Kwestia narodowa i kwestia kobieca. Zadania Wielkopolanek w obliczu zaostrzenia polityki germanizacyjnej w 1908 r. w opinii warszawskich czasopism dla kobiet

Abstract

1908 was a special year for Polish women living under the Prussian partition. New laws aimed against Poles were introduced. The first of them provided an opportunity to take over the land belonging to Polish land owners (Expropriation Law). The following banned all but a few situations in which Polish language could be used during public gatherings. In the same year, however, some prohibitions discriminating against women in the state of Prussia were abolished. From 1908 on, women could become members of political parties and had the same rights to be admitted to universities in Germany as men had. Hence, on the one hand Polish women experienced further restrictions based on their nationality, while on the other, some barriers for them as women were lifted. This issue was noticed by women’s magazines published in Poznań (Prussian partition) and Warsaw (Congress Poland). This paper aims at describing these magazines’ attitude towards the dilemma faced by female activists of the women’s movement from the Greater Poland region. Namely, how to combine their patriotic activities with the opportunities that opened up for women in Germany as the result of the reforms mentioned. The analysis of press articles from the intersectional perspective provides information about the proposed action strategies to combine national and gender interests.