Kędzierzyn-Koźle [kɛɲˈd͡ʑɛʐɨn ˈkɔʑlɛ] ( Silesian : Kandrzin-Koźle ) is a city in southern Poland , the administrative center of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County . With 58,899 inhabitants as of 2021, it is the second most-populous city in the Opole Voivodeship .
136-612: Kędzierzyn-Koźle is located in the historic Silesia ( Upper Silesia ) region at the confluence of the Oder River and its Kłodnica tributary. Situated on the lower reaches of the Gliwice Canal , it is a place of a major river port, has rail connections with all major cities of Poland and lies close to the west of the Metropolis GZM . The town is a major location of chemical industry , the site of several factories and
272-599: A German-conducted death march of thousands of prisoners of several subcamps of the Auschwitz concentration camp passed through Blachownia and Koźle towards the Gross-Rosen concentration camp . Following Nazi Germany's defeat in the war, the region was transferred from Germany to Poland as stipulated by the Potsdam Agreement . In the years immediately following World War II, the ethnic German population
408-652: A considerably more moderate policy. Upon Frederick William IV's death in 1861 he succeeded to the Prussian throne as William I . However, shortly after becoming king, he faced a dispute with his parliament over the size of the army. The parliament, dominated by the liberals, balked at William's desire to increase the number of regiments and withheld approval of the budget to pay for its cost. A deadlock ensued, and William seriously considered abdicating in favour of his son, Crown Prince Frederick . Ultimately, he decided to appoint as prime minister Otto von Bismarck , at that time
544-656: A majority ethnic Polish population, was awarded to Poland, becoming the Silesian Voivodeship . The Prussian Province of Silesia within Germany was then divided into the provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia . Meanwhile, Austrian Silesia , the small portion of Silesia retained by Austria after the Silesian Wars , was mostly awarded to the new Czechoslovakia (becoming known as Czech Silesia and Trans-Olza ), although most of Cieszyn and territory to
680-522: A military power under Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg , known as "The Great Elector". As a kingdom, Prussia continued its rise to power, especially during the reign of Frederick II "the Great" . Frederick the Great was instrumental in starting the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), holding his own against Austria , Russia , France and Sweden and establishing Prussia's dominant role among
816-769: A much more peaceable ruler. Other additions to Prussia in the 18th century were the County of East Frisia (1744), the Principality of Bayreuth (1791) and Principality of Ansbach (1791), the latter two being acquired through purchase from branches of the Hohenzollern dynasty. To the east and south of Prussia, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had gradually weakened during the 18th century. Alarmed by increasing Russian influences in Polish affairs and by
952-576: A network of forced labour camps solely for Poles ( Polenlager ), subcamps of prisons, POW camps and of the Gross-Rosen and Auschwitz concentration camps. The Potsdam Conference of 1945 defined the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland, pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. At the end of WWII, Germans in Silesia fled from
1088-1011: A new mixed Polish dialect and novel costumes . There is ongoing debate about whether the Silesian language , common in Upper Silesia, should be considered a dialect of Polish or a separate language. The Lower Silesian German dialect is nearing extinction due to its speakers' expulsion. The names of Silesia in different languages most likely share their etymology— Polish : Śląsk [ɕlɔ̃sk] ; German : Schlesien [ˈʃleːzi̯ən] ; Czech : Slezsko [ˈslɛsko] ; Lower Silesian : Schläsing ; Silesian : Ślōnsk [ɕlonsk] ; Lower Sorbian : Šlazyńska [ˈʃlazɨnʲska] ; Upper Sorbian : Šleska [ˈʃlɛska] ; Slovak : Sliezsko ; Kashubian : Sląsk ; Latin , Spanish and English: Silesia ; French: Silésie ; Dutch : Silezië ; Italian : Slesia . The names all relate to
1224-686: A number of administrative reforms, among others reorganising the government by way of ministries, which remained formative for the following hundred years. As to religion, reformed Calvinist Frederick William III—as Supreme Governor of the Protestant Churches —asserted his long-cherished project (started in 1798) to unite the Lutheran and the Reformed Church in 1817, (see Prussian Union ). The Calvinist minority, strongly supported by its co-religionist Frederick William III, and
1360-604: A period of intense immigration from Silesia to the United States), considered Silesian as a geographical (not ethnic) term, denoting the inhabitants of Silesia. It is also mentioned the existence of both Polish Silesian and German Silesian dialects in that region. Modern Silesia is inhabited by Poles , Silesians , Germans , and Czechs . Germans first came to Silesia during the Late Medieval Ostsiedlung . The last Polish census of 2011 showed that
1496-523: A possible expansion of the Russian Empire , Frederick was instrumental in initiating the first of the Partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772 to maintain a balance of power . The Kingdom of Prussia annexed most of the Polish province of Royal Prussia , including Warmia , allowing Frederick to finally adopt the title King of Prussia; the annexed Royal Prussian land
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#17327801698841632-615: A power plant at Blachownia Śląska. Zakłady Azotowe Kędzierzyn , a subsidiary of Grupa Azoty located in Kędzierzyn, is one of the largest chemical plants in Poland. In 1975, the historic core Koźle on the left bank of the Oder was merged with the municipalities of Kędzierzyn, Sławięcice , and Kłodnica on the right bank, which had developed to suburbs since the 19th century industrialisation , to form present-day Kędzierzyn-Koźle. The name of
1768-658: A result of immigration from German-speaking states of the Holy Roman Empire . The first granting of municipal privileges in Poland took place in the region, with the granting of rights for Złotoryja by Henry the Bearded. Medieval municipal rights modeled after Lwówek Śląski and Środa Śląska , both established by Henry the Bearded, became the basis of municipal form of government for several cities and towns in Poland, and two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. The Book of Henryków , which contains
1904-494: A result, the grip of the landowning classes, the Junkers , remained unbroken, especially in the eastern provinces. The constitution nevertheless contained a number of liberal elements such as the introduction of jury courts and a catalog of fundamental rights that included freedom of religion, speech and the press. Frederick William suffered a stroke in 1857, and his younger brother, Prince William, became regent . William pursued
2040-515: A series of treaties and compromises, culminating in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that restored peace and left Prussia in possession of most of Silesia. Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with France and Russia (the " Diplomatic Revolution "), while Prussia drifted into Great Britain's camp forming the Anglo-Prussian Alliance . When Frederick preemptively invaded Saxony and Bohemia over
2176-585: A serious invasion until October 1760, when the Russian army briefly occupied Berlin and Königsberg . The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death in 1762 of Empress Elizabeth of Russia ( Miracle of the House of Brandenburg ). The accession of the Prussophile Peter III relieved the pressure on the eastern front. Sweden also exited the war at about the same time. Defeating
