Silesia

Silesia is a historical region in Central Europe lying along the Polish border with the Czech Republic. Currently it's divided into three voivodships (provinces): Lower Silesian Voivodship with Wrocaw as capital, Opole Voivodshiop in the center and the industrial Silesian Voivodship occupying the majority of historical Upper Silesia.

Upper Silesia's early history is highly uncertain, what we know though is that by the year 990 it became a part of the growing polish state. It remained within its borders until the period of fragmentation following the death of Bolesaw Krzywousty in 1138. By the middle of the XIV-th century the majority of the small silesian principalities came under the influence of the Czech kings and were later incorporated into the kingdom. With the ascension of the Habsburgs to the Czech throne Silesia became a part of the larger Habsburg Empire.

During the early middle ages Upper Silesia was a sparsely populated, largely forested region with only a few urban centers. Later, thanks to trade routes leading from the Kiev and the Black Sea region to Prague, Wroclaw and further to the west, many new cities grew. Until the end of the middle ages at least 55 new cities were created. Their population was a mixture of local Poles and western European, mainly German, settlers. The XIII and XIV century also mark the beginning of industry in Upper Silesia, first with zinc and iron ore mining in Bytom, and later, in the XVI-th century, lead and silver mining in the vicinity of Tarnowskie Gory. The XVII-th century, with the raging Thirty Years War and the availability of cheap gold and silver from the Americas, was a time of steady decline for Upper Silesian cities.

In 1740 Silesia again changed hands. After three wars the majority of the territory became a part of the Prussian Kingdom and later Germany, where it remained until the end of the First World War. Only a small part in the south, with capital in Opava, was awarded to Austria.

The XIX-th century is possibly the most important period in the regions history It's marked by a steady development in both industry and population. A once backwards area of Central Europe becomes one of the most important hubs of industry and innovation.

The whole process had been sparked by the vision, enthusiasm and genius of a single man - Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden - who in 1779 become the head of the mining authority in Wroclaw. In 1788, only five years after its invention, a steam engine, the first on the continent, powered the pumps in a mine in Tarnowskie Gory. The next breakthrough come in 1796 when the first blast furnace on the continent was lit, allowing for the use of coke in the production of pig iron. By the middle of the XIX-th century there were 194 steel mills with 71 blast furnaces producing 62.000 tons of pig iron. The next 40 will see the production rise eightfold and Upper Silesia become the chief /most important/ industrial region of Prussia.

The XIX century is also a time of great social change.The farmers, freed from serfdom in 1807, leave their villages and start to move into settlements surrounding factories and mines, while their former feudal lords invest their capital in industry, giving rise to even larger fortunes. Cities grow at an astonishing rate - Bytom boasts the most dynamic increase, starting with two thousand souls in 1816, it reaches a population of 60.000 by 1905. The same is true for other urban populations in Upper Silesia.

Fallowing Austria's defeat in the first silesian war the Prussian authorities undertook efforts to make German Silesia's only language. Since 1744 all court cases were to be heard in German and by the middle of the century only teachers speaking German were to be offered work. By 1763 German was taught in all schools across Upper Silesia, and only a year later all teachers that did not speak the language were dismissed. In 1810 the use of polish in protestant religious services was prohibited. These efforts were further reinforced under the rule of chancellor Otto von Bismarck. His policies collectively known as Kulturkampf though mainly aimed at the Roman Catholic Church also threatened polish cultural, educational and trade organizations. Finally in 1871 the polish language was removed from schools throughout the province. One forget cannot that that the late XIX-th century is a time of cultural reawakening for Poles in in Upper Silesia. Activists like Jozef Lompa, Karol Miarka, Jozef Szafranek and Wojciech Korfanty helped to maintain and strengthen polish national identity during these difficult times by publishing periodicals and pamphlets or by defending/furthering the Polish cause in the German parliament.

