Silesians
Encyclopedia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. A small diaspora community
Texas Silesian
Texas Silesian is a language used by Texas Silesians in American settlements from 1852 to the present. It is a variant of Silesian and a part of Opole dialect. The dialect evolved after Silesian exile around the village of Panna Maria...
also exists in Karnes County, Texas
Karnes County, Texas
Karnes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 15,446. Its county seat is Karnes City. Karnes County is named for Henry Karnes, a soldier in the Texas Revolution.-Geography:...
in the USA.
There has been some debate over whether or not a group of Silesians (historically Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
ns) constitute a distinct nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
. In modern history, they have been often pressured to declare themselves to be either German or Polish or Czech and embrace the language of the current governing nation. Nevertheless, 173,153 people declared Silesian nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
in the Polish national census in 2002
Polish census of 2002
- Significant ethnic minorities :In addition to Poles, ethnic groups of more than 25,000 people compose the following:-References:...
, making them the largest minority group in Poland alongside the German minority
German minority in Poland
The registered German minority in Poland consists of 152,900 people, according to a 2002 census.The German language is used in certain areas in Opole Voivodeship , where most of the minority resides...
(93% of Germans in Poland live in the Polish part of Silesia), while 10,878 people declared Silesian nationality in the Czech national census in 2001 (44,446 in 1991) and 6,361 people declared Silesian and Moravian nationality in the Slovak national census.
History
Archeological findings of the 20th century in Silesia confirm an early settlement by celtic tribes.Before the 5th century, Silesia was probably inhabited by the Germanic Silingi
Silingi
The Silings or Silingi supposedly were an East Germanic tribe, probably part of the larger Vandal group. According to most scholars, examples Jerzy Strzelczyk, Norman Davies, Jerzy Krasuski, Andrzej Kokowski, Henryk Łowmiański, the Silingi may have lived in Silesia...
. Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
in his description of Magna Germania mentions Suevi: Marsigni, Osi
Osi
- External links :*...
, Gothini, Burii in what later became Silesia and Burgundiones and Lygii at the Vistula.
The Slavs entered Silesia in the first half of the 7th century. The territories were mostly abandoned because the celtic and germanic tribes that dwelt here before had earlier moved west [citation needed]. Chronologically the first group of Slavs were those that earlier dwelt by the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
, the second one was the Sukov-Dzidzice type Slavs, the last were groups of Avaro
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
-Slavic peoples from the Danube river areas. In the early 9th century the settlement stabilized. Local Slavs started to erect defence systems such as Silesian Przesieka
Silesian Przesieka
Silesian Przesieka, literally Silesian Cutting is the name of the old-Slavic border fortification in Silesia. The Przesieka, known from the early medieval written records, was developed as an impenetrable barrier on the frontier territory...
and the Silesia Walls
Silesia Walls
Silesia Walls are a line of three parallel earthen ramparts and ditches that run through Lower Silesia in Poland, by the towns Szprotawa and Kożuchów. The walls are about 2.5 metres tall and, at their widest, 47 metres. They run for about 30 kilometres...
to guard them from the peoples of the West. The north-eastern border with Slavic Polans
Polans
Polans may refer to two Slavic tribes:* Polans , in the area of Dnieper river* Polans , in the area of Warta. The tribe unified most of the lands of present-day Poland under the Piast dynasty....
was not defended due to their common culture and language.
The 9th-century Bavarian Geographer
Bavarian Geographer
The Bavarian Geographer is a conventional name given by Jan Potocki in 1796 to the author of an anonymous medieval document Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ....
records the tribal names of the Opolanie
Opolanie
Opolanie – West Slavic tribe that lived in the region of upper Odra. Their main settlement was Opole. They were mentioned in the Bavarian Geographer, under the name Opolini, as one of the seven tribes living in Silesia...
, Dadosesani, Golenzizi, Lupiglaa and the Ślężanie. The 1086 Prague Document, that is believed to show the 10th century settlement situation, mentions also the Bobrzanie
Bobrzanie
The Bobrzanie are one of the Silesian tribes mentioned in the Prague document from the 11th century AD. The area they inhabited was located on the Bóbr river, from which they took their name.-References:**...
and Trzebowianie tribes. They were later classified as part of West Slavic Polish tribes
Polish tribes
Polish tribes - a term used sometimes to describe the tribes of West Slavs that lived in the territories that became Polish from around the mid-7th century to the creation of Polish state by the Piast dynasty...
