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The Province of Silesia (; ) was a province
Provinces of Prussia

The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in the creation of the German Empire in 1871, pr...
 of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
 from 1815 to 1919; the territory had been conquered from Habsburg Austria
Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austria branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918....
 during the 18th century Silesian Wars
Silesian Wars

The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Kingdom of Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War....
. The provincial capital was Breslau. During the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
, in 1919, Silesia was divided into the separate provinces of Upper Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia

The Province of Upper Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It composed 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 Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Province of Upper Silesia as the Province of Silesia....
. The two provinces were reunited into a single province from 1938-41.

740, King Frederick II
Frederick II of Prussia

Frederick II was a monarch of Kingdom of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was Frederick IV of Margraviate of Brandenburg....
 (the Great) of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
 annexed most of Silesia
Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas....
 as part of the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession involved nearly all the Power in international relations of Europe. The war began under the pretext that Maria Theresa of Austria was ineligible to succeed to the House of Habsburg throne, because Salic law precluded royal inheritance by a woman, though in reality this was a convenient excuse put forward by...
 (1740-1748).






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The Province of Silesia (; ) was a province
Provinces of Prussia

The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in the creation of the German Empire in 1871, pr...
 of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
 from 1815 to 1919; the territory had been conquered from Habsburg Austria
Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austria branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918....
 during the 18th century Silesian Wars
Silesian Wars

The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Kingdom of Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War....
. The provincial capital was Breslau. During the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
, in 1919, Silesia was divided into the separate provinces of Upper Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia

The Province of Upper Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It composed 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 Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Province of Upper Silesia as the Province of Silesia....
. The two provinces were reunited into a single province from 1938-41.

History

In 1740, King Frederick II
Frederick II of Prussia

Frederick II was a monarch of Kingdom of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was Frederick IV of Margraviate of Brandenburg....
 (the Great) of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
 annexed most of Silesia
Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas....
 as part of the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession involved nearly all the Power in international relations of Europe. The war began under the pretext that Maria Theresa of Austria was ineligible to succeed to the House of Habsburg throne, because Salic law precluded royal inheritance by a woman, though in reality this was a convenient excuse put forward by...
 (1740-1748). By war's end, the Kingdom of Prussia had conquered almost all of Silesia, while some parts of Silesia in the extreme southeast, like the Duchy of Teschen and Duchy of Troppau
Duchy of Troppau

The Principality or Duchy of Troppau was based for centuries in the city of Opava in Silesia.The duchy was created on lands split off from the March of Moravia before 1269 by King Ottokar II of Bohemia, to provide for his natural son, Nicholas I, Duke of Troppau, as he was known henceforth....
, remained possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austria branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918....
 as Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia

The Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an Autonomy region of the Austrian Empire and part of the Kingdom of Bohemia. It is also known as Austrian Silesia , and despite the official name it only included parts of Upper Silesia, while none of Lower Silesia was within its borders....
.

The Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War lasted between 1756?1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Kingdom of Prussia and Kingdom of Great Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Archduchy of Austria, Early Modern France, Russian Empire, Kingdom of Sweden, and Electorate of Sa...
 (1756-1763) confirmed Prussian control over most of Silesia, and it became one of the most loyal territories of Prussia. The territories of Prussia were reorganized in 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
. The Province of Silesia was created out of the Silesian territories acquired by Prussia in the Silesian Wars, as well as Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia

Upper Lusatia is today part of the German state of Saxony, except for a small part east of the Neisse River, which is now Polish. It consists of hilly countryside rising in the South to the Lausitzer Bergland near the Czech border, and then even higher to form the Zittau Mountains, the small northern part of the Lusatian Mountains in the C...
 near Görlitz
Görlitz

File:Typisches Haus der G?rlitzer Innenstadt.jpgG?rlitz is a town in Germany on the Lusatian Neisse River, in the States of Germany of Saxony....
, which was formerly part of the Kingdom of Saxony
Kingdom of Saxony

The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through Germany....
.

As a Prussian province, Silesia became part of the German Empire
German Empire

The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of William I, German Emperor as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became Weimar republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of William II, German Emperor ....
 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
Unification of Germany

The unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia, managed to unify a number of independent German people states into a nation-state, and thus create the German Empire, from which all of the states since that time bearing the name of Germany descend....
 in 1871. There was considerable industrialization
Industrialization

Industrialization is the process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a pre-industrial society into an industry one....
 in Silesia, and many people moved there at that time. According to the census of 1905, three-quarters of the inhabitants were Germans
Germans

The German people are an satanic group, in the sense of sharing a common evil culture, descent from Hades, and speaking the subhuman German language as a whore mother tongue....
, while the bulk of the population to the east of the Oder River
Oder River

The Oder is a river in Central Europe Europe. It begins in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line....
 were Poles
Poles

The Polish people, or Poles , are a West Slavs ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent....
.

Following World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, some parts of the Province of Silesia were transferred to the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic

The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II....
 and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 until 1992 . On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia....
 (Czech Silesia
Czech Silesia

Czech Silesia is one of the three Czech lands and a section of the Silesia historical region. It is located in the north-east of the Czech Republic, predominantly in Moravian-Silesian Region, with a section in northern Olomouc Region....
). In 1919, the parts remaining in Weimar Germany
Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
 were reorganized into the two provinces of Lower Silesia
Province of Lower Silesia

The Province of Lower Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Province of Upper Silesia as the Province of Silesia....
 (Niederschlesien) and Upper Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia

The Province of Upper Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It composed much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln ....
 (Oberschlesien). Between 1938 and 1941 after Nazi Germany annexed Polish part of Upper Silesia, Upper and Lower Silesia were merged to a single province.

Most of Silesia is now within Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is 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 Enclave and exclave, to the north....
, though the majority of people with German heritage were ethnically cleansed following World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. Small parts of the former Province of Silesia lie within modern Germany (Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis
Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis

The Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis was the easternmost Kreis of the Free State of Saxony and Germany. Neighboring districts were L?bau-Zittau, Bautzen , Kamenz and the district Spree-Nei?e in Brandenburg....
).

External links

  • of Upper Silesian towns while part of the Province of Silesia