2312-443: A thriving agricultural sector, which produces cereals (wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn), potatoes, rapeseed, sugar beets and others. Milk production is well developed. The Opole Silesia has for decades occupied the top spot in Poland for their indices of effectiveness of agricultural land use. Mountainous parts of southern Silesia feature many significant and attractive tourism destinations (e.g., Karpacz , Szczyrk , Wisła ). Silesia
2448-611: A unified Kleindeutschland nation, and on 18 January 1871 (the 170th anniversary of the coronation of the first Prussian king, Frederick I), the German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles outside of Paris , while the French capital was still under siege . King William became the first emperor ( Kaiser ) of a unified Germany. However, the titles of German Emperor and King of Prussia were to be borne by
2584-478: A unified Germany more than they wanted to break the grip of the traditional forces over society. He thus embarked on a drive to form a united Germany under Prussian leadership, and guided Prussia through three wars which ultimately achieved this goal. The first of these wars was the Second War of Schleswig (1864), which Prussia initiated and succeeded in, and in which it gained the assistance of Austria. Denmark
2720-648: Is also rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. The largest city and Lower Silesia's capital is Wrocław ; the historic capital of Upper Silesia is Opole . The biggest metropolitan area is the Katowice metropolitan area , the centre of which is Katowice . Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava and the German city of Görlitz are within Silesia's borders. Silesia's borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it
2856-564: Is different from Upper Silesia in many respects as its population was predominantly German-speaking from around the mid 19th century until 1945–48. In the fourth century BC from the south, through the Kłodzko Valley , the Celts entered Silesia, and settled around Mount Ślęża near modern Wrocław , Oława and Strzelin . Germanic Lugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century BC. West Slavs and Lechites arrived in
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#17327801698842992-466: Is generally well forested. This is because greenness is generally highly desirable by the local population, particularly in the highly industrialized parts of Silesia. Silesia has been historically diverse in every aspect. Nowadays, the largest part of Silesia is located in Poland; it is often cited as one of the most diverse regions in that country. The United States Immigration Commission, in its Dictionary of Races or Peoples (published in 1911, during
3128-400: Is home to ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle , one of the most successful Polish volleyball clubs, the nine–time Polish Champion , ten–time Polish Cup winner, and three–time winner of CEV Champions League ( 2021 , 2022 , 2023 ). There are five railway stations in the city. Kędzierzyn-Koźle is located at the intersection of National road 40 and Voivodeship roads 408, 410, 418, 423 and 426, and
3264-730: Is now part of the Czech Republic, forming part of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the northern part of the Olomouc Region . Germany retains the Silesia-Lusatia region ( Niederschlesien-Oberlausitz or Schlesische Oberlausitz ) west of the Neisse , which is part of the federal state of Saxony . The region was affected by the 1997 , 2010 and 2024 Central European floods. Most of Silesia
3400-629: Is relatively flat, although its southern border is generally mountainous. It is primarily located in a swath running along both banks of the upper and middle Oder (Odra) River, but it extends eastwards to the upper Vistula River. The region also includes many tributaries of the Oder, including the Bóbr (and its tributary the Kwisa ), the Barycz and the Nysa Kłodzka . The Sudeten Mountains run along most of
3536-616: Is split into two main subregions, Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia has a diverse culture, including architecture , costumes , cuisine , traditions, and the Silesian language (minority in Upper Silesia). The largest city of the region is Wrocław . Silesia is situated along the Oder River, with the Sudeten Mountains extending across the southern border. The region contains many historical landmarks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites . It
3672-563: The A4 motorway runs nearby, just north of the city. Kędzierzyn-Koźle is twinned with: Silesia Silesia (see names below ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland , with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany . Its area is approximately 40,000 km (15,400 sq mi), and the population is estimated at 8,000,000. Silesia
3808-639: The Battle of Stresow on the island of Rügen , as the war had already been practically decided in the 1709 Battle of Poltava . In the Treaty of Stockholm Prussia gained all of Swedish Pomerania east of the River Oder . Sweden would however keep a portion of Pomerania until 1815. The Great Northern War not only marked the end of the Swedish Empire but also elevated Prussia and Russia at the expense of
3944-594: The Bohemian Crown which was part of the Holy Roman Empire; however, a number of duchies remained under the rule of the Polish dukes from the houses of Piast, Jagiellon and Sobieski as formal Bohemian fiefdoms , some until the 17th–18th centuries. In 1469, sovereignty over the region passed to Hungary , and in 1490, it returned to Bohemia. In 1526 Silesia passed with the Bohemian Crown to
4080-683: The Brynica River, which separates it from Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in the Lesser Poland region. However, to many Poles today, Silesia ( Śląsk ) is understood to cover all of the area around Katowice, including Zagłębie. This interpretation is given official sanction in the use of the name Silesian Voivodeship ( województwo śląskie ) for the province covering this area. In fact, the word Śląsk in Polish (when used without qualification) now commonly refers exclusively to this area (also called Górny Śląsk or Upper Silesia). As well as
4216-656: The Congress of Vienna . It regained most of its pre-1806 territory. Notable exceptions included part of the territory annexed in the Second and Third Partitions of Poland, which became Congress Poland under Russian rule (though it did retain Danzig, acquired in the Second Partition). It also did not regain several of its former towns in the south. However, as compensation it picked up some new territory, including 40% of
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4352-657: The Diocese of Kraków . The Duchy of Krosno Odrzańskie ( Crossen ) was inherited by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1476 and with the renunciation of King Ferdinand I and the estates of Bohemia in 1538, became an integral part of Brandenburg. From 1645 until 1666, the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz was held in pawn by the Polish House of Vasa as dowry of the Polish queen Cecylia Renata . In 1742, most of Silesia
4488-663: The First French Empire , was defeated in the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt (14 October 1806), Frederick William III was forced to temporarily flee to remote Memel . After the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, Prussia lost about half of its territory, including the land gained from the Second and Third Partitions of Poland (which now fell to the Duchy of Warsaw ) and all land west of the Elbe river. France recaptured Prussian-occupied Hanover, including Bremen-Verden. The remainder of
