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{{Short description|Province of Prussia (1815–1919)}}
{{about|the 19th and 20th-century Prussian province|the medieval duchy|Duchy of Silesia|the present-day subdivision of Poland|Silesian Voivodeship}}
{{about|the 19th and 20th-century Prussian province|the medieval duchy|Duchy of Silesia|the present-day subdivision of Poland|Silesian Voivodeship}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|native_name = ''Provinz Schlesien''
|native_name = {{native name|de|Provinz Schlesien}}
|conventional_long_name = Province of Silesia
|conventional_long_name = Province of Silesia
|common_name = Silesia
|common_name = Silesia
|subdivision = [[Provinces of Prussia|Province]]
|subdivision = [[Provinces of Prussia|Province]]
|nation = [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]
|nation = [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]
|life_span = 1815–1919<br>1938–1941
|life_span = 1815–1919<br/>1938–1941
|year_start = 1815
|year_start = 1815
|event_start =
|event_start =
Line 12: Line 13:
|event_post = Briefly re-established
|event_post = Briefly re-established
|date_post = 1938–1941
|date_post = 1938–1941
|p1 = History of Silesia#Napoleonic era
|p1 = History of Silesia#Napoleonic era{{!}}Prussian Silesia
|flag_p1 = Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Prussia_(1803-1892).svg
|flag_p1 = Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Prussia_(1803-1892).svg
|p2 = Upper Lusatia
|flag_p2 = Flag of Saxony.svg
|s1 = Province of Lower Silesia
|s1 = Province of Lower Silesia
|flag_s1 = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Schlesien.svg
|flag_s1 = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Schlesien.svg
Line 19: Line 22:
|flag_s2 = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Oberschlesien.svg
|flag_s2 = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Oberschlesien.svg
|image_flag = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Schlesien.svg
|image_flag = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Schlesien.svg
|image_coat = Coat of Arms of Silesia.svg
|image_coat = Arms of Silesia.svg
|symbol_type = Coat of arms
|symbol_type = Coat of arms
|symbol_type_article =
|symbol_type_article =
|image_map= German Empire - Prussia - Silesia (1871).svg
|image_map= Map-Prussia-Silesia.svg
|image_map_caption = Silesia Province (red) within Prussia (yellow),<br>within the German Empire, 1871
|image_map_caption = Silesia Province (red) within the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] (blue),<br/>within the [[German Empire]], 1871
|image_map2 = Schlesien 1905.png
|capital = [[Wrocław|Breslau]]
|capital = [[Wrocław|Breslau]] (Wrocław)
|coordinates = {{Coord|51|7|N|17|2|E|display=inline,title}}
|coordinates = {{Coord|51|7|N|17|2|E|display=inline,title}}
|stat_area1= 40,319
|stat_year1 = 1905
|stat_pop1 = 4,935,823
|political_subdiv= [[Breslau (region)|Breslau]]<br />[[Liegnitz (region)|Liegnitz]]<br />[[Oppeln (region)|Oppeln]]
|political_subdiv= [[Breslau (region)|Breslau]]<br />[[Liegnitz (region)|Liegnitz]]<br />[[Oppeln (region)|Oppeln]]
|today = {{Flag|Germany}}<br>{{Flag|Poland}}<br>{{Flag|Czech Republic}}
|today = [[Germany]]<br/>[[Poland]]<br/>[[Czech Republic]]
}}
}}


The '''Province of Silesia''' ({{lang-de|Provinz Schlesien}}; {{lang-pl|Prowincja Śląska}}; [[Silesian language|Silesian]]: ''Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ'') was a [[Provinces of Prussia|province]] of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] from 1815 to 1919. The [[Silesia]] region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the [[German Empire]] in 1871. In 1919, as part of the [[Free State of Prussia]] within [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]], Silesia was divided into the provinces of [[Upper Silesia Province|Upper Silesia]] and [[Lower Silesia Province (Prussia)|Lower Silesia]]. Silesia was reunified briefly from 1 April 1938 to 27 January 1941 as a province of [[Nazi Germany]] before being divided back into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.
The '''Province of Silesia''' ({{lang-de|Provinz Schlesien}}; {{lang-pl|Prowincja Śląska}}; {{lang-szl|Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ}}) was a [[provinces of Prussia|province]] of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] from 1815 to 1919. The [[Silesia]] region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the [[German Empire]] in 1871. In 1919, as part of the [[Free State of Prussia]] within [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]], Silesia was divided into the provinces of [[Upper Silesia Province|Upper Silesia]] and [[Lower Silesia Province (Prussia)|Lower Silesia]]. Silesia was reunified briefly from 1 April 1938 to 27 January 1941 as a province of [[Nazi Germany]] before being divided back into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.


[[Wrocław|Breslau]] (present-day Wrocław, [[Poland]]) was the provincial capital.
[[Wrocław|Breslau]] (present-day Wrocław, [[Poland]]) was the provincial capital.


==Geography==
==Geography==
[[File:Silesia-map.svg|left|thumb|Crown land of Silesia until 1742 (shaded in cyan) and Silesia Province from 1815 (outlined in red), superimposed on modern international borders]]
[[File:Silesia-map.svg|left|thumb|Crown land of Silesia until 1742 (shaded in cyan) and Silesia Province from 1825 (outlined in red), superimposed on modern international borders]]
The territory on both sides of the [[Oder]] river formed the southeastern part of the Prussian kingdom. It comprised the bulk of the former [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemian crown land]] of [[Upper Silesia|Upper]] and [[Lower Silesia]] as well as the adjacent [[County of Kladsko]], which the Prussian King [[Frederick the Great]] had all conquered from the Austrian [[Habsburg Monarchy]] under Empress [[Maria Theresa]] in the 18th century [[Silesian Wars]]. It furthermore included the northeastern part of [[Upper Lusatia]] around [[Görlitz]] and [[Lubań|Lauban]], ceded to Prussia by the [[Kingdom of Saxony]] according to the resolutions of the [[Congress of Vienna|Vienna Congress]] in 1815.
The territory on both sides of the [[Oder]] river formed the southeastern part of the Prussian kingdom. It comprised the bulk of the former [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemian crown land]] of [[Upper Silesia|Upper]] and [[Lower Silesia]] as well as the adjacent [[County of Kladsko]], which the Prussian King [[Frederick the Great]] had all conquered from the Austrian [[Habsburg monarchy]] under Empress [[Maria Theresa]] in the 18th century [[Silesian Wars]]. It furthermore included the northeastern part of [[Upper Lusatia]] around [[Görlitz]] and Lauban ([[Lubań]]), ceded to Prussia by the [[Kingdom of Saxony]] according to the resolutions of the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815.


