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Junker (Prussia)

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Paul von Hindenburgwas born into a wealthy Junker family.

TheJunkers(/ˈjʊŋkər/YUUNG-kər;German:[ˈjʊŋkɐ]) were members of thelanded nobilityinPrussia.They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights.[1]These estates often lay in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after 1871,Germanmilitary, political and diplomatic leadership. The most famous Junker was ChancellorOtto von Bismarck.[2]Bismarck held power in Germany from 1871 to 1890 asChancellor of the German Empire.He was removed from power byKaiser Wilhelm II.[3]

Many Junkers lived inthe eastern provincesthat were annexed by eitherPolandor theSoviet UnionafterWorld War II.Junkers fled or were expelled alongside other German-speaking populations by the incoming Polish and Soviet administrations, and their lands were confiscated. In western and southern Germany, the land was often owned by small independent farmers or a mixture of small farmers and estate owners, and this system was often contrasted with the dominance of the large estate owners of the east. Before World War II, the dividing line was often drawn at the riverElbewhich was also roughly the western boundary of Slavic settlement by theWendsin the so-calledGermania Slavicaprior toOstsiedlung.The term for the junker dominated East was thusOstelbienor East Elbia. They played a prominent role in repressing the liberal movement in Germany.

Origins[edit]

Further information:Junker

Junkeris derived fromMiddle High GermanJuncherre,meaning "young nobleman"[4]or otherwise "young lord" (derivation ofjungandHerr), and originally was the title of members of the higheredelfrei(immediate) nobility without or before theaccolade.It evolved to a general denotation of a young or lesser noble, often poor and politically insignificant, understood as "countrysquire"(cf.Martin Luther's disguise as "Junker Jörg" at theWartburg;he would later mock KingHenry VIII of Englandas "Juncker Heintz"[5]). As part of the nobility, many Junker families only had prepositions such asvonorzubefore their family names without further ranks. The abbreviation of the title is Jkr., most often placed before the given name and titles, for example: Jkr. Heinrich von Hohenberg. The female equivalentJunkfrau(Jkfr.) was used only sporadically. In some cases, thehonorificJkr. was also used forFreiherren(Barons) andGrafen(Counts).

A good number of poorer Junkers took up careers as soldiers (Fahnenjunker), mercenaries, and officials (Hofjunker,Kammerjunker) at the court of territorialprinces.These families were mostly part of the German medievalUradeland had carried on the colonisation andChristianisationof the northeastern European territories during theOstsiedlung.Over the centuries, they had become influential commanders and landowners, especially in the lands east of theElbeRiver in the Kingdom of Prussia.[6]

As landed aristocrats, the Junkers owned most of the arable land in Prussia. Being the bulwark of the rulingHouse of Hohenzollern,the Junkers controlled thePrussian Army,leading inpolitical influenceandsocial status,and owning immense estates worked by tenants. These were located especially in the north-eastern half of Germany (i.e. the Prussian provinces ofBrandenburg,Pomerania,Silesia,West Prussia,East Prussia,andPosen). This was in contrast to the predominantlyCatholic southern statessuch as theKingdom of Bavariaor theGrand Duchy of Baden,where land was owned by small farms, or the mixed agriculture of the western states like theGrand Duchy of Hesseor even the PrussianRhineandWestphalianprovinces.[7]

Junkers formed a tightly knit elite. Their challenge was how to retain their dominance in an emerging modern state with a growing middle and working class.

Modern influences[edit]

RittergutNeudeck, East Prussia (todayOgrodzieniec,Poland), presented to German PresidentPaul von Hindenburgin 1928

The Junkers held a virtual monopoly on allagriculturein the part of theGerman Reichlying east of the River Elbe. Since the Junker estates were necessarily inherited by the eldest son alone, younger sons, all well-educated and with a sense of noble ancestry, turned to the civil and military services, and dominated all higher civil offices, as well as the officer corps. Around 1900 they modernised their farming operations to increase productivity. They sold off less productive land, invested more heavily in new breeds ofcattleandpigs,used newfertilisers,increased grain production, and improved productivity per worker. Their political influence achieved the imposition of high tariffs that reduced competition from U.S. grain and meat.[8]