- the Silesian tribes
Silesian tribes
Silesian tribes – are the European tribes of West Slavs that lived in the territories of Silesia. The territory they lived on became part of the Great Moravia in 875 and later, in 990, first Polish state created by duke Mieszko I and then expanded by king Boleslaw I at the beginning of the 11th...
.
Middle Ages
The territory they lived on became part of the Great MoraviaGreat Moravia
Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe and lasted for nearly seventy years in the 9th century whose creators were the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. It was a vassal state of the Germanic Frankish kingdom and paid an annual tribute to it. There is some controversy as...
in 875 and later, in 990, first Polish state created by duke Mieszko I and then expanded by king Boleslaw I at the beginning of the 11th century, who in the year 1000 established the Bishopric of Wrocław. In those days the eastern border of Silesian tribes settlement was situated to the west of the gród
Grod
Grod may refer to:* Caspar Maria Grod, Wilhelm Riphahn's co-worker from 1913 to 1931* Weilern Grod, a village in Brittnau, Switzerland* Grod, 520s–528 ruler after Utigur in Patria Onoguria. He was succeeded by his brother Mugel.-See also:...
Bytom
Bytom
Bytom is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central-western district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river .The city belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship since...
, and east from Racibórz
Racibórz
Racibórz is a town in southern Poland with 60,218 inhabitants situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship...
and Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
. East from this line dwelled other closely related Slavic tribe - Wiślanie
Vistulans
Vistulans were an early medieval West Slavic tribe inhabiting the land of modern Lesser Poland.From the 1st century and possibly earlier, the Vistulans , were part of the Carpian Tribe, which got its name from the area that they lived in, which was beside the Carpathian Mountain Range...
.
In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Slavic tribal confederacies and then Slavic states dominated, Silesia was part of Moravia, then Bohemia and finally the Piast monarchy of Poland. Within Poland, from 1177 onward, it was divided into many smaller duchies. In 1178, parts of the Duchy of Kraków around Bytom, Oświęcim
Oswiecim
Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :...
, Chrzanów
Chrzanów
Chrzanów is a town in south Poland with 39,704 inhabitants . It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and is the capital of Chrzanów County.- To 1809:...
and Siewierz
Siewierz
Siewierz is a town in the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland.-History:In history, Sewerien was first mentioned in 1125, which was administered by the Castellan of Bytom. In 1177, Casimir II granted Sewerien to Mieszko IV Tanglefoot duke of Silesia and Racibórz, together with the duchy of Bytom. The...
were transferred to the Silesian Piasts
Silesian Piasts
The Silesian Piasts were the oldest line of the Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile, son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland...
, yet their population was of Vistulan and not of Silesian descent. Parts of those territories were bought by the Polish kings in the second half of the 15th century but the Bytom area remained in the possession of the Silesian Piasts, even though it remained a part of the Diocese of Kraków. Between 1327 and 1348 duchies of Silesia came under suzerainty of the Crown of Bohemia, and passed with that crown to the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1526.
In 14th century Silesia was settled by Germans, becoming the majority of the population in Silesia for the next centuries. Germans began to build a lot of towns in Silesia. But also in the 12th and 13th century Germans settled in a minor number in Silesia.
Modern history
In 1742, most of Silesia was seized by King Frederick the GreatFrederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
, who in his first declaration to the Silesians named himself a 'Piast prince' (he was in fact a remote descendant). The remainder of Silesia or Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...
stayed within the Austrian Empire. The Prussian part of Silesia constituted the Province of Silesia
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
(later the Prussian provinces of Upper
Province of Upper Silesia
The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln...
and Lower Silesia
Province of Lower Silesia
The Province of Lower Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Silesia Province. The capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau...