The province bordered on the Prussian heartland of [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] (including the newly acquired lands of [[Lower Lusatia]]) in the northwest, and on the [[Grand Duchy of Posen]] ([[Province of Posen]] from 1848) in the north, i.e. the [[Greater Poland|Greater Polish]] lands that before the 18th century [[Partitions of Poland]] had belonged to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. In the northeast, Upper Silesia bordered on remaining [[Congress Poland]], the [[Russian partition]] that was incorporated as [[Vistula Land]] by 1867. In the east lay the Austrian share, the [[Lesser Poland|Lesser Polish]] [[kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]] with the [[Free City of Kraków]] (until 1846), and in the south the remaining Bohemian crown lands of [[Austrian Silesia]], [[Moravia]] and [[Bohemia]] proper. The incorporated Upper Lusatian strip of land in the west touched the remaining territory of the Saxon kingdom.
The province bordered on the Prussian heartland of [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] (including the newly acquired lands of [[Lower Lusatia]]) in the northwest, and on the [[Grand Duchy of Posen]] ([[Province of Posen]] from 1848) in the north, i.e. the [[Greater Poland|Greater Polish]] lands that before the 18th century [[Partitions of Poland]] had belonged to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. In the northeast, Upper Silesia bordered on [[Congress Poland]], i.e. the Kingdom of Poland which had been reconstituted from the [[Duchy of Warsaw]] and was made up of former parts of the [[Prussian partition|Prussian]] and [[Austrian partition]]s; Congress Poland was in a personal union with the [[Russian Empire]] until 1867 when it was formally integrated as the [[Vistula Land]]. In the east lay the Austrian share, the [[Lesser Poland|Lesser Polish]] [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]] with the [[Free City of Kraków]] (until 1846), and in the south the remaining Bohemian crown lands of [[Austrian Silesia]], [[Margraviate of Moravia|Moravia]] and [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] proper. The incorporated Upper Lusatian strip of land in the west touched the remaining territory of the Saxon kingdom and in the furthest west the Prussian [[Province of Saxony]].


== History<!--'Prussian Silesia' redirects here--> ==
== History<!--'Prussian Silesia' redirects here--> ==
{{further|History of Silesia}}
{{further|History of Silesia}}


===Prussian Silesia, 1740–1815===
===Prussian Silesia, 1742–1815===
The coronation of [[Maria Theresa]] as [[queen regnant]] of the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] immediately triggered an invasion of the region of [[Silesia]] by King [[Frederick the Great]] of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], thereby starting the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1740–1748). By the end of the [[Silesian Wars|First Silesian War]] in 1742, the Prussian forces had conquered almost all of the Habsburg crown land in Silesia, while according to the peace treaties of [[Treaty of Breslau|Breslau]] and [[Treaty of Berlin (1742)|Berlin]], only some smaller parts in the extreme southeast, like the [[Duchy of Teschen]] as well as the southern parts of the duchies of [[Duchy of Troppau|Troppau]] and [[Duchy of Nysa|Nysa]], remained possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy as [[Austrian Silesia]]. Attempts by Maria Theresa to regain the crown land in the Second Silesian War (1744–1745) failed and she ultimately had to relinquish her claims over Silesia by the [[Treaty of Dresden]].
The coronation of [[Maria Theresa]] as [[queen regnant]] of the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] immediately triggered an invasion of the region of [[Silesia]] by King [[Frederick the Great]] of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], thereby starting the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1740–1748). By the end of the [[Silesian Wars|First Silesian War]] in 1742, the Prussian forces had conquered almost all of the Habsburg crown land in Silesia, while according to the peace treaties of [[Treaty of Breslau|Breslau]] and [[Treaty of Berlin (1742)|Berlin]], only some smaller parts in the extreme southeast, like the [[Duchy of Cieszyn]] as well as the southern parts of the duchies of [[Duchy of Troppau|Troppau]] and [[Duchy of Nysa|Nysa]], remained possessions of the Habsburg monarchy as [[Austrian Silesia]]. Attempts by Maria Theresa to regain the crown land in the Second Silesian War (1744–1745) failed and she ultimately had to relinquish her claims over Silesia by the [[Treaty of Dresden]].


The [[Third Silesian War]] (1756–1763), a theatre of the [[Seven Years' War]], once again confirmed Prussian control over most of Silesia, and due to its predominantly [[Protestantism|Protestant]] population especially in Lower Silesia, it became one of the most loyal territories of the [[House of Hohenzollern]]. When the Prussian territories were reorganized upon the [[Congress of Vienna]], the Province of Silesia was created out of the territories acquired by Prussia in the Silesian Wars, as well as those [[Upper Lusatia]]n territories which King [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony]] had to relinquish due to his indecisive attitude in the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. As the lands had been part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] until 1806, Silesia was among the western Prussian provinces that laid within the borders of the [[German Confederation]].
The [[Third Silesian War]] (1756–1763), a theatre of the [[Seven Years' War]], once again confirmed Prussian control over most of Silesia, and due to its predominantly [[Protestantism|Protestant]] population especially in Lower Silesia, it became one of the most loyal territories of the [[House of Hohenzollern]]. When the Prussian territories were reorganized upon the [[Congress of Vienna]], the Province of Silesia was created out of the territories acquired by Prussia in the Silesian Wars, as well as those [[Upper Lusatia]]n territories which King [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony]] had to relinquish due to his indecisive attitude in the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. As the lands had been part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] until 1806, Silesia was among the western Prussian provinces that lay within the borders of the [[German Confederation]].