4624-677: The German Confederation , the issue of unifying the German states caused the German revolutions of 1848–1849 , with representatives from all states attempting to unify under their own constitution. Attempts to create a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when the Austro-Prussian War ensued between its two most powerful member states. Prussia was subsequently
4760-726: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , the Kingdom of Prussia was transformed into the Free State of Prussia . Prussia as a whole was abolished in 1947 . The Hohenzollerns were made rulers of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1518. In 1529, the Hohenzollerns secured the reversion of the Duchy of Pomerania after a series of conflicts , and acquired its eastern part following the Peace of Westphalia . In 1618,
4896-577: The Habsburg monarchy . In the 15th century, several changes were made to Silesia's borders. Parts of the territories that had been transferred to the Silesian Piasts in 1178 were bought by the Polish kings in the second half of the 15th century (the Duchy of Oświęcim in 1457; the Duchy of Zator in 1494). The Bytom area remained in the possession of the Silesian Piasts, though it was a part of
5032-618: The Kingdom of Saxony and much of Westphalia and the Rhineland. Prussia now stretched uninterrupted from the Niemen in the east to the Elbe in the west, and possessed a chain of disconnected territories west of the Elbe. This left Prussia as the only great power with a predominantly German-speaking population. With these gains in territory, the kingdom was reorganized into 10 provinces. Most of
5168-577: The Orangist stadtholderate against the increasingly rebellious Patriots , who sought to overthrow the House of Orange-Nassau and establish a democratic republic . The direct cause of the invasion was the arrest at Goejanverwellesluis , where Frederick William II's sister Wilhelmina of Prussia , also stadtholder William V of Orange 's wife, was stopped by a band of Patriots who denied her passage to The Hague to reclaim her husband's position. In 1795,
5304-485: The Potsdam Agreement between the victorious Allies and became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet -installed communist regime . The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder–Neisse line , which had belonged to Silesia since 1815, became part of East Germany . As the result of the forced population shifts of 1945–48, today's inhabitants of Silesia speak the national languages of their respective countries. Previously German-speaking Lower Silesia had developed
5440-535: The Province of Hohenzollern . During the half-century that followed the Congress of Vienna, a conflict of ideals took place within the German Confederation between the formation of a single German nation and the conservation of the current collection of smaller German states and kingdoms. The main debate centered around whether Prussia or the Austrian Empire should be the leading member of any unified Germany. Those advocating for Prussian leadership contended that Austria had far too many non-German interests to work for
5576-457: The Province of Pomerania , uniting the kingdom's eastern territories. After Frederick died in 1786, his nephew Fredrick William II continued the partitions, gaining a large part of western Poland in 1793; Thorn (Toruń) and Danzig (Gdańsk), which had remained part of Poland after the first partition, were incorporated into West Prussia, while the remainder became the province of South Prussia . In 1787, Prussia invaded Holland to restore
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5712-424: The Province of Silesia in 1815, in Germany Görlitz , Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and neighbouring areas are considered parts of historical Silesia. Those districts, along with Poland's Lower Silesian Voivodeship and parts of Lubusz Voivodeship, make up the geographic region of Lower Silesia. Silesia has undergone a similar notional extension at its eastern extreme. Historically, it extended only as far as
5848-401: The Seven Years' War , even General Ernst Gideon von Laudon in 1760 had to raise his siege. In the 18th century, Cosel belonged to the tax inspection region of Neustadt ( Prudnik ). In 1807 the Prussian garrison withstood another besiegement by the allied Napoleonic and Bavarian forces under General Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy until a peace was made by the Treaty of Tilsit . In 1815, Cosel
5984-620: The Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in the town. In the course of the Vistula–Oder Offensive , the Soviet Red Army from 21 January 1945 attacked the Koźle bridgehead . Afterwards, it became again part of Poland under the re-drawing of borders after World War II. Kędzierzyn was founded as a village in the 13th century, and Sławięcice was first mentioned in 13th-century documents, when both settlements were part of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland . Sławięcice even obtained town rights before 1260, but lost them in 1260, as Duke Władysław Opolski transferred them to nearby Ujazd . Sławięcice
6120-442: The Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp. In the present-day district of Blachownia Śląska there was a forced labour subcamp of the prison in Strzelce Opolskie , and four subcamps (BAB 21/E793, BAB 48/E793, E3, E714) of the Stalag VIII-B/344 camp. In the present-day district of Kłodnica, there was the E800 subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344 camp. In Sławięcice there was another forced labour "education" camp, two subcamps (E6, E207) of
6256-405: The Thirty Years' War and occupied by Danish troops under the command of Duke John Ernest I of Saxe-Weimar in 1627, before they were defeated by Imperial forces under Albrecht von Wallenstein . Again conquered by a Swedish contingent led by Lennart Torstensson in 1642, the town remained almost completely devastated. In 1645, it returned to Polish rule under the House of Vasa . Occupied by
6392-413: The War of the Spanish Succession , the Great Elector's son, Frederick III, was allowed to elevate Prussia to a kingdom in the Crown Treaty of 16 November 1700. Frederick crowned himself " King in Prussia " as Frederick I on 18 January 1701. Legally, no kingdoms could exist in the Holy Roman Empire except for Bohemia and Italy . However, Frederick took the line that since Prussia had never been part of
6528-410: The defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812, Prussia quit the alliance and took part in the Sixth Coalition during the "Wars of Liberation" ( Befreiungskriege ) against the French occupation. Prussian troops under Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher contributed crucially in the Battle of Waterloo of 1815 to the final victory over Napoleon. Prussia's reward for its part in France's defeat came at
6664-426: The 12th century it formed the Duchy of Silesia , a provincial duchy of Poland. As a result of further fragmentation, Silesia was divided into many duchies , ruled by various lines of the Polish Piast dynasty . In the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire , which passed to the Austrian Habsburg monarchy in 1526; however, a number of duchies remained under
6800-537: The 1970s under the People's Republic of Poland . During this period, Silesia became one of the world's largest producers of coal, with a record tonnage in 1979. Coal mining declined during the next two decades, but has increased again following the end of Communist rule. The 41 coal mines in Silesia are mostly part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin , which lies in the Silesian Upland. The coalfield has an area of about 4,500 km (1,700 sq mi). Deposits in Lower Silesia have proven to be difficult to exploit and
