Building of Settlement Commission in Poznań, today Collegium Maius

The Settlement Commission (German: Ansiedlungskommission) was a department that operated between 1886 and 1918, set up by Otto von Bismarck to increase land ownership of Germans at the expense of Poles in the eastern provinces of the German Empire, through the use of economic and political methods, as part of the country's policy of Germanisation. The original goal of the Commission was to remove Polish owners from the land completely. The first budget of the Commission was 100,000,000 marks. Download high resolution version (1280x960, 508 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1280x960, 508 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Prince Otto von Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (April 1, 1815 – July 30, 1898) was one of the most prominent European aristocrats and statesmen of the nineteenth century. ... Flag of the German Empire, 1871–1919: black-white-red Coat of arms The term German Empire commonly refers to Germany, from its foundation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... German 20 Mark banknote from 1914 (www. ...

At later times, even larger funds were made available to purchase lands from Poles. At the same time, laws were enacted that discriminated against Poles, making it more difficult for them to continue profitable operations and to rehabilitate failed operations.

The creation of the Commission made Poles defend their ownership of the land, that gradually turned into Polish-German economic competition. It was to a great extent won by Poles, in that the measures failed to make much difference in the percentages of land ownership. Organized Polish countermeasures and the population decline of the Germans vs the increase of the Poles figured greatly in the lack of success.

However, the Commission created numerous modern settlements, especially around city of Bromberg (Polish: Bydgoszcz). Bydgoszcz (in Polish pronounce: [:bidgɔʃʧ], German: Bromberg, Latin: Bydgostia) is a city in northern Poland, on Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 369,151 (2004). ...

Due to overall failure of the policy, Prussian diet passed a law that enabled forcible expropriation of Polish landowners by the Settlement Commission in 1908. In 1912 the first four Polish large estates were expropriated. In 1918, after the German Empire's defeat in WWI, the Commission ceased to function. 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... WWI may be an acronym for: World War I World Wrestling Industry This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

See also

• Anti-Polonism
• Kulturkampf
• Deutscher Ostmarkenverein
• Drzymała car
• Rota