=== Province of Silesia ===
=== Province of Silesia ===
====1815–1919====
⚫
[[File:Provnice of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, 1905, Administrative Map.png|thumb|270px|Administrative map of the Province of Silesia, 1905]]
⚫
In 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, Prussian Silesia was formally reorganized into the Province of Silesia. The character of the province's eastern third, Upper Silesia, had been much lesser shaped by the medieval German ''[[Ostsiedlung]]''. According to the census of 1905, about three-quarters of the Silesian inhabitants were [[German language|German]]–speaking, while a majority of the population to the east of the Oder river spoke [[Polish language|Polish]] (including [[Silesian language|Silesian]] and [[Lach dialects]]). Because of the extended [[iron ore]] and [[bituminous coal|black coal]] deposits of the [[Upper Silesian Coal Basin]], there was considerable [[industrialization]] and [[urbanization]] in Upper Silesia and many people from neighbouring [[Province of Posen|Posen]] and [[Congress Poland]] immigrated at that time. In 1871, Silesia became part of the [[German Empire]] as a province of Prussia following the [[unification of Germany]]. The [[Upper Silesian Industrial Region]] was the second largest industrial [[urban agglomeration|agglomeration]] of the German Empire after the [[Ruhr]] area. Over decades the mainly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Upper Silesian citizens in majority voted for the German [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]], while the Lower Silesian constituencies were dominated by the [[German Free-minded Party|Free-minded Party]] and the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrats]]. Ethnic tensions rose on the eve of [[World War I]], with politicians like [[Wojciech Korfanty]] separating from the Centre Party and giving utterance to distinct Polish interests.
⚫
[[File:Sprachen in Schlesien 1905 06.svg|thumb|Language situation in the Province of Silesia (1905).]]


====Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire====
⚫
In 1919, a year after the war ended, the parts of Silesia remaining in [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]] were re-organized into the two provinces of [[Province of Lower Silesia|Lower Silesia]] (''Niederschlesien'') and [[Province of Upper Silesia|Upper Silesia]] (''Oberschlesien'', the former ''[[Regierungsbezirk]] [[Opole|Oppeln]]''). After three [[Silesian Uprisings]] and the 1921 [[Upper Silesia plebiscite]], the [[East Upper Silesia]]n part of the province around the industrial town of [[Katowice|Kattowitz]] was transferred to the [[Second Polish Republic]] and incorporated into the [[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)|Silesian Voivodeship]] in 1922. Further, in 1920 the [[Hlučín Region]] was ceded to [[Czechoslovakia]] according to the [[Treaty of Versailles]].
⚫
[[File:Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, 1905, Administrative Map.png|thumb|Administrative map of the Province of Silesia, 1905]]
⚫
In 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, Prussian Silesia was formally reorganized into the Province of Silesia. The character of the province's eastern third, Upper Silesia, had been much lesser shaped by the medieval German {{Lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}}. According to the census of 1905, about three-quarters of the Silesian inhabitants were [[German language|German]]–speaking, while a majority of the population to the east of the Oder river spoke [[Polish language|Polish]] (including [[Silesian language|Silesian]] and [[Lach dialects]]). The indigenous Polish and [[Sorbs|Sorbian]] population was subjected to Germanisation policies. Sorbian-language Lutheran preparations for [[Confirmation (Lutheran Church)|Confirmation]] were prohibited with the ban lifted only after World War I.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pjech|first=Edmund|year=2008|title=Życie kościelne ewangelickich Serbołużyczan w ramach wrocławskiego Konsystorza Ewangelickiego (1918–1945)|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|location=Wrocław|language=pl|volume=LXIII|issue=1|pages=60|issn=0037-7511}}</ref> Because of the extended [[iron ore]] and [[bituminous coal|black coal]] deposits of the [[Upper Silesian Coal Basin]], there was considerable [[industrialization]] and [[urbanization]] in Upper Silesia and many people from neighbouring [[Province of Posen|Posen]] and [[Congress Poland]] immigrated at that time. In 1871, Silesia became part of the [[German Empire]] as a province of Prussia following the [[unification of Germany]]. The [[Upper Silesian Industrial Region]] was the second largest industrial [[urban agglomeration|agglomeration]] of the German Empire after the [[Ruhr]] area. Over decades the mainly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Upper Silesian citizens in majority voted for the German [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]], while the Lower Silesian constituencies were dominated by the [[German Free-minded Party|Free-minded Party]] and the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrats]]. Ethnic tensions rose on the eve of [[World War I]], with politicians like [[Wojciech Korfanty]] separating from the Centre Party and giving utterance to distinct Polish interests.


====Division after WWI====
==== Weimar Republic ====
[[File:Breslau Ring Ostseite (1890-1900).jpg|thumb|[[Market Square, Wrocław|Market Square]] in Breslau (Wrocław), 1890–1900]]
⚫
In 1919, a year after the war ended, the parts of Silesia remaining in [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]] were re-organized into the two provinces of [[Province of Lower Silesia|Lower Silesia]] (''Niederschlesien'') and [[Province of Upper Silesia|Upper Silesia]] (''Oberschlesien'', the former ''[[Regierungsbezirk]] [[Opole|Oppeln]]''). After three [[Silesian Uprisings]] and the 1921 [[Upper Silesia plebiscite]], the [[East Upper Silesia]]n part of the province around the industrial city of [[Katowice]] was transferred to the [[Second Polish Republic]] and incorporated into the [[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)|Silesian Voivodeship]] in 1922. Further, in 1920 the [[Hlučín Region]] was ceded to [[Czechoslovakia]] according to the [[Treaty of Versailles]].


