border of Prussia was closed to all migrants of Polish ethnicity. Effects on public opinion The expulsions resulted in an outcry among the public opinion of Poland, Germany and Europe. Alfred von Waldersee, who in principle agreed to the necessity of the expulsions, admitted to their "incredible harshness" () in individual cases. Schweinitz, then German ambassador in Russia said, upon reflection: When some day the great chancellor resigns, then many people will feel ashamed and they will mutually reproach themselves with the meanness of their grovelling before his mighty will. I am touched at the most by the unwise and to no purpose cruel order of the expulsions. The matter was laid before the parliament of the German Empire, forwarded by the ethnic Polish MPs, and supported by the Centre Party, Social Democratic Party and the German progressives. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Wilhelm Liebknecht, called the chancellor to withdraw the steps which might cause international complications and bring down repressive measures upon Germans living abroad. Ansfeld, a progressive, put in a resolution that the expulsion was not justified by the national interest, it was contrary to humanitarian reasons and posed a threat to the welfare of the empire's citizens. Ludwig Windthorst of the Centre Party submitted a supplementary motion to the same effect. On 16 January 1886, the parliament of the German Empire condemned the expulsion with a great majority of voices. Nevertheless, the parliamentary resolution was ignored by the Prussian government. A similar question was asked by the Polish MPs and the Centre Party in the parliament of Prussia, but the majority of voices necessary to condemn the expulsions was not obtained there, because political forces of anti-Polish orientation were represented much more strongly in the Prussian parliament than in the parliament of the German Empire. Influence on German relations with Russia The formerly good relations between Germany and Russia worsened in the 1880s due to growing nationalist trends in Russian politics. German minorities in the Russian Empire, including Baltic and Russian-born Germans as well as recent German immigrants, faced negative sentiments among both the government and the public supporting the ideas of Pan-Slavism. With that in mind, the German ambassador in Russia, Schweinitz, advised Bismarck to abstain from further expulsions, anticipating that they would only provoke the supporters of Pan-Slavism and trigger repressions against all German settlers in Russia. The expulsions had been met with