6936-423: The 19th century and the early 20th century can be found in Table 2.: (67.2%) (62.0%) (62.6%) (62.1%) (58.6%) (58.1%) (58.1%) (58.6%) (58.7%) (57.3%) (59.1%) Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia ( German : Königreich Preußen , pronounced [ˈkøːnɪkʁaɪç ˈpʁɔʏsn̩] ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It
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#17327801698847072-460: The Austrian army at the Battle of Burkersdorf and relying on continuing British success against France in the war's colonial theatres, Prussia was finally able to force a status quo ante bellum on the continent. This result confirmed Prussia's major role within the German states and established the country as a European great power . Frederick, appalled by the near-defeat of Prussia and the economic devastation of his kingdom, lived out his days as
7208-408: The Bundesrat, with 17 votes out of 58 (17 out of 61 after 1911); no other state had more than six votes. As before, it could effectively control the proceedings with the support of its allies in the secondary states. As mentioned above, Bismarck served as foreign minister of Prussia for almost his entire career, and in that role instructed the Prussian deputies to the Bundesrat. The Imperial German Army
7344-426: The Empire, they were still legally only electors under the overlordship of the emperor. However, by this time the emperor's authority was only nominal. The rulers of the empire's various territories acted largely as the rulers of sovereign states , and only acknowledged the emperor's suzerainty in a formal way. In addition, the duchy was only the eastern bulk of the region of Prussia; the westernmost fragment constituted
7480-470: The First French Republic and Prussia had stipulated that the latter would ensure the Holy Roman Empire's neutrality in all the latter's territories north of the demarcation line of the River Main , including the British continental dominions of the Electorate of Hanover and the Duchies of Bremen-Verden . To this end, Hanover (including Bremen-Verden) also had to provide troops for the so-called demarcation army maintaining this state of armed neutrality . In
7616-429: The German Empire. The German Empire successfully unified all of the German states aside from Austria and Switzerland under Prussian hegemony due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The war united all the German states against a common enemy, and with the victory came an overwhelming wave of nationalism which changed the opinions of some of those who had been against unification. With
7752-410: The German alliances put in place after the Austro-Prussian War, the German states, aside from Austria, came together and swiftly defeated France, even managing to take Napoleon III prisoner (2 September 1870). Even before then, Bismarck was able to complete the work of unifying Germany under Prussian leadership. The patriotic fervour aroused by the war against France overwhelmed the remaining opponents of
7888-407: The German states, as well as establishing the country as a European great power through the victories of the powerful Prussian Army . Prussia made attempts to unify all the German states (excluding the German cantons in Switzerland ) under its rule, and whether Austria would be included in such a unified German domain became an ongoing question . After the Napoleonic Wars led to the creation of
8024-405: The German states. In 1848, actions taken by Denmark towards the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein led to the First War of Schleswig (1848–51) between Denmark and the German Confederation, resulting in a Danish victory. Frederick William issued Prussia's first constitution by his own authority in 1848, modifying it in the Constitution of 1850 . These documents—moderate by the standards of
8160-427: The Great) came to the throne. Using the pretext of a 1537 treaty (vetoed by Emperor Ferdinand I ) by which parts of Silesia were to pass to Brandenburg after the extinction of its ruling Piast dynasty , Frederick invaded Silesia, thereby beginning the War of the Austrian Succession . After rapidly occupying Silesia, Frederick offered to protect Queen Maria Theresa if the province were turned over to him. The offer
8296-729: The Holocaust and had returned to Silesia. The newly formed Polish United Workers' Party created a Ministry of the Recovered Territories that claimed half of the available arable land for state-run collectivized farms. Many of the new Polish Silesians who resented the Germans for their invasion in 1939 and brutality in occupation now resented the newly formed Polish communist government for their population shifting and interference in agricultural and industrial affairs. The administrative division of Silesia within Poland has changed several times since 1945. Since 1999, it has been divided between Lubusz Voivodeship , Lower Silesian Voivodeship , Opole Voivodeship , and Silesian Voivodeship . Czech Silesia
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#17327801698848432-424: The Katowice area, historical Upper Silesia also includes the Opole region (Poland's Opole Voivodeship) and Czech Silesia. Czech Silesia consists of a part of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Jeseník District in the Olomouc Region . Silesia is a resource-rich and populous region. Since the middle of the 18th century, coal has been mined. The industry had grown while Silesia was part of Germany, and peaked in
8568-426: The Old Polish words ślęg [ɕlɛŋk] or śląg [ɕlɔŋk] , which means dampness, moisture, or humidity. They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name Śląsk from the name of the Silings tribe, an etymology preferred by some German authors. In Polish common usage, "Śląsk" refers to traditionally Polish Upper Silesia and today's Silesian Voivodeship , but less to Lower Silesia, which
8704-499: The Pious at the Battle of Legnica , which took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica . Upon the death of Orda Khan , the Mongols chose not to press forward further into Europe, but returned east to participate in the election of a new Grand Khan (leader). Between 1289 and 1292, Bohemian king Wenceslaus II became suzerain of some of the Upper Silesian duchies. Polish monarchs had not renounced their hereditary rights to Silesia until 1335. The province became part of
8840-406: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist and a large area (including Warsaw ) to the south and east of East Prussia became part of Prussia. Most of the new territories (and the part of South Prussia north of the Vistula ) were organised into the province of New East Prussia ; South Prussia gained the area immediately south of the Vistula, Narew and Bug , including Warsaw; a small area to
8976-412: The Prussian ambassador to France. Bismarck took office on 23 September 1862. Although Bismarck had a reputation as an unyielding conservative, he initially inclined to seek a compromise over the budget issue. However, William refused to consider it; he viewed defence issues as the crown's personal province. Forced into a policy of confrontation, Bismarck came up with a novel theory. Under the constitution,
9112-406: The Prussian state, ultimately boosting their national self-awareness and eliciting their national resistance against Prussian rule. Following the French Revolution and the Execution of Louis XVI , Prussia declared war on the French First Republic . When Prussian troops attempted to invade France, they were beaten back and the Treaty of Basel (1795) ended the War of the First Coalition . In it,