=====Division after WWI=====
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Division of Prussian Silesia between Weimar Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia after World War I
|+Division of Prussian Silesia between Weimar Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia after World War I
Line 78: Line 80:
|-
|-
|to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]]
|to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]]
|'''526&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>''' <ref name="GUS1">{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=1921|title=Rocznik statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920/21|url=https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Rocznik_Statystyki_Rzeczypospolitej_Polskiej_-_1920-21.djvu|journal=Rocznik statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej|language=Polish, French|location=Warsaw|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|volume=I|pages=56–62|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/regionen/schlesien/|title=Schlesien: Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert|website=OME-Lexikon - Universität Oldenburg}}</ref>
|'''527&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>''' <ref name="GUS1">{{Cite journal|date=1921|title=Rocznik statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920/21|url=https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Rocznik_Statystyki_Rzeczypospolitej_Polskiej_-_1920-21.djvu|journal=Rocznik Statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej|language=pl, fr|location=Warsaw|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|volume=I|pages=56–62}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/regionen/schlesien/|title=Schlesien: Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert|website=OME-Lexikon - Universität Oldenburg}}</ref>
|'''2%'''
|'''2%'''
|'''1%'''
|'''1%'''
|[[Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]]
|[[Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]]
(Niederschlesiens Ostmark<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://obc.opole.pl/Content/7836/D8150.pdf|title=Aus Niederschlesiens Ostmark|last=Sperling|first=Gotthard Hermann|date=1932|website=Opolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa|access-date=2019-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225225015/http://obc.opole.pl/Content/7836/D8150.pdf|archive-date=2018-12-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>)
([[Rychtal Region|Niederschlesiens Ostmark]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://obc.opole.pl/Content/7836/D8150.pdf|title=Aus Niederschlesiens Ostmark|last=Sperling|first=Gotthard Hermann|date=1932|website=Opolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa|access-date=2019-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225225015/http://obc.opole.pl/Content/7836/D8150.pdf|archive-date=2018-12-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>)
|{{refn|After [[World War 1]] Poland received a small part of historical [[Lower Silesia]], with majority [[Poles|ethnic Polish]] population as of year 1918. That area included parts of counties [[Syców]] (German: Polnisch Wartenberg), [[Namysłów]], [[Góra]] and [[Milicz]]. In total around 526 square kilometers with around 30 thousand<ref name="Weinfeld" /><ref name="GUS1" /> inhabitants, including the city of [[Rychtal]]. Too small to form its own voivodeship, the area was incorporated to [[Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]] (former [[Province of Posen]]).|group=Note}}
|{{refn|After [[World War I]] Poland received a small part of historical [[Lower Silesia]], with majority [[Polish people|ethnic Polish]] population as of year 1918. That area included parts of counties [[Syców]] (German: Polnisch Wartenberg), [[Namysłów]], [[Góra]] and [[Milicz]]. In total around 526 square kilometers with around 30 thousand<ref name="Weinfeld" /><ref name="GUS1" /> inhabitants, including the city of [[Rychtal]]. Too small to form its own voivodeship, the area was incorporated to [[Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]] (former [[Province of Posen]]).|group=Note}}
|-
|-
|to [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
|to [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
|'''26,579&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>'''
|'''26,578&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>'''
|'''98%'''
|'''98%'''
|'''99%'''
|'''99%'''
Line 100: Line 102:
|-
|-
|to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]]
|to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]]
|'''3,225&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> <ref name="Weinfeld">{{Cite book|url=http://cyfrowa.chbp.chelm.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=11366|title=Tablice statystyczne Polski: wydanie za rok 1924 [Poland's statistical tables: edition for year 1924]|last=Weinfeld|first=Ignacy|publisher=Instytut Wydawniczy "Bibljoteka Polska"|year=1925|isbn=|location=Warsaw|pages=2}}</ref>'''
|'''3,225&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> <ref name="Weinfeld">{{Cite book|url=http://cyfrowa.chbp.chelm.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=11366|title=Tablice statystyczne Polski: wydanie za rok 1924 [Poland's statistical tables: edition for year 1924]|last=Weinfeld|first=Ignacy|publisher=Instytut Wydawniczy "Bibljoteka Polska"|year=1925|location=Warsaw|pages=2}}</ref>'''
|'''25%'''
|'''25%'''
|'''41% <ref name="Weinfeld" />'''
|'''41% <ref name="Weinfeld" />'''
|[[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–39)|Silesian Voivodeship]]
|[[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–39)|Silesian Voivodeship]]
|{{refn|Interwar Silesian Voivodeship was formed from Prussian [[East Upper Silesia]] (area 3,225 km<sup>2</sup>) and Polish part of Austrian [[Cieszyn Silesia]] (1,010 km<sup>2</sup>), in total 4,235 km<sup>2</sup>. After the annexation of [[Zaolzie]] from Czechoslovakia in 1938, it increased to 5,122 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://istmat.info/files/uploads/51382/maly_rocznik_statystyczny_1939.pdf|title=Mały Rocznik Statystyczny [Little Statistical Yearbook] 1939|last=|first=|publisher=GUS|year=1939|isbn=|location=Warsaw|pages=14}}</ref> Silesian Voivodeship's capital was [[Katowice]].|group=Note}}
|{{refn|Interwar Silesian Voivodeship was formed from Prussian [[East Upper Silesia]] (area 3,225 km<sup>2</sup>) and Polish part of Austrian [[Cieszyn Silesia]] (1,010 km<sup>2</sup>), in total 4,235 km<sup>2</sup>. After the annexation of [[Trans-Olza]] from Czechoslovakia in 1938, it increased to 5,122 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://istmat.info/files/uploads/51382/maly_rocznik_statystyczny_1939.pdf|title=Mały Rocznik Statystyczny [Little Statistical Yearbook] 1939|publisher=GUS|year=1939|location=Warsaw|pages=14}}</ref> Silesian Voivodeship's capital was [[Katowice]].|group=Note}}
|-
|-
|to [[Czechoslovakia]]
|to [[Czechoslovakia]]
Line 121: Line 123:
|}
|}


