time very confusing.
These maps were first created to help clarify these border changes for use in a
Polish research outline for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. A
variation of these will be published in the Polish Research Outline
at the Family History Library. Anyone
interested should get a copy of that research outline, too.
If you find corrections or errors on these maps,
feel free to let us know.
Anyway we hope these maps are helpful to you:
The late 1700s was a crucial time in the
history of Poland as it was cut up and subdivided among Prussia, Russia, and
Austria in three stages. These maps show how
Poland looked prior to the first partition in 1772, and then at the each of
the subsequent partitions (1772 - 1st, 1793 - 2nd, 1795 - 3rd). I have
included an outline of present-day Poland and some of the cities so you can
see how these compare to each other.
These maps
show how Poland changed during the period it was under Napoleonic rule (Duchy
of Warsaw), Congress Poland or Kingdom of Poland (within the Russian Empire),
and Independent Poland (after 1921).
These maps show the
county borders as of during the period 1921-1939
before the eastern counties became part of Poland and as they are referred to
in the 1934 gazetteer, as the counties were listed in the 1967 gazetteer which
is used as a standard for listing places in the Family History Catalog, and as
of 1999.
It is particularly interesting to see these maps
reflect the history of the Prussian states of Pomerania,
East and West Prussia (Preußen), Posen, Schlesien, and Brandenburg. There are quite a few things which might also be interesting to
others seeking some knowledge of this area:
From doing research in Pomerania
(Pommern), it was thought the Germans in these areas went back very early 11th-13th
century and were predominantly Protestant. This is really only true for Pomerania, Brandenburg, and East Prussia. These areas were settled by Germans
very early and were predominantly Lutheran (Brandenburg 94 percent, Pomerania
97 percent, East Prussia 86 percent Lutheran in 1880). On the other hand it
was not until the partitions of 1772-1795 that Prussia gained territories of
Silesia, Posen, and West Prussia and started settling these new territories
with Germans. By 1880 under half of the population of Silesia and West Prussia
and a third of the population of Posen was Lutheran. Although there were
many of Germans who settled these states, they were primarily Polish regions
prior to the partitions and had a high Polish population subsequently.
Not only was there an East and West Prussia,
but there was also a South Prussia (territory Prussia took in 1795). This was in the
central part of Poland and was incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw in 1806
and became part of Congress Poland in 1815. During the brief time it was in
Prussian control, many Lutheran Germans made settlements in this area. Some of
the Germans in this area remained when it came under Russian control, while others
moved further east into Volhynia in Western Ukraine. When times got harder for
those German in the late 1800s, many joined the Black Sea Germans, west back
to Germany, or came to America. There is a very useful
tax list for West
Prussia in 1772-1773 available on the Internet!
The map showing how the
borders of Poland shifting west after World War II
is
very interesting. It always seemed particularly wrong that Germans were kicked
out of their homes and became refugees in Germany, but notice all of Poland
that was lost to Russia. There were Polish refugees from this area that needed
a place to live. The borders of the entire country shifted westward.
The border of the
Pale of the Settlement which was the territory where the Jews were
concentrated in central Europe, was the same boundary of the old
Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth prior to 1772. Some
good Jewish maps can be found in the newly published Jewish
Research Outline at the Family History Library.
Visit the Jewish Records
Indexing Project
If you found these maps helpful, check out some
of the other maps on our site of Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.