9248-465: The Second World War, Silesia was inhabited mostly by Germans, with Poles a large minority, forming a majority in Upper Silesia . Silesia was also the home of Czech and Jewish minorities. The German population tended to be based in the urban centres and in the rural areas to the north and west, whilst the Polish population was mostly rural and could be found in the east and in the south. Ethnic structure of Prussian Upper Silesia ( Opole regency) during
9384-412: The Silesian Piasts, although their population was primarily Vistulan and not of Silesian descent. Walloons came to Silesia as one of the first foreign immigrant groups in Poland , probably settling in Wrocław since the 12th century, with further Walloon immigrants invited by Duke Henry the Bearded in the early 13th century. Since the 13th century, German cultural and ethnic influence increased as
9520-465: The Silesian mountain region (Hirschberg, Schneekoppe). After World War I, a part of Silesia, Upper Silesia , was contested by Germany and the newly independent Second Polish Republic . The League of Nations organized a plebiscite to decide the issue in 1921. It resulted in 60% of votes being cast for Germany and 40% for Poland. Following the third Silesian uprising (1921), however, the easternmost portion of Upper Silesia (including Katowice), with
9656-494: The Silesians are the largest ethnic or national minority in Poland, Germans being the second; both groups are located mostly in Upper Silesia. The Czech part of Silesia is inhabited by Czechs, Moravians , Silesians, and Poles . In the early 19th century the population of the Prussian part of Silesia was between 2/3 and 3/4 German-speaking, between 1/5 and 1/3 Polish-speaking, with Sorbs , Czechs , Moravians and Jews forming other smaller minorities (see Table 1. below). Before
9792-536: The Stalag VIII-B/344 camp, and a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp which operated from April 1, 1944, to January 26, 1945. In Sławięcice, there was also a crematorium for the victims of the camps, which is now a memorial. Allied prisoners of war of various nationalities, Jews , and Polish children were among the victims of the forced labour camps. In the final stages of the war, in 1945,
9928-786: The White founded a Monastery of the Order of Friars Minor in Koźle. Again purchased by the Opole duke Jan II the Good in 1509, the Koźle estates were ultimately incorporated into the Lands of the Bohemian Crown upon his death in 1532. Within the Habsburg monarchy , it was temporarily pawned to the Hohenzollern Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach . The fortress was besieged several times during
10064-400: The area's unprofitable mines were closed in 2000. In 2008, an estimated 35 billion tonnes of lignite reserves were found near Legnica, making them some of the largest in the world. From the fourth century BC, iron ore has been mined in the upland areas of Silesia. The same period had lead, copper, silver, and gold mining. Zinc, cadmium, arsenic, and uranium have also been mined in
10200-593: The battle ground, assuming they would be able to return when the war was over. However, they could not return, and those who had stayed were expelled and a new Polish population, including people displaced from former Eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and from Central Poland, joined the surviving native Polish inhabitants of the region. After 1945 and in 1946, nearly all of the 4.5 million Silesians of German descent fled, or were interned in camps and expelled, including some thousand German Jews who survived
10336-602: The capital Berlin , which was only 80 km (50 mi) away. The Great Northern War was the first major conflict in which the Kingdom of Prussia was involved. Starting in 1700, the war involved a coalition led by Tsarist Russia against the dominant North European power at the time, the Swedish Empire . Crown Prince Frederick William tried in 1705 to get Prussia involved in the war, stating "best Prussia has her own army and makes her own decisions." His views, however, were not considered acceptable by his father, and
10472-543: The city is of Polish origin, with Kędzierzyn coming from the male name Kędziora or Kędzierzawy , and Koźle coming from the word kozioł , which means "he-goat, buck". The city has a canting arms as it depicts three heads of goats. A border fortress held by a minor member of the Polish Piast dynasty was first mentioned in 1104, when it was besieged by the Přemyslid prince Svatopluk of Olomouc . The Koźle castellany
10608-508: The course of a few months in 1756–1757, he began a Third Silesian War and initiated the Seven Years' War . This war was a desperate struggle for the Prussian Army, and the fact that it managed to fight much of Europe to a draw bears witness to Frederick's military skills. Facing Austria, Russia , France, and Sweden simultaneously, and with only Hanover (and the non-continental British) as notable allies, Frederick managed to prevent
10744-628: The course of the War of the Second Coalition against France (1799–1802), Napoleon Bonaparte urged Prussia to occupy Hanover. In 1801, 24,000 Prussian soldiers invaded, surprising Hanover, which surrendered without a fight. In April 1801 the Prussian troops arrived in Bremen-Verden's capital Stade and stayed there until October that year. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland first ignored Prussia's hostility, but when it joined
10880-436: The crown of a united Germany. Frederick William refused the offer on the grounds that revolutionary assemblies could not grant royal titles. But he also refused for two other reasons: to do so would have done little to end the internal power-struggle between Austria and Prussia, and all Prussian kings (up to and including William I ) feared that the formation of a German Empire would mean the end of Prussia's independence within
11016-622: The decision of the Entente Powers after insurrections by Poles and the Upper Silesian plebiscite , while the remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland. During World War II , as a result of German occupation the entire region was under control of Nazi Germany . In 1945, after World War II , most of the German-held Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by
11152-531: The declining Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as new powers in Europe. The Great Elector had incorporated the Junkers , the landed aristocracy, into the kingdom's bureaucracy and military machine, giving them a vested interest in the Prussian Army and compulsory education . King Frederick William I inaugurated the Prussian compulsory conscription system in 1717. In 1740, King Frederick II (Frederick
11288-459: The dominant state in this new entity, with four-fifths of its territory and population—more than the other members of the confederation combined. Its near-total control was cemented in a constitution written by Bismarck. Executive power was vested in a president —a hereditary office of the rulers of Prussia. He was assisted by a chancellor responsible only to the president. There was also a bicameral parliament. The lower house, or Reichstag (Diet),
11424-551: The driving force behind establishing in 1866 the North German Confederation , transformed in 1871 into the unified German Empire and considered the earliest continual legal predecessor of today's Federal Republic of Germany . The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War but many of its laws were later used in