====1939–1945====
====Nazi Germany====
{{main|Gau Silesia}}
On 1 April 1938 the Province of Silesia was re-established by [[Nazi Germany]] by uniting the existing Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia provinces, then following the [[German invasion of Poland|conquest of Poland]], the border was extended eastwards when parts of Polish Silesia were merged into the province. On 27 January 1941, during [[World War II]], the province of Silesia was divided again by reverting into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}}
[[File:WK15 Opole Główne (45) Lichen99.jpg|thumb|Plaque in [[Opole]] commemorating deportations of Poles to concentration camps in 1939]]
On 1 April 1938 the Province of Silesia was re-established by [[Nazi Germany]] by uniting the existing Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia provinces. Nazi German persecution of Poles in the province intensified in 1938-1939 with [[Expulsion of Poles by Germany|expulsions]] of Polish activists, distributors of Polish press, priests, craftsmen, farmers, students etc., attacks on Polish cultural centers, banks, enterprises, schools, churches and houses, seizure of Polish libraries, confiscations of Polish press, arrests and deportations of Polish activists to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] and even assassinations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cygański|first=Mirosław|year=1984|title=Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945|journal=Przegląd Zachodni|language=pl|issue=4|pages=25–30, 37}}</ref> In 1938, Nazi authorities forced the Lutheran Church not to staff bilingual German-Sorbian parishes with new Sorbian preachers, and the [[Bund Deutscher Osten]] demanded a ban on Sorbian church masses, but only a limit of two such masses per month was imposed.<ref name=ep>Pjech, pp. 65–66</ref> There were instances of expulsions of Sorbian pastors.<ref name=ep/>


During the German [[invasion of Poland]], which started [[World War II]] in September 1939, [[Gestapo]] carried out mass arrests of Polish activists, teachers, journalists, entrepreneurs, library directors and chairmen of local branches of the [[Polish Sokół movement|"Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society]], shut down Polish newspapers and seized the funds of Polish banks from the pre-war German Province of Silesia.<ref>Cygański, pp. 32–34, 37–38</ref> The arrested Poles were deported to concentration camps.<ref>Cygański, p. 35</ref> Polish church services were abolished, with the last Polish service held in the Saint Martin church in Wrocław on 17 September 1939.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Urban|first=Wincenty|year=1961|title=Ostatnie kazanie polskie w Kościele Św. Marcina we Wrocławiu|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|publisher=Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich|location=Wrocław|language=pl|volume=XVI|issue=1|pages=102–103}}</ref> Soon the border was extended eastwards when parts of Polish Silesia were annexed into the province. In the annexed pre-war Polish part the occupiers conducted the genocidal ''[[Intelligenzaktion]]'' campaign and [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expulsions of Poles]].
Upon the implementation of the [[Oder-Neisse line]] according to the 1945 [[Potsdam Agreement]], most of the Prussian Silesia Province became part of Poland, incorporated into the [[Lubusz Voivodeship|Lubusz]], [[Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesian]], [[Opole Voivodeship|Opole]] and [[Silesian Voivodeship]]s. The German-speaking population left or was [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|expelled]] following World War II, though a [[German minority in Poland|minority]] remains. A smaller western part of the former Silesia Province lies within modern [[States of Germany|German states]] of [[Saxony]] and [[Brandenburg]].

The Germans also established the [[Gross-Rosen concentration camp]] and multiple [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camps]] with numerous forced labour subcamps in the region, including [[Stalag VIII-A]], [[Stalag VIII-B]], [[Stalag VIII-C]], [[Stalag VIII-E]], Oflag VIII-A, Oflag VIII-B, Oflag VIII-C, [[Oflag VIII-F]], for Polish POWs and civilians, and [[French prisoners of war in World War II|French]], Belgian, Dutch and later also other [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=254–257, 443|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref>

On 27 January 1941, during World War II, the province of Silesia was divided again by reverting into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}}

== Demographics ==
⚫
[[File:Sprachen in Schlesien 1905 06.svg|thumb|Language situation in the Province of Silesia (1905).]]
According to the Prussian census of 1890, the province of Silesia had a population of 4,224,458, of which 3,105,843 (73.52%) spoke [[German language|German]], 973,596 (23.05%) spoke [[Polish language|Polish]], 68,781 (1.63%) spoke [[Czech language|Czech]], 26,257 (0.62%) spoke [[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]] and 48,045 (1.14%) identified as bilingual.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|url=https://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/search?isbn|title=Sprachliche Minderheiten im preussischen Staat: 1815 – 1914; die preußische Sprachenstatistik in Bearbeitung und Kommentar|date=1998|publisher=Herder-Inst.|isbn=978-3-87969-267-5|location=Marburg}}</ref>

[[Liegnitz (region)|Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz]] - 1,047,405 (96.41% German, 2.51% Sorbian, 0.53% Polish, 0.11% Czech, 0.38% bilingual).

[[Middle Silesia|Regierungsbezirk Breslau]] - 1,599,322 (95.63% German, 3.08% Polish, 0.59% Czech, 0.64% bilingual).

[[Oppeln (region)|Regierungsbezirk Oppeln]] - 1,577,731 (58.23% Polish, 35.91% German, 3.69% Czech, 2.14% bilingual).