Fallowing Kaiser's defeat in the First World War and the rebirth of the Polish state to the east support grew for Upper Silesia's secession from Germany. At the same time militant left leaning worker parties were calling for a socialist revolution. In order to combat dissent the authorities brutally cracked down on any protests. This lead to the first silesian insurrection in VIII 1919 which was quickly dealt with by the German forces. A year later in response to actions by German Security Police /Sicherheitspolizei/ and paramilitaries the second insurrection started. All fighting ceased after the Allied Ruling Commission disbanded the Police and created a mixed force that was to provide security

According to the provisions of the Versailles treaty a plebiscite was to be held to decide the future of the province. In the vote held on the 20 III 1921 the majority decided to stay with Germany, only a few outlaying counties were to be handed over to Poland. Dissatisfied with the results the Poles started The Third Silesian Insurrection. The fighters were able to capture and hold a major part of Upper Silesia. Ten weeks later all combat stopped, an allied peacekeepers were brought in between the waring parties. On 20 X 10 the Council of Ambassadors in Paris decided to give a much bigger part of Silesia to Poland which included the majority of the regions natural resources and industry.

Given the large cultural differences and having been separated from the country for many hundreds of years Upper Silesia was granted wide ranging autonomy. The provincial parliament - Sejm Slaski - was able to enact laws concerning issues such as taxes, self government and workers rights. During the late 1920 and 1930 as authoritarian tendencies in Poland grew the parliament's influence diminished.

The Second World War just like the first one didn't hit Upper Silesia directly. While there was some damage in the early days of the German offensive and in 1945 when the Russians took it back the damage was quite limited. As others before the Nazi government set forth to prove that at heart Silesia was German and the people living here, that did not speak the language, were in fact polonized Germans. In 1945 the German government decided to put everyone living in the province on the German national list. At first many saw this as treason but later with encouragement of the Roman Catholic Church, which saw it as a way to avoid even more prosecution, many did sign on. Some 40.000 Silesians were drafted into the German army, many of them deserted joining Polish Army fighting in West and the Soviet Union.

The years after the Second World War were among the most difficult in Silesian history. While many fled in 1944, the remaining population had to undergo a process of verification. Many were forced to move to Germany, others sent to work camps in Poland and the Soviet Union. At the same time repatriates from the eastern parts of Poland that now became a part of the Soviet Union started coming to Silesia. Within only a few years Silesian became a minority in their own home. Their language and culture disrespected they were treated as second class citizens only able to physical work.

Ever since the fall of communism the region has changed greatly. Only 15-20 years ago a majority of population worked in industry mines and factories were what gave Silesia its character. Jobs were plentiful, secure and well paid (as in all communist countries a workers wage was higher than a scientist). Starting at 18-20 you were likely to work your entire life for the same company. Now this has changed. Some of Silesia's cities have to cope with unemployment of up to 30% (Siemianowice, Bytom) and this situation is not likely to improve in the years to come. Some even think there will be a further decline, that wages will below the national average by 2010.

There is of course a brighter vision for the future. The last few years have shown a growing interest from international companies willing to invest. Opel, Isuzu, VAB, Delphi along with may other smaller companies have built new factories providing the greatly needed jobs. One problem remains though, while there has been a lot of money flowing into the region it has not gone where it is most needed - in the central area, but rather to the outskirts to places that didn't have a huge unemployment in the first place.

The restructuring of the industrial sector has been a disaster in the making for the last 15 years. It's aim instead of creating new jobs has been to keep unrest and disappointment from the side of the workers at a manageable level. The past years show that these tactics were false and instead of helping the region they seem to drag it down even faster.

On the brighter side, the decline in industry has also meant a sudden shift of culture. A work oriented society has suddenly understood the importance of education. You now often see people, whose parents only had the most basic education go to university and beyond.

As the future the future of the new Europe lies in its regions the only way for Silesia to succeed is to take its faith in its own hands to work directly with Europe, to promote its people - the most important resource it has.

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