Prussian deportations
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| Native name | Rugi pruskie |
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| Duration | 1885–1890 |
| Location | German imperial Prussia |
| Type | Ethnic cleansing |
| Cause | Anti-Polish sentiment |
| Patron(s) | Otto von Bismarck |
| Outcome | Deportation of over 30,000 Poles from the Prussian Partition of the Commonwealth |
The Prussian deportations (or Prussian expulsions of Poles, Polish: rugi pruskie, German: Polenausweisungen) were the mass expulsions of ethnic Poles (and to a lesser extent, Polish Jews) from the German-controlled Prussia between 1885 and 1890. More than 30,000 Poles with Austrian or Russian citizenship were deported from the Prussian part of divided Poland to the respective Austrian and Russian Partitions of the no-longer existing Commonwealth. The deportations were carried out in an inhumane way, and were based on ethnic discrimination principles. The county-wide expulsion was condemned by the Polish public as well as the federal German parliament. The expulsion also contributed to the worsening of the German-Russian relations. In the aftermath, Poles without German citizenship were again allowed to work and reside in the German Empire in all seasons but the winter. It is regarded as an early example of ethnic cleansing.
Agriculture in the eastern provinces of Prussia was to a high degree based on large-area manors (often requisitioned from their formerly Polish owners) and run by German junkers, who employed thousands of migrating Poles from the Russian and Austrian part of partitioned Poland. Also, the growing industrial region of Upper Silesia attracted workers from economically backward areas. At the same time, parts of the local German and Polish population migrated in search of work to more industrialized western areas of Germany (Ostflucht). Although no anti-German political activity among the Polish migrants was ever noted, the resulting increase of the Polish population alarmed nationalist German circles, including Germany's chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
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