==Administration==
==Administration==
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# [[Brzeg|Brieg]]
# [[Brzeg|Brieg]]
# [[Ząbkowice Śląskie|Frankenstein]]
# [[Ząbkowice Śląskie|Frankenstein]]
# [[Kłodzko|Glatz]] (former [[County of Kladsko]])
# [[Glatz (district)|Glatz]] (former [[County of Kladsko]])
# [[Syców|Groß Wartenberg]]
# [[Landkreis Groß Wartenberg|Groß Wartenberg]]
# [[Góra|Guhrau]]
# [[Góra|Guhrau]]
# [[Bystrzyca Kłodzka|Habelschwerdt]] (former County of Kladsko)
# [[Bystrzyca Kłodzka|Habelschwerdt]] (former County of Kladsko)
# [[Milicz|Militsch]]
# [[Milicz|Militsch]]
# [[Ziębice|Münsterberg]]
# [[Ziębice|Münsterberg]]
# [[Namysłów|Namslau]]
# [[Landkreis Namslau|Namslau]]
# [[Środa Śląska|Neumarkt]]
# [[Środa Śląska|Neumarkt]]
# [[Nowa Ruda|Neurode]] (former County of Kladsko)
# [[Nowa Ruda|Neurode]] (former County of Kladsko)
# [[Niemcza|Nimptsch]]
# [[Niemcza|Nimptsch]]
# [[Oleśnica|Oels]]
# [[Landkreis Oels|Oels]]
# [[Oława|Ohlau]]
# [[Landkreis Ohlau|Ohlau]]
# [[Dzierżoniów|Reichenbach]]
# [[Dzierżoniów|Reichenbach]]
# [[Świdnica|Schweidnitz]]
# [[Świdnica|Schweidnitz]]
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# [[Bolków|Bolkenhain]]
# [[Bolków|Bolkenhain]]
# [[Bolesławiec|Bunzlau]]
# [[Bolesławiec|Bunzlau]]
# [[Kożuchów|Freystadt]]
# [[Landkreis Freystadt i. Niederschles.|Freystadt]]
# [[Głogów|Glogau]]
# [[Głogów|Glogau]]
# [[Złotoryja|Goldberg]]
# [[Złotoryja|Goldberg]]
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# [[Lwówek Śląski|Löwenberg]]
# [[Lwówek Śląski|Löwenberg]]
# [[Lubin|Lüben]]
# [[Lubin|Lüben]]
# [[Rothenburg, Oberlausitz|Rothenburg]] (former Saxon Upper Lusatia)
# [[Rothenburg (district)|Rothenburg]] (former Saxon Upper Lusatia)
# [[Kreis Sagan]]
# [[Kreis Sagan|Sagan]]
# [[Świerzawa|Schönau]]
# [[Świerzawa|Schönau]]
# [[Szprotawa|Sprottau]]
# [[Landkreis Sprottau|Sprottau]]
| valign="top" |
| valign="top" |
'''Regierungsbezirk [[Opole|Oppeln]]'''
'''Regierungsbezirk [[Opole|Oppeln]]'''
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# [[Bytom|Beuthen]]
# [[Bytom|Beuthen]]
# [[Koźle|Cosel]]
# [[Koźle|Cosel]]
# [[Niemodlin|Falkenberg]]
# [[Landkreis Falkenberg O.S.|Falkenberg]]
# [[Strzelce Opolskie|Groß Strehlitz]]
# [[Strzelce Opolskie|Groß Strehlitz]]
# [[Grodków|Grottkau]]
# [[Grodków|Grottkau]]
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# [[Lubliniec|Lublinitz]]
# [[Lubliniec|Lublinitz]]
# [[Nysa, Poland|Neiße]]
# [[Nysa, Poland|Neiße]]
# [[Prudnik|Neustadt]]
# [[Landkreis Neustadt O.S.|Neustadt]]
# [[Opole|Oppeln]]
# [[Opole|Oppeln]]
# [[Pszczyna|Pleß]]
# [[Pszczyna|Pleß]]
# [[Racibórz|Ratibor]]
# [[Racibórz|Ratibor]]
# [[Olesno|Rosenberg]]
# [[Olesno|Rosenberg]]
# [[Rybnik]]
# [[Kreis Rybnik|Rybnik]]
# [[Tarnowskie Góry|Tarnowitz]]
# [[Tarnowskie Góry|Tarnowitz]]
# [[Toszek|Tost]]–[[Gliwice|Gleiwitz]]
# [[Toszek|Tost]]–[[Gliwice|Gleiwitz]]
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{{Territories and provinces of Prussia}}
{{Territories and provinces of Prussia}}
{{Silesia topics}}
{{Silesia topics}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Province of Silesia| ]]
[[Category:Province of Silesia| ]]
[[Category:1939 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1938 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1941 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1941 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:History of Silesia]]
[[Category:History of Silesia]]

Latest revision as of 18:23, 3 July 2024

This article is about the 19th and 20th-century Prussian province. For the medieval duchy, see Duchy of Silesia. For the present-day subdivision of Poland, see Silesian Voivodeship.
Province of Silesia
Provinz Schlesien (German)
Province of Prussia
1815–1919
1938–1941

Silesia Province (red) within the Kingdom of Prussia (blue),
within the German Empire, 1871

CapitalBreslau (Wrocław)
Area
 • Coordinates51°7′N 17°2′E / 51.117°N 17.033°E / 51.117; 17.033
History 
• Established
1815
• Disestablished
1919
• Briefly re-established
1938–1941
Political subdivisionsBreslau
Liegnitz
Oppeln
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Prussian Silesia
Upper Lusatia
Province of Lower Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia
Today part ofGermany
Poland
Czech Republic

The Province of Silesia (German: Provinz Schlesien; Polish: Prowincja Śląska; Silesian: Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1919, as part of the Free State of Prussia within Weimar Germany, Silesia was divided into the provinces of Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia. Silesia was reunified briefly from 1 April 1938 to 27 January 1941 as a province of Nazi Germany before being divided back into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.

Breslau (present-day Wrocław, Poland) was the provincial capital.

Geography

[edit]
Crown land of Silesia until 1742 (shaded in cyan) and Silesia Province from 1825 (outlined in red), superimposed on modern international borders

The territory on both sides of the Oder river formed the southeastern part of the Prussian kingdom. It comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Upper and Lower Silesia as well as the adjacent County of Kladsko, which the Prussian King Frederick the Great had all conquered from the Austrian Habsburg monarchy under Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th century Silesian Wars. It furthermore included the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia around Görlitz and Lauban (Lubań), ceded to Prussia by the Kingdom of Saxony according to the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

The province bordered on the Prussian heartland of Brandenburg (including the newly acquired lands of Lower Lusatia) in the northwest, and on the Grand Duchy of Posen (Province of Posen from 1848) in the north, i.e. the Greater Polish lands that before the 18th century Partitions of Poland had belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the northeast, Upper Silesia bordered on Congress Poland, i.e. the Kingdom of Poland which had been reconstituted from the Duchy of Warsaw and was made up of former parts of the Prussian and Austrian partitions; Congress Poland was in a personal union with the Russian Empire until 1867 when it was formally integrated as the Vistula Land. In the east lay the Austrian share, the Lesser Polish Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with the Free City of Kraków (until 1846), and in the south the remaining Bohemian crown lands of Austrian Silesia, Moravia and Bohemia proper. The incorporated Upper Lusatian strip of land in the west touched the remaining territory of the Saxon kingdom and in the furthest west the Prussian Province of Saxony.

