Up until 1793, the Province of Posen remained part of the Kingdom of Poland. It was often referred to as "Greater Poland". For an historical timeline of Poland and the Province of Posen before 1793, go to the Poland History page. In 1793, in what was known as the Second Partition of Poland, Russia and Prussia agreed to a further partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Prussia gained the cities of Danzig and Torun, as well as much of western Poland including the Province of Posen. The Prussian Treaty was the far more difficult of the two for Poles to swallow. While the Russians grabbed land occupied mostly by Russians or Lithuanians, the Prussian land grab was the cradle of the Polish race, and the Polish state as such could not survive its loss. However, Russian and Prussian troops forced the ratification of the treaties.

1793: Upon the Second Partition of Poland and the annexation of the Province of Posen by Prussia, the Province is renamed South Prussia. The city of Poznan is its capital.

1795: After the Third Partition of Poland and the annexation of lands further to the east, Warsaw became the capital of South Prussia.

1807: Following Napoleon's victory in the Franco-Prussian War, the Duchy of Warsaw, a small semi-independent state, was established, which was totally dependent on France. The Province of Posen was included in the Duchy of Warsaw.

1815-1830: In 1815, the Poles consisted of a race of uneducated peasants, dominated in all respects by a land-owning nobility (szlachta). The Prussina Government policy aimed to secure the nobility as its ally, by winning it over to German ideals. Initially, the Poles were not obliged to renounce their nationality, they would share in the Constitution, the Polish language would be used side by side with the German, and admission to administrative positions would be open to all inhabitants of the Province. This policy backfired on the Prussians however, as the Poles acquired control of virtually all of the administrative and judicial offices. Thus, the policy increased, rather than diminished, the opportunities of the Poles.

1830: Beginning in 1815, the Prussian Government had fully supported Russia's Polish policies in regard to Russian Poland. When the Russian Poles started an insurrection against Russia in 1830, more than 12,000 Prussian Poles crossed into Russian Poland to support the Russian Poles. The Prussian Government at once decided on a radical departure from its prevailing policy of conciliation. Those who had taken part in the insurrection were dismissed from Government service. Poles began to be excluded from administrative positions, the Polish language was gradually restricted, and a fund was established for buying out Polish landlords with a view to reselling the land to Germans. This new policy proved successful in undermining the influence of the Polish nobles. On the other hand, this very action, in conjunction with the freeing of the peasants and other social changes, led to the slow development of a middle class, which later in the century took over the leadership of the peasants and became a far more formidable opponent of the Government than the nobles had been.

1837: Conflict between the Prussian Government and the Catholic Church resulted in the suspensions of several bishops and two archbishops. This provided the Poles with an even greater national cause.

1842: Prussian King Frederick William IV established a schools ordinance, which provided that in primary schools attended by any considerable number of Polish children all teachers must know Polish, and the teaching must be partly in Polish. This was part of a policy of the Prussian Government to peacefully "Germanize" the Poles.

1848: The Grand Duchy of Poland was formally replaced by the Province of Posen in the Prussian constitution of December 5, 1848. A separatist movement took hold in the Province, building upon a popular feeling which had been smoldering ever since 1815. The Government was taken by surprise and made hasty and reckless concessions. Frederick William promised local autonomy and a liberal Constitution. However, none of these reforms were actually delivered, and resentment among the Poles considered to fester. Polish and German elements became definitely and bitterly opposed. The Poles, who had established their own Council and army, which was decisively beaten by Prussian forces. The time for winning over the Poles by peaceful measures was now past.

1871: With the unification of Germany following the Franco-Prussian War, became part of the German Empire. The struggle known as the Kulturkampf began. The German Government, under Otto von Bismarck, attacked Catholics and Poles together in a rapid succession of laws. The Catholic Department in the Ministry of Health, Education, and Religion was abolished. The control of elementary education was taken out of the hands of the clergy and transferred to the State. The Jesuits were expelled from the Empire.

1873: The "May Laws" enacted that the State should control the training and appointment of Priests and limit the disciplinary powers of the Church. A royal decree abolished the use of Polish as the language of instruction in both secondary and primary schools. These laws were supplemented by further acts which virtually excluded the Polish language from the administration and the law courts and the police courts.

1879: The Catholics had entirely declined to conform to the "May Laws". Eight out of twelve bishoprics were vacant, and an immense number of parishes were without priests. The Catholic Party in the Reichstag had increased to a total of over 80 members.

1881: The Prussian Government began to relent from the "May Laws" of 1873. During the next 12 years, the majority of the anti-Catholic measures were repealed. However, the anti-Polish measures remained. Thus all Polish children in national schools continued to receive their education in German, except for religious instruction.

1886: The appointment of teachers was transferred to the central government, and a regulation was enacted that no teachers of Polish nationality were to be employed in Polish districts. The Prussian Settlement Commission was a Prussian government commission that operated between 1886 and 1924 set up by Otto von Bismarck to increase land ownership by Germans at the expense of Poles, by economic and political means, as part of his larger efforts aimed at the eradication of the Polish nation. The Commission was motivated by anti-Polish sentiment and racism. Land was to be bought from Poles and sold to Germans in districts where a German majority could be created. The Poles organized a counter movement, establishing the Land Bank. The aim of the Land Bank was to purchase land from the Germans and sell it to the Poles. It was so successful that it is estimated that from 1896-1910, the area gained by the Poles from Germans largely exceeded the area gained by the Germans from Poles!

1887: Polish ceased to be a subject of instruction in primary schools. Even private teaching of Polish was prohibited.

1888: Mike Jankowski, son of Constantin immigrated to the USA from the Polish Province of Posen. By 1991, all members of Constantin's family had left Poland forever.

1919: After World War I, most of the Province, composed of the areas with a Polish majority, was ceded to Poland and was reformed as the Poznan Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic.

1939: World War II began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The former Province of Posen became the Reichsgau Posen.

1945: By the end of World War II, the Province of Posen, along with the rest of Poland, had been overrun by the Red Army.