DuringWorld War I,Irish nationalistMPTom Kettlecompared theAnglo-Irishlandlord class to the Prussian Junkers, saying, "England goes to fight for liberty in Europe and for junkerdom in Ireland."[9]

Their political influence extended from theGerman Empireof 1871–1918 through theWeimar Republicof 1919–1933. It was said that "if Prussia ruled Germany, the Junkers ruled Prussia, and through it the Empire itself".[10]A policy known asOsthilfe( "Help for the East" ) granted Junkers 500,000,000 marks in subsidies to help pay for certain debts and to improve equipment.[11]Junkers continued to demand and receive more and more subsidies, which gave them more money in their pockets, thus resulting in political power. Junkers exploited a monopoly on grain by storing it to drive up the price. As more money was profited, they were able to control political offices. Junkers were able to force people to continue paying more money for their product, while keeping who they wanted in office.[12]Through the controlling of politics behind a veil, Junkers were able to influence politicians to create a law that prohibited collecting of debts from agrarians, thus pocketing even more money and strengthening their power.[13]

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Supporting monarchism and military traditions, Junkers were seen asreactionary,anti-democratic,andprotectionistbyliberalsandSocialists,as they had sided with theconservativemonarchistforces during theRevolution of 1848.Their political interests were served by theGerman Conservative Partyin theReichstagand the extraparliamentaryAgriculturists' League(Bund der Landwirte). This political class held tremendous power over industrial classes and government alike, especially through thePrussian three-class franchise.When German chancellorLeo von Capriviin the 1890s reduced the protective duties on imports of grain, these landed magnates demanded and obtained his dismissal; and in1902,they brought about a restoration of such duties on foodstuffs as would keep the prices of their own products at a high level.

"Junker" acquired its current and often pejorative sense during the 19th-century disputes over the domestic policies of the German Empire.[14]The term was used by sociologists such asMax Weberand was even adopted by members of the landed class themselves. ChancellorOtto von Bismarckwas a noted Junker, though hisfamilyhailed from theAltmarkregion west of the Elbe. After World War I many Prussian agriculturists gathered in thenational conservativeGerman National People's Party(DNVP). The term was also applied to Reich PresidentPaul von Hindenburg,lord ofNeudeckin West Prussia, and to the "camarilla"around him urging the appointment ofAdolf HitlerasChancellor of Germany,personified by men like Hindenburg's sonOskarand his West Prussian "neighbour"Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau,who played a vital role in theOsthilfescandal of 1932/33.

ManyWorld War IIfield marshalswere also members of the Junkers, most notablyGerd von Rundstedt,Fedor von Bock,andErich von Manstein.Many Junkers usedforced labourersfromPolandand theSoviet Union.[15]AlthoughHelmuth James Graf von Moltkeformed theKreisau Circleas part of theresistanceto Nazi rule. As World War II turned against Nazi Germany, several senior Junkers in theWehrmachtparticipated in ColonelClaus von Stauffenberg'sassassination attemptof 20 July 1944.[clarification needed]Fifty-eight of them either were executed when the plot failed,[16]among themErwin von WitzlebenandHeinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort,or committed suicide likeHenning von Tresckow.During the advance of theRed Armyin the closing months of the war and subsequently, most Junkers had tofleefrom theeastern territoriesthat were turned over to the re-establishedRepublic of Polandwith the implementation of theOder–Neisse lineaccording to thePotsdam Agreement.

Bodenreform[edit]

1985Bodenreformmemorial inWolfshagen,Uckermark

After World War II, during the communistBodenreform(land reform) of September 1945 in theSoviet Occupation Zone,laterEast Germany,all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (250 acres) was expropriated, and then predominantly allocated to 'New Farmers' on condition that they continued farming them. As most of these large estates, especially inBrandenburgandWestern Pomerania,had belonged to Junkers, theSocialist Unity Party of Germanypromoted their plans with East German PresidentWilhelm Pieck's sloganJunkerland in Bauernhand!( "Junker land into farmer's hand!" ).[17]The former owners were accused ofwar crimesand involvement in the Nazi regime by theSoviet Military Administrationand the SED, with many of them being arrested, brutally beaten and interned inNKVD special camps(Speziallager), while their property was plundered and themanor housesdemolished. Some were executed. Many women wereraped.[18]From 1952 these individual farms were pressured by a variety of means to join together ascollectivesand incorporated intoLandwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften( "agricultural production comradeships", LPG) ornationalisedasVolkseigene Güter( "publicly owned estates", VEG).[citation needed]