History

[edit]
Further information: History of Silesia

Prussian Silesia, 1742–1815

[edit]

The coronation of Maria Theresa as queen regnant of the Kingdom of Bohemia immediately triggered an invasion of the region of Silesia by King Frederick the Great of Prussia, thereby starting the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). By the end of the First Silesian War in 1742, the Prussian forces had conquered almost all of the Habsburg crown land in Silesia, while according to the peace treaties of Breslau and Berlin, only some smaller parts in the extreme southeast, like the Duchy of Cieszyn as well as the southern parts of the duchies of Troppau and Nysa, remained possessions of the Habsburg monarchy as Austrian Silesia. Attempts by Maria Theresa to regain the crown land in the Second Silesian War (1744–1745) failed and she ultimately had to relinquish her claims over Silesia by the Treaty of Dresden.

The Third Silesian War (1756–1763), a theatre of the Seven Years' War, once again confirmed Prussian control over most of Silesia, and due to its predominantly Protestant population especially in Lower Silesia, it became one of the most loyal territories of the House of Hohenzollern. When the Prussian territories were reorganized upon the Congress of Vienna, the Province of Silesia was created out of the territories acquired by Prussia in the Silesian Wars, as well as those Upper Lusatian territories which King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony had to relinquish due to his indecisive attitude in the Napoleonic Wars. As the lands had been part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1806, Silesia was among the western Prussian provinces that lay within the borders of the German Confederation.

Province of Silesia

[edit]

Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire

[edit]
Administrative map of the Province of Silesia, 1905

In 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, Prussian Silesia was formally reorganized into the Province of Silesia. The character of the province's eastern third, Upper Silesia, had been much lesser shaped by the medieval German Ostsiedlung. According to the census of 1905, about three-quarters of the Silesian inhabitants were German–speaking, while a majority of the population to the east of the Oder river spoke Polish (including Silesian and Lach dialects). The indigenous Polish and Sorbian population was subjected to Germanisation policies. Sorbian-language Lutheran preparations for Confirmation were prohibited with the ban lifted only after World War I.[1] Because of the extended iron ore and black coal deposits of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, there was considerable industrialization and urbanization in Upper Silesia and many people from neighbouring Posen and Congress Poland immigrated at that time. In 1871, Silesia became part of the German Empire as a province of Prussia following the unification of Germany. The Upper Silesian Industrial Region was the second largest industrial agglomeration of the German Empire after the Ruhr area. Over decades the mainly Catholic Upper Silesian citizens in majority voted for the German Centre Party, while the Lower Silesian constituencies were dominated by the Free-minded Party and the Social Democrats. Ethnic tensions rose on the eve of World War I, with politicians like Wojciech Korfanty separating from the Centre Party and giving utterance to distinct Polish interests.

Weimar Republic

[edit]
Market Square in Breslau (Wrocław), 1890–1900

In 1919, a year after the war ended, the parts of Silesia remaining in Weimar Germany were re-organized into the two provinces of Lower Silesia (Niederschlesien) and Upper Silesia (Oberschlesien, the former Regierungsbezirk Oppeln). After three Silesian Uprisings and the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite, the East Upper Silesian part of the province around the industrial city of Katowice was transferred to the Second Polish Republic and incorporated into the Silesian Voivodeship in 1922. Further, in 1920 the Hlučín Region was ceded to Czechoslovakia according to the Treaty of Versailles.

Division after WWI
[edit]
Division of Prussian Silesia between Weimar Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia after World War I
Division of: Area in 1910 in km2 Share of territory Population in 1910 After WW1 part of: Notes
Lower Silesia 27,105 km2 [2] 100% 3.017.981 Divided between:
to Poland 527 km2 [3][4] 2% 1% Poznań Voivodeship

(Niederschlesiens Ostmark[5])

[Note 1]
to Germany 26,578 km2 98% 99% Province of Lower Silesia
Upper Silesia 13,230 km2 [2] 100% 2.207.981 Divided between:
to Poland 3,225 km2 [6] 25% 41% [6] Silesian Voivodeship [Note 2]
to Czechoslovakia 325 km2 [6] 2% 2% [6] Hlučín Region
to Germany 9,680 km2 [6] 73% 57% [6] Province of Upper Silesia

Nazi Germany

[edit]
Main article: Gau Silesia
Plaque in Opole commemorating deportations of Poles to concentration camps in 1939

On 1 April 1938 the Province of Silesia was re-established by Nazi Germany by uniting the existing Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia provinces. Nazi German persecution of Poles in the province intensified in 1938-1939 with expulsions of Polish activists, distributors of Polish press, priests, craftsmen, farmers, students etc., attacks on Polish cultural centers, banks, enterprises, schools, churches and houses, seizure of Polish libraries, confiscations of Polish press, arrests and deportations of Polish activists to concentration camps and even assassinations.[8] In 1938, Nazi authorities forced the Lutheran Church not to staff bilingual German-Sorbian parishes with new Sorbian preachers, and the Bund Deutscher Osten demanded a ban on Sorbian church masses, but only a limit of two such masses per month was imposed.[9] There were instances of expulsions of Sorbian pastors.[9]

During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Gestapo carried out mass arrests of Polish activists, teachers, journalists, entrepreneurs, library directors and chairmen of local branches of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society, shut down Polish newspapers and seized the funds of Polish banks from the pre-war German Province of Silesia.[10] The arrested Poles were deported to concentration camps.[11] Polish church services were abolished, with the last Polish service held in the Saint Martin church in Wrocław on 17 September 1939.[12] Soon the border was extended eastwards when parts of Polish Silesia were annexed into the province. In the annexed pre-war Polish part the occupiers conducted the genocidal Intelligenzaktion campaign and expulsions of Poles.

