Editing Polonization (section)

{{Short description|Adoption or imposition of Polish culture}}
{{distinguish|Pollenization}}
{{Time-context|article|that is ongoing but the article covers only the subject and events until the year 1947|date=November 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox event
| title      = Polonisation
| image_name = Borders of Polish states and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (union state of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania).png
| caption    = Poland's and the Commonwealth's historical borders
| image_size = 320px
| duration   = 1569–1945
| place      = [[History of Poland|Poland throughout history]]
| blank_label= Borders 
| blank_data=
{{Leftlegend|yellow|Yellow – 1000}}{{Leftlegend|khaki|Khaki – 1569}}{{Leftlegend|silver|Silver – 1939}}{{Leftlegend|pink|Pink – 1945}}
}}

'''Polonization''' or '''Polonisation''' ({{langx|pl|polonizacja}})<ref name="Polszczenie">In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі рух на беларускіх і літоўскіх землях. 1864–1917 г. / Пад рэд. С. Куль-Сяльверставай. – Гродна: ГрДУ, 2001. – 322 с. {{ISBN|978-5-94716-036-9}} (2004). Pp.24, 28.), an additional distinction between the Polonization ({{langx|pl|polonizacja}}) and self-Polonization ({{langx|pl|polszczenie się}}) has been being made, however, most modern Polish researchers do not use the term ''polszczenie się''.</ref> is the acquisition or imposition of elements of [[Polish culture]], in particular the [[Polish language]]. This happened in some historic periods among non-Polish populations in territories controlled by or substantially under the influence of [[Poland]].

Like other examples of [[cultural assimilation]], Polonization could be either voluntary or forced. It was most visible in territories where the Polish language or culture was dominant or where their adoption could result in increased prestige or social status, as was the case with the [[nobility|nobilities]] of [[Ruthenia]] and [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]]. To a certain extent, political authorities have administratively promoted Polonization, particularly during the [[Interwar period|Second Polish Republic]] and in the [[People's Republic of Poland|period following World War II]].

Polonization can be seen as an example of cultural assimilation. Such a view is widely considered applicable to the population of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in the times of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (1569–1795), when the [[Ruthenian nobility|Ruthenian]] and [[Lithuanian nobility|Lithuanian]] upper classes were drawn towards [[Westernization]] with the adoption of Polish culture and the political and financial benefits of such a transition, as well as, sometimes, with the administrative pressure exerted on their own cultural institutions, primarily the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]] and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] by conversion to the [[Roman Catholic]] faith was often the single most important part of the process. For Ruthenians at that time, being Polish culturally and Roman Catholic by religion was almost the same. This diminishing of the Orthodox Church was the part most resented by the Belarusian and Ukrainian masses. In contrast, the Lithuanians, who were mostly Catholic, were in danger of losing their cultural identity as a nation, but that was not realized by the wide masses of Lithuanians until the [[Lithuanian National Revival|Lithuanian national renaissance]] in the middle of the 19th century.

On the other hand, the Polonization policies of the [[Second Polish Republic|Polish government]] during the interwar years of the 20th century, particularly in the [[Kresy|Eastern Borderlands]], were more deliberate. Some of them were similar to the mostly forcible [[assimilation (sociology)|assimilationist]] policies implemented by other European powers that have aspired to regional dominance (e.g., [[Germanization]], [[Russification]]), while others resembled policies carried out by countries aiming at increasing the role of their native language and culture in their own societies (e.g., [[Magyarization]], [[Romanianization]], [[Ukrainization]]). For Poles, it was a process of rebuilding Polish national identity and reclaiming Polish heritage, including the fields of education, religion, infrastructure and administration, that suffered under the prolonged [[partitions of Poland|foreign occupation by the neighboring empires]] of [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Prussia]], and [[Austria-Hungary]]. However, as a third of recreated Poland's population was ethnically non-Polish and many felt their own nationhood aspirations thwarted specifically by Poland, large segments of this population resisted to varying degrees the policies intended to assimilate them. [[Endecja|Part of the country's leadership]] emphasized the need for the long-term ethnic and cultural homogeneity of the state. However, the promotion of the Polish language in administration, public life and especially education, were perceived by some as an attempt at forcible homogenization. In areas inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians, for example, actions of the Polish authorities seen as aiming at restricting the influence of the Orthodox and the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] caused additional resentment and were considered to be closely tied to religious Polonization.