AfterGerman reunification,some Junkers tried to regain their former estates through civil lawsuits, but the German courts have upheld the land reforms and rebuffed claims to full compensation, confirming the legal validity of the terms within theTreaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany(Two Plus Four Agreement) (and incorporated into theBasic Law of the Federal Republic), by which expropriations of land under Soviet occupation were irreversible. The last decisive case was the unsuccessful lawsuit ofPrince Ernst August of Hanoverin September 2006, when theFederal Administrative Courtdecided that the prince had no right to compensation for the disseized estates of theHouse of HanoveraroundBlankenburg CastleinSaxony-Anhalt.Other families, however, have quietly purchased or leased back their ancestral homes from the current owners[19](often the German federal government in its role as trustee). Apetitionfor official rehabilitation of the ousted landowners was rejected by the GermanBundestagin 2008.[citation needed]

Notable Junkers[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes

  1. ^Alan J. P. Taylor (2001).The Course of German History: a survey of the development of German history since 1815.Routledge. p. 20.ISBN9780415255585.
  2. ^Francis Ludwig Carsten,A History of the Prussian Junkers(1989).
  3. ^Jonathan, Steinberg (2011).Bismarck a Life.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-978252-9.
  4. ^Duden;Meaning of Junker, in German.[1]
  5. ^Henry VIII: September 1540, 26–30', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16: 1540–1541 (1898), p. 51. URL:http:// british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76214Date accessed: 10 June 2012
  6. ^William W. Hagen,Ordinary Prussians – Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500–1840(Cambridge University Press, 2007)
  7. ^Hagen,Ordinary Prussians – Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500–1840(2007)
  8. ^Torp, 2010)
  9. ^Tim Cross (1988),The Lost Voices of World War I,p. 42.
  10. ^Frederic Austin Ogg,The Governments of Europe(1920), p. 681
  11. ^"Heilig".history.hanover.edu.Retrieved2018-10-29.
  12. ^"Heilig".history.hanover.edu.Retrieved2018-10-29.
  13. ^"Heilig".history.hanover.edu.Retrieved2018-10-29.
  14. ^Scott, H.M., ed. (2007).The European Nobilities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.Vol. 2. UK: Basingstoke. pp. 118–119.
  15. ^Naimark, Norman M. (1995).The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949.Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 145.
  16. ^MacDonogh, p. 204
  17. ^Naimark, Norman M. (1995).The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949.Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 143.
  18. ^Naimark, Norman M. (1995).The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949.Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 86.
  19. ^Roger Boyes (January 26, 2011)."The Prussians are coming".Retrieved2013-09-29.Last year [in] the east German state of Brandenburg... I came across half a dozen members of the Prussian diaspora—their parents had fled the communists in 1945 and settled in West Germany—who had become wealthy (an eye surgeon, a gallery owner, a banker) and returned to buy back and restore their crumbling ancestral homes.

Bibliography

  • Anderson, Margaret Lavinia. "Voter, Junker, Landrat, Priest: The Old Authorities and the New Franchise in Imperial Germany,"American Historical Review(1993) 98#5 pp. 1448–1474in JSTOR
  • Carsten, Francis Ludwig.A history of the Prussian Junkers(1989).
  • Hagen, William W.Ordinary Prussians – Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500–1840(Cambridge University Press, 2007)
  • MacDonogh, Giles,After the Reich,Basic Books, (2007)ISBN0-465-00337-0.
  • Ogg, Frederick Austin,The Governments of Europe,MacMillan Company, 1920.
  • Ogg, Frederic Austin.Economic Development of Modern Europe,Chap. IX (bibliography, pp. 210–211).
  • Stienberg, Jonathan.Bismarck a Life,Oxford University Press, 2011
  • Torp, Cornelius. "The" Coalition of 'Rye and Iron' "under the Pressure of Globalization: A Reinterpretation of Germany's Political Economy before 1914,"Central European History(2010) 43#3 pp 401–427
  • Weber, Max. "National Character and the Junkers," inFrom Max Weber: Essays in Sociology(Routledge classics in sociology) (1991)[2]

External links[edit]

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