The Germans also established the Gross-Rosen concentration camp and multiple prisoner-of-war camps with numerous forced labour subcamps in the region, including Stalag VIII-A, Stalag VIII-B, Stalag VIII-C, Stalag VIII-E, Oflag VIII-A, Oflag VIII-B, Oflag VIII-C, Oflag VIII-F, for Polish POWs and civilians, and French, Belgian, Dutch and later also other Allied POWs.[13]

On 27 January 1941, during World War II, the province of Silesia was divided again by reverting into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.[citation needed]

Demographics

[edit]
Language situation in the Province of Silesia (1905).

According to the Prussian census of 1890, the province of Silesia had a population of 4,224,458, of which 3,105,843 (73.52%) spoke German, 973,596 (23.05%) spoke Polish, 68,781 (1.63%) spoke Czech, 26,257 (0.62%) spoke Sorbian and 48,045 (1.14%) identified as bilingual.[14]

Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz - 1,047,405 (96.41% German, 2.51% Sorbian, 0.53% Polish, 0.11% Czech, 0.38% bilingual).

Regierungsbezirk Breslau - 1,599,322 (95.63% German, 3.08% Polish, 0.59% Czech, 0.64% bilingual).

Regierungsbezirk Oppeln - 1,577,731 (58.23% Polish, 35.91% German, 3.69% Czech, 2.14% bilingual).

Administration

[edit]

Regierungsbezirk Breslau

  1. Breslau
  2. Brieg (from 1907)
  3. Schweidnitz
  • Rural districts (Landkreise)
  1. Breslau
  2. Brieg
  3. Frankenstein
  4. Glatz (former County of Kladsko)
  5. Groß Wartenberg
  6. Guhrau
  7. Habelschwerdt (former County of Kladsko)
  8. Militsch
  9. Münsterberg
  10. Namslau
  11. Neumarkt
  12. Neurode (former County of Kladsko)
  13. Nimptsch
  14. Oels
  15. Ohlau
  16. Reichenbach
  17. Schweidnitz
  18. Steinau
  19. Strehlen
  20. Striegau
  21. Trebnitz
  22. Waldenburg
  23. Wohlau

Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz

  1. Görlitz
  2. Liegnitz
  • Rural districts (Landkreise)
  1. Bolkenhain
  2. Bunzlau
  3. Freystadt
  4. Glogau
  5. Goldberg
  6. Görlitz (former Saxon Upper Lusatia)
  7. Grünberg
  8. Hirschberg
  9. Hoyerswerda (former Saxon Upper Lusatia)
  10. Jauer
  11. Landeshut
  12. Lauban (former Saxon Upper Lusatia)
  13. Liegnitz
  14. Löwenberg
  15. Lüben
  16. Rothenburg (former Saxon Upper Lusatia)
  17. Sagan
  18. Schönau
  19. Sprottau

Regierungsbezirk Oppeln

  1. Beuthen
  2. Gleiwitz
  3. Kattowitz
  4. Königshütte
  5. Oppeln
  6. Ratibor (from 1904)
  • Rural districts (Landkreise)
  1. Beuthen
  2. Cosel
  3. Falkenberg
  4. Groß Strehlitz
  5. Grottkau
  6. Zabrze (from 1915: Hindenburg)
  7. Kattowitz
  8. Kreuzburg
  9. Leobschütz
  10. Lublinitz
  11. Neiße
  12. Neustadt
  13. Oppeln
  14. Pleß
  15. Ratibor
  16. Rosenberg
  17. Rybnik
  18. Tarnowitz
  19. Tost–Gleiwitz

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Pjech, Edmund (2008). "Życie kościelne ewangelickich Serbołużyczan w ramach wrocławskiego Konsystorza Ewangelickiego (1918–1945)". Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish). LXIII (1). Wrocław: 60. ISSN 0037-7511.
  2. ^ a b "Gemeindeverzeichnis Deutschland: Schlesien".
  3. ^ a b "Rocznik statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920/21". Rocznik Statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (in Polish and French). I. Warsaw: Główny Urząd Statystyczny: 56–62. 1921.
  4. ^ "Schlesien: Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert". OME-Lexikon - Universität Oldenburg.
  5. ^ Sperling, Gotthard Hermann (1932). "Aus Niederschlesiens Ostmark" (PDF). Opolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Weinfeld, Ignacy (1925). Tablice statystyczne Polski: wydanie za rok 1924 [Poland's statistical tables: edition for year 1924]. Warsaw: Instytut Wydawniczy "Bibljoteka Polska". p. 2.
  7. ^ Mały Rocznik Statystyczny [Little Statistical Yearbook] 1939 (PDF). Warsaw: GUS. 1939. p. 14.
  8. ^ Cygański, Mirosław (1984). "Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945". Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (4): 25–30, 37.
  9. ^ a b Pjech, pp. 65–66
  10. ^ Cygański, pp. 32–34, 37–38
  11. ^ Cygański, p. 35
  12. ^ Urban, Wincenty (1961). "Ostatnie kazanie polskie w Kościele Św. Marcina we Wrocławiu". Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish). XVI (1). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich: 102–103.
  13. ^ Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 254–257, 443. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
  14. ^ Belzyt, Leszek (1998). Sprachliche Minderheiten im preussischen Staat: 1815 – 1914; die preußische Sprachenstatistik in Bearbeitung und Kommentar. Marburg: Herder-Inst. ISBN 978-3-87969-267-5.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ After World War I Poland received a small part of historical Lower Silesia, with majority ethnic Polish population as of year 1918. That area included parts of counties Syców (German: Polnisch Wartenberg), Namysłów, Góra and Milicz. In total around 526 square kilometers with around 30 thousand[6][3] inhabitants, including the city of Rychtal. Too small to form its own voivodeship, the area was incorporated to Poznań Voivodeship (former Province of Posen).
  2. ^ Interwar Silesian Voivodeship was formed from Prussian East Upper Silesia (area 3,225 km2) and Polish part of Austrian Cieszyn Silesia (1,010 km2), in total 4,235 km2. After the annexation of Trans-Olza from Czechoslovakia in 1938, it increased to 5,122 km2.[7] Silesian Voivodeship's capital was Katowice.
[edit]
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