11560-530: The earliest known sentence written in the Polish language, as well as a document which contains the oldest printed text in Polish, were created in Henryków and Wrocław in Silesia, respectively. In 1241, the Mongols conducted their first invasion of Poland , causing widespread panic and mass flight. They looted much of the region and defeated the combined Polish, Moravian and German forces led by Duke Henry II
11696-404: The east of it went to Poland. Polish Silesia was among the first regions invaded during Germany's 1939 attack on Poland , which started World War II . One of the claimed goals of Nazi German occupation , particularly in Upper Silesia, was the extermination of those whom Nazis viewed as " subhuman ", namely Jews and ethnic Poles. The Polish and Jewish population of the then Polish part of Silesia
11832-472: The electors of Brandenburg also inherited the Duchy of Prussia , since 1511 ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hohenzollern. In 1525, Albrecht of Brandenburg , the last grand master of the Teutonic Order , secularized his territory and converted it into a duchy. It was ruled in a personal union with Brandenburg, known as " Brandenburg-Prussia ". A full union was not possible, since Brandenburg
11968-557: The empire and the Hohenzollerns were fully sovereign over it, he could elevate Prussia to a kingdom. Emperor Leopold I , keen to secure Frederick's support in the impending War of the Spanish Succession , acquiesced. The style "King in Prussia" was adopted to acknowledge the legal fiction that the Hohenzollerns were legally kings only in their former duchy. In Brandenburg and the portions of their domains that were within
12104-524: The empire, they continued to use the additional title of Elector of Brandenburg until the empire was dissolved. It was not until 1772 that the title "King of Prussia" was adopted, following the acquisition of Royal Prussia in the First Partition of Poland . The Kingdom of Prussia was still recovering from the devastation of the Thirty Years' War and poor in natural resources. Its territory
12240-408: The fundamental law of the kingdom. However, Bismarck's real plan was an accommodation with liberalism. Although he had opposed German unification earlier in his career, he had now come to believe it inevitable. To his mind, the conservative forces had to take the lead in the drive toward creating a unified nation in order to keep from being eclipsed. He also believed that the middle-class liberals wanted
12376-643: The greater good of Germany. They argued that Prussia, as by far the most powerful state with a majority of German-speakers, was best suited to lead the new nation. The establishment of the German Customs Union ( Zollverein ) in 1834, which excluded Austria, increased Prussian influence over the member states. In the wake of the Revolutions of 1848 , the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 offered King Frederick William IV of Prussia
12512-462: The headquarters of an insurgent unit. In June 1921, the Germans attacked the Polish insurgents, and recaptured Kędzierzyn. The Germans then massacred captured Polish prisoners of war in nearby Lichynia . During World War II, the Germans operated multiple forced labour camps in the area. In Kędzierzyn there was a forced labour "education" camp, and three subcamps (BAB 20/E794, BAB 40/E794, E711A) of
12648-402: The idea. While Bismarck wanted Austria to play no future role in German affairs, he foresaw that Austria could be a valuable future ally. With these gains in territory, the Prussian possessions in the Rhineland and Westphalia became geographically connected to the rest of the kingdom for the first time. Counting the de facto annexation of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prussia now stretched uninterrupted across
12784-526: The king and the parliament were responsible for agreeing on the budget. Bismarck argued that since they had failed to come to an agreement, there was a "hole" in the constitution, and the government had to continue to collect taxes and disburse funds in accordance with the old budget in order to keep functioning. The government thus operated without a new budget from 1862 to 1866, allowing Bismarck to implement William's military reforms. The liberals violently denounced Bismarck for what they saw as his disregard for
12920-732: The kingdom was occupied by French troops (at Prussia's expense) and the king was obliged to make an alliance with France and join the Continental System . The Prussian reforms were a reaction to the Prussian defeat in 1806 and the Treaties of Tilsit. It describes a series of constitutional, administrative, social and economic reforms of the kingdom of Prussia. They are sometimes known as the Stein-Hardenberg Reforms after Karl Freiherr vom Stein and Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg , their main instigators. After
13056-462: The kingdom, aside from the provinces of East Prussia , West Prussia , and the autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen but including the formerly Polish Lauenburg and Bütow Land and the Draheim territory , became part of the new German Confederation , a confederacy of 39 sovereign states (including Austria and Bohemia) replacing the defunct Holy Roman Empire. Frederick William III submitted Prussia to
13192-475: The most in taxes) included 4% of voters and the third class (with those who paid the least) had 82%, yet each group chose the same number of electors. The system all but assured dominance by the more well-to-do men of the population. The upper house, later renamed the Herrenhaus ("House of Lords"), was appointed by the king. He retained full executive authority, and ministers were responsible only to him. As
13328-408: The name of a river (now Ślęza ) and mountain ( Mount Ślęża ) in mid-southern Silesia, which served as a place of cult for pagans before Christianization . Ślęża is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region (see old European hydronymy ). According to some Polonists , the name Ślęża [ˈɕlɛ̃ʐa] or Ślęż [ɕlɛ̃ʂ] is directly related to
13464-459: The northern two-thirds of Germany. It would remain at this size until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1918. Bismarck used this opportunity to end the budget dispute with parliament. He proposed a bill of indemnity granting him retroactive approval for governing without a legal budget. He guessed, correctly as it turned out, that this would lead to a split between his liberal adversaries. While some of them argued that there could be no compromise with
13600-485: The part of Royal Prussia east of Vistula, held along with the title King of Prussia by the King of Poland . While the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia legally continued until the end of the empire in 1806, from 1701 onward, Brandenburg was de facto treated as an integral part of the kingdom. Since the Hohenzollerns were nominally still subjects of the emperor within the parts of their domains that were part of
13736-513: The part of the town east of the Oder during the Third Silesian Uprising . In Koźle, the insurgents seized large supplies of ammunition and food, and some 1,000 railroad cars . After the uprising, however, the town remained part of Germany in the interbellum . Local Polish activists were intensively persecuted by the Germans since 1937. During World War II , the Germans operated three forced labour subcamps (E2, E153, E155) of
13872-639: The partially reluctant Lutheran majority formed the united Protestant Evangelical Church in Prussia . However, ensuing quarrels causing a permanent schism among the Lutherans into united and Old Lutherans by 1830. As a consequence of the Revolutions of 1848 , the Principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen (ruled by a Catholic cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern) were annexed by Prussia in 1850, later united as
