After the First World War the German Reich lost 13% of its territory and 10% of its population along with North Schleswig, Alsace-Lorraine, Poznan and parts of West Prussia and Silesia. However, Poland's territorial demands initially went beyond the West Prussian Vistula region and Poznan. They also included Upper Silesia, Masuria and Warmia (Ermland). According to the idea of a right of self-determination of the people, the inhabitants were to be questioned in the latter parts of the country.
In East Prussia, the entire administrative district of Allenstein (today Olsztyn) and the district of Oletzko were affected. The 540,000 people born there were entitled to vote. Those who lived away could come to vote.
Germany and Poland were both engaged in elaborate propaganda. The result was surprisingly clear given the ethnic diversity of East Prussia: In the Allenstein administrative district more than 97% voted for Germany, in the Marienwerder (today Kwidzyn) voting district more than 92%. The district and town of Oletzko, where only two out of over 32,000 votes were cast for Poland, were renamed "Treuburg".
Illustration:
Plebiscite memorial in Malbork (today Marienburg)
Memorials were erected in several places in memory of the clear commitment to the German Reich. Repeatedly, the Teutonic Order was referred to, which was now interpreted as the founder of a German East Prussia. In both Poland and Germany, nationalists established the image of a century-long struggle between Germans and Slavs. East Prussia was thereby elevated from the German side to the faithful, earth-rooted "Ostmark" of Germanness.
Photo: Picture Archive East Prussia