) until 1918. The minority of self-declared Polish Silesians, their language and their culture were put under the pressure of the Prussian state's Kulturkampf
Kulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...
policies, attempting to make Germans out of them in culture and language too. After the Silesian Uprisings
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...
the eastern minor, but richer part of Upper Silesia became part of newly restored Poland, the most of the part that had remained under the rule of Habsburgs following the 1742 war came to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, while Lower Silesia and most of Upper Silesia remained within Germany.
Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the vast majority of the region of Silesia was incorporated into Poland, with smaller regions remaining in the German Democratic Republic (later in unified Germany), and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
(most of Cieszyn Silesia). Millions of Silesians (mostly of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
ethnicity) were subsequently expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
, but those Silesians classified by the Polish communist authorities as described by propaganda as "autochthons", in fact also the expelled Silesians were autochthons of Silesia, or "ethnic Poles insufficiently aware of their Polishness" were allowed to remain (and intensely polonized), after being sifted out from the ethnic Germans by a process of "national verification".
Under the care of the Red Cross between 1955 and 1959 some of the remaining Silesians had the possibility to emigrate to West and East Germany for a Family reunification
Family reunification
Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. The presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well....
with their families in Germany. But some had to wait for years. Until 1989 nearly 600,000 Silesians emigrated to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
In 1945-49 millions of ethnic Poles from former (pre1939) eastern Poland (especially Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Volyhnia, Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
, Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, etc) and central Poland moved into Silesia, especially Lower Silesia. Since the end of Communist rule in Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
there have been calls for greater political representation for the Silesian ethnic minority. In 1997, a Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
law court registered the Union of People of Silesian Nationality (ZLNS) as the political representative organization of the Silesian ethnic minority, but after two months the registration was revoked by a regional court.
Language
The Slavic Silesian language (or often Upper Silesian) is spoken by the Silesian ethnic group or nationality inside Polish Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
. According to the last census in Poland (2002), some 60,000 people declared Silesian as their native language, however as much as 173,000 people declared to be of Silesian nationality, not necessarily speaking Silesian, even though such nationality has not been recognized by Polish governments since its creation in 1945.
There is some contention over whether Silesian is a dialect or a language in its own right. Most of Polish linguists consider Silesian to be merely a prominent regional dialect of Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
. However, many Silesians regard it as a separate language belonging to the West Slavic
West Slavic
West Slavic can refer to:* West Slavic languages* West Slavic peoples...
branch of Slavic languages
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
, together with Polish and other Lechitic languages
Lechitic languages
The Lechitic languages include three languages spoken in Central Europe, mainly in Poland, and historically also in the eastern and northern parts of modern Germany. This language group is a branch of the larger West Slavic language family...
, as well as Upper and Lower Sorbian, Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
and Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
. In July 2007 the Silesian language was officially recognized by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and SIL International
SIL International
SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...
. The language was attributed ISO
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
code: SZL. The first official dictation contest of the Silesian language took place in August 2007.
Although the German Language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
is still spoken in Silesia, as it has a sizable minority of speakers in the Opole Voivodship in Poland, the vast majority of native speakers were expelled during or after 1945. Therefore the number of speakers of German in the region was radically and significantly decreased
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
after centuries of settlement after the Second World War. The Silesian German dialect is a distinct variety of East Central German
East Central German
East Central German is the non-Franconian sub-group of Central German dialects, themselves part of High German. It comprises:*Standard German*Thuringian*Upper Saxon German*Lausitzisch-Neumärkisch, whose best-known form is the Berlinerisch dialect...
, with some West Slavic influence likely caused by centuries of contact between Germans and Slavs in the region and related in some ways to contemporary Saxon. The Silesian German
Silesian German
Silesian German language , is a German dialect/language spoken in Silesia. Today, the area is mainly in southwestern Poland, but as well as in northeastern Czech Republic and in eastern Germany...
dialect is often referred to as Lower Silesian in the German Language. The usage of this dialect appears to be decreasing, as most German Silesians prefer either Standard German
Standard German
Standard German is the standard variety of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas...
or Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
.
See also
- German minority in PolandGerman minority in PolandThe registered German minority in Poland consists of 152,900 people, according to a 2002 census.The German language is used in certain areas in Opole Voivodeship , where most of the minority resides...
- List of Silesians
- :Category:People by city in Silesia