Pope Leo XIII and Poland
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The relationship between Pope Leo XIII and Poland was marked by the German-led Kulturkampf, which led to the persecution of ethnic Poles in Prussia and German Catholics in Germany.
In Prussia, Polish Catholics were persecuted as Poles and, during the Kulturkampf, together with German Catholics, as Catholics as well: The Kulturkampf, which Otto von Bismarck began in 1871, insinuated a Polish-Catholic-Austrian connection. It was a vehicle for germanisation, as everything Polish including the language were banned from schools and offices.[1]
Jailing of Polish priests
Polish priests, who taught Catholic religion in Polish were punished and jailed. Like their German counterparts, their sermons were observed and led to jail sentences as well.[2] In 1874, Cardinal Mieczyslaw Ledóchowski was jailed.
Political allies among German bishops
Unlike in Russia, they had powerful allies among German Catholic hierarchy and Catholic politicians like Matthias Erzberger, the most prominent Catholic politician during World War I, who often functioned as go-between with the Vatican. (Erzberger 41 ff) Indeed, after Vatican communications, Erzberger promoted a Polish kingdom to be proclaimed in Kraków with loose ties to Austria-Hungary, for which he had support in the Vatican and even Germany (Erzberger, 173) but not from the Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza in Vienna, who was afraid of losing ethnic influence.