14008-708: The principle of constitutional government, most of the liberals decided to support the bill in hopes of winning more freedom in the future. The German Confederation was dissolved as part of the war. In its place, Prussia cajoled the 21 states north of the Main into forming the North German Confederation in 1866. Prussia entered the Confederation as a whole (including the East Prussian cradle of its statehood, as well as its share of dismembered Poland consisting of Province of Posen and West Prussia ), thus becoming
14144-529: The pro-French Second League of Armed Neutrality alongside Denmark–Norway and Russia, Britain started to capture Prussian sea vessels. After the Battle of Copenhagen the coalition fell apart and Prussia again withdrew its troops. At Napoleon's instigation, Prussia recaptured British Hanover and Bremen-Verden in early 1806. On 6 August that year the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved as a result of Napoleon's victories over Austria . The title of Kurfürst ( Prince-elector ) of Brandenburg became meaningless, and
14280-669: The region around the 7th century, and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local West Slavs started to erect boundary structures like the Silesian Przesieka and the Silesia Walls . The eastern border of Silesian settlement was situated to the west of the Bytom , and east from Racibórz and Cieszyn . East of this line dwelt a closely related Lechitic tribe, the Vistulans . Their northern border
14416-606: The region, and one of the oldest dioceses in Poland, subjugated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno . Poland repulsed German invasions of Silesia in 1017 at Niemcza and in 1109 at Głogów . During the Fragmentation of Poland , Silesia and the rest of the country were divided into many smaller duchies ruled by various Silesian dukes . In 1178, parts of the Duchy of Kraków around Bytom, Oświęcim , Chrzanów , and Siewierz were transferred to
14552-524: The region. Lower Silesia features large copper mining and processing between the cities of Legnica , Głogów , Lubin , and Polkowice . In the Middle Ages, gold (Polish: złoto ) and silver (Polish: srebro ) were mined in the region, which is reflected in the names of the former mining towns of Złotoryja , Złoty Stok and Srebrna Góra . The region is known for stone quarrying to produce limestone, marl , marble, and basalt. The region also has
14688-459: The rule of Polish dukes from the houses of Piast, Jagiellon and Sobieski as formal Bohemian fiefdoms, some until the 17th–18th centuries. As a result of the Silesian Wars , the region was annexed by the German state of Prussia from Austria in 1742. After World War I , when the Poles and Czechs regained their independence, the easternmost part of Upper Silesia became again part of Poland by
14824-565: The same man until the end of the monarchy. Bismarck's new empire was the most powerful state on the Continent. Prussia's dominance over the new empire was almost as absolute as it was with the North German Confederation. It included two-thirds of the empire's territory and three-fifths of its population. The imperial crown was a hereditary office of the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia also had a large plurality of seats in
14960-585: The south of South Prussia became New Silesia . With the Polish-Lithuanian state gone Prussia now shared its eastern borders with the Habsburg monarchy ( West Galicia ) and Russia ( Russian partition ). The Partitions were facilitated by the fact that they occurred just before the 19th-century rise of nationalism in Europe, and the national self-awareness was yet to be developed in most European peoples, especially among commoners. The Kingdom of Prussia
15096-655: The southern edge of the region, though at its south-eastern extreme it reaches the Silesian Beskids and Moravian-Silesian Beskids , which belong to the Carpathian Mountains range. Historically, Silesia was bounded to the west by the Kwisa and Bóbr Rivers, while the territory west of the Kwisa was in Upper Lusatia (earlier Milsko ). However, because part of Upper Lusatia was included in
15232-580: The time but conservative by today's—provided for a two-chamber parliament, the Landtag . The lower house, later known as the Abgeordnetenhaus , was elected by all males over the age of 25 using the Prussian three-class franchise . Voters were divided into three classes whose votes were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid. In one typical election, the first class (with those who paid
15368-640: The troops of King Frederick the Great in the First Silesian War , Koźle as Cosel with the bulk of Silesia became a Prussian possession by the 1742 Treaty of Breslau . The king ordered the extension of the fortifications, nevertheless the town was occupied by Habsburg Pandurs during the Second Silesian War in 1744 and had to be reconquered by the Prussian Army two years later; the shelling again caused heavy losses and damages. The rebuilt fortress held against Austrian sieges during
15504-458: The two main wartime centers where medical experiments were conducted on kidnapped Polish children by Nazis. Czech Silesia was occupied by Germany as part of so-called Sudetenland . In Silesia, Nazi Germany operated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp , several prisoner-of-war camps for Allied POWs (incl. the major Stalag VIII-A , Stalag VIII-B , Stalag VIII-C camps), numerous Nazi prisons and thousands of forced labour camps, including
15640-670: Was expelled , also in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The remaining Polish population was joined by Poles displaced from the eastern territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and by 600 Poles repatriated from Lupeni , Romania . In 1954, Blachownia and Lenartowice merged to form the Blachownia Śląska district in Sławięcice. In 1999, the branch line connecting the city with Strzelce Opolskie closed as part of Polskie Koleje Państwowe cost-cutting. The town
15776-498: Was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states , resulting in an abundance of castles , especially in the Jelenia Góra valley . The first known states to hold power in Silesia were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century and Bohemia early in the 10th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, and after its fragmentation in
15912-644: Was able to instruct the Prussian delegates to the Bundesrat. The southern German states (except Austria) were forced to accept military alliances with Prussia, and Prussia began steps to merge them with the North German Confederation. Bismarck's planned Kleindeutschland unification of Germany had come considerably closer to realisation. The final act came with the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), where Bismarck maneuvered Emperor Napoleon III of France into declaring war on Prussia. Activating
16048-594: Was crushed, and Prussia annexed four of its smaller allies—the Kingdom of Hanover , the Electorate of Hesse , the Duchy of Nassau and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia also annexed Schleswig and Holstein, and also effectively annexed Saxe-Lauenburg by forcing it into a personal union with Prussia (which was turned into a full union in 1876). King William initially wanted to take territory from Austria itself and annex Saxony, but Bismarck persuaded him to abandon
16184-751: Was disjointed, stretching 1,200 km (750 mi) from the lands of the Duchy of Prussia on the south-east coast of the Baltic Sea to the Hohenzollern heartland of Brandenburg , with the exclaves of Cleves , Mark and Ravensberg in the Rhineland . In 1708 about one third of the population of East Prussia died during the Great Northern War plague outbreak . The bubonic plague reached Prenzlau in August 1710 but receded before it could reach
