The Political Activation of the Polish Society of Eastern Pomerania in the Elections to the Reichstag, 1871–1914

The publication constitutes an analysis of the activation of Poles – citizens of the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire residing in the province of West Prussia (Eastern Pomerania) in the elections to the German parliament (Reichstag) in the 19th century (until 1914). On the one hand, it was demonstrated that every contemporary citizen of the German state had equal rights irrespective of their nationality; on the other hand, the author presented the process of shaping the national consciousness of Poles using the law to organize a network of their own electoral committees and elect their Polish representatives to the legislative institutions of that state, in the national rivalry with the German society in Eastern Pomerania. Statistically, a successive increase in activation in this area and its specific results in particular electoral districts were presented, depending not only on nationality statistics, but also on the organization of the electoral campaign and the level of the increasing social, national and political awareness. The article presents the organizational manifestations of the national independence of the Polish society of Eastern Pomerania, which was one of the basic factors justifying the inclusion of this region within the boundaries of the reborn Polish state