16320-486: Was dropped. Nonetheless, King Frederick William III was now de jure as well as de facto sovereign of all of the Hohenzollern domains. Before this time, the Hohenzollern sovereign had held many titles and crowns, from Supreme Governor of the Protestant Churches ( summus episcopus ) to King, Elector, Grand Duke, Duke for the various regions and realms under his rule. After 1806 he was simply King of Prussia and summus episcopus . But when Prussia, after it turned against
16456-476: Was elected by universal male suffrage. The upper house, or Bundesrat (Federal Council) was appointed by the state governments. The Bundesrat was, in practice, the stronger chamber. Prussia had 17 of 43 votes and could easily control proceedings through alliances with the other states. For all intents and purposes, Bismarck dominated the new grouping. He served as his own foreign minister for virtually his entire tenure as prime minister of Prussia, and in that capacity
16592-570: Was essentially an enlarged Prussian army, and the embassies of the new empire were mostly old Prussian embassies. The Constitution of the German Empire was essentially an amended version of the constitution of the North German Confederation. However, the seeds for future problems lay in a gross disparity between the imperial and Prussian systems. The empire granted the vote to all men over 25, although Prussia retained its three-class franchise , in which votes were weighted by taxes paid. Since
16728-588: Was in the valley of the Barycz River, north of which lived the Western Polans tribe who gave Poland its name . The first known states in Silesia were Greater Moravia and Bohemia . In the 10th century, the Polish ruler Mieszko I of the Piast dynasty incorporated Silesia into the newly established Polish state . In 1000, the Diocese of Wrocław was established as the oldest Catholic diocese in
16864-666: Was incorporated into the Prussian Province of Silesia , from 1871 part of the German Empire . The development of the town was promoted by the construction of the Kłodnica Canal from the Oder port to Gliwice from 1806 until 1907. In 1903, the Polish Bank Ludowy was founded in the town. After World War I and the Upper Silesia plebiscite of March 1921, the Polish insurgents temporarily captured
17000-403: Was not until 1713 that Frederick William ascended to the throne. Therefore, in 1715, Prussia, led by Frederick William, joined the coalition for various reasons, including the danger of being attacked from both her rear and the sea; her claims on Pomerania ; and the fact that if she stood aside and Sweden lost, she would not get a share of the territory. Prussia only participated in one battle,
17136-479: Was once home to a now lost palace . During the Third Silesian Uprising, the area was the site of heavy fighting between Polish insurgents and Germans. On May 4, 1921, the insurgents captured Sławięcice, then Blachownia Śląska and Cisowa on May 8, Kędzierzyn on May 9, and Kłodnica on May 10. Sławięcice was an essential logistical center for the insurgents for a month, with a field hospital and
17272-654: Was organised the following year into the Province of West Prussia ; most of the rest became the originally separate Netze District , which was attached to West Prussia in 1775. The boundary between West Prussia and the territory previously known as the Duchy of Prussia, now the Province of East Prussia was also adjusted, transferring Marienwerder to West Prussia (which became its capital) and Warmia (the Heilsberg and Braunsberg [ de ] districts) to East Prussia. The annexed territory connected East Prussia with
17408-676: Was part of the Polish Duchy of Silesia since 1138, from 1172/73 of the Upper Silesian Duchy of Racibórz under the rule of the Silesian Piasts . In 1281, it was inherited by Duke Casimir of Bytom , who also called himself Duke of Koźle. Casimir soon turned to the neighbouring Kingdom of Bohemia ; in 1289, he paid homage to King Wenceslaus II and received his duchy as a Bohemian fief . In 1293, he vested Koźle with town privileges , had walls erected. After Casimir
17544-473: Was perceived in Poland more as a nationality-neutral personal holding of the ruling House of Hohenzollern , rather than a German nation-state, and any anxiety concerned predominantly freedom to practice religion rather than rights to maintain national identity. The onset of Germanisation in the following decades, later joined by the Kulturkampf , quickly changed this benign picture and alienated Poles from
17680-441: Was rejected, but Austria faced several other opponents in a desperate struggle for survival, and Frederick was eventually able to gain formal cession with the Treaty of Berlin in 1742. To the surprise of many, Austria managed to renew the war successfully. In 1744 Frederick invaded again to forestall reprisals and to claim, this time, the Kingdom of Bohemia . He failed, but French pressure on Austria's ally Great Britain led to
17816-562: Was seized by King Frederick II of Prussia in the War of the Austrian Succession , eventually becoming the Prussian Province of Silesia in 1815; consequently, Silesia became part of the German Empire when it was proclaimed in 1871. The Silesian capital Breslau became at that time one of the big cities in Germany. Breslau was a center of Jewish life in Germany and an important place of science (university) and industry (manufacturing of locomotives). German mass tourism started in
17952-524: Was soundly defeated and surrendered both Schleswig and Holstein, to Prussia and Austria respectively. The divided administration of Schleswig and Holstein then became the trigger for the Austro-Prussian War of 1866—also known as the Seven Weeks' War. Prussia, allied with the Kingdom of Italy and various northern German states, declared war on the Austrian Empire. The Austrian-led coalition
18088-462: Was still legally part of the Holy Roman Empire and the Duchy of Prussia was a fief of Poland . The Teutonic Order had paid homage to Poland since 1466, and the Hohenzollerns continued to pay homage after secularizing Ducal Prussia. In the course of the Second Northern War , the treaties of Labiau and Wehlau-Bromberg granted the Hohenzollerns full sovereignty over the Prussian duchy by September 1657. In return for an alliance against France in
18224-401: Was subjected to genocide involving expulsions , mass murder and deportation to Nazi concentration camps and forced labour camps, while Germans were settled in pursuit of Lebensraum . Two thousand Polish intellectuals, politicians, and businessmen were murdered in the Intelligenzaktion Schlesien in 1940 as part of a Poland-wide Germanization program . Silesia also housed one of
18360-414: Was succeeded by his son Władysław in 1312, Koźle remained the capital of an autonomous duchy, ruled by the Bytom branch of the Silesian Piasts until the death of Duke Bolesław in 1355. King Charles IV adjudicated the reverted Bohemian fief to the Piast duke Konrad I of Oleśnica , whereafter the town remained a possession of the Oleśnica line until it became extinct in 1492. In 1431, Duke Konrad VII
18496-407: Was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1866 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918 . Although it took its name from the region called Prussia , it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg . Its capital was Berlin . The kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern . Brandenburg-Prussia , predecessor of the kingdom, became
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