The 'Silesian Uprisings' (; ) were a series of three armed
uprisings of the
Poles of
Upper Silesia, from
1919–
1921, against
Weimar 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. In the latter-day history of Poland after
World War II, the
insurrections were celebrated as centrepieces of national pride.
Historical background
Silesia had belonged to
Poland in early
medieval times, but passed to the Kings of
Bohemia in the
XIV century, then to the
Austrian
Habsburgs.
Frederick the Great of Prussia seized Silesia from
Maria Theresa of Austria in
1740 in the
War of Austrian Succession, after which it became a part of
Prussia.
Upper Silesia was rich in mineral resources and heavy industry, with mines and iron and steel mills. "The Silesian mines were responsible for almost a quarter of Germany's annual output of coal, 81 percent of its zinc and 34 percent of its lead."
[1]
During the negotiations of the
Treaty of Versailles, German government claimed that without Upper Silesia it would be not able to fulfil its obligations in regards to reparations for World War I to the allies.
Demographics in the early 20th century
The area east of the
Oder in Upper Silesia was dominated by ethnic Poles, most of whom were lower class. A large proportion spoke a
dialect of Polish, many also felt that they were a
Slavic ethnic group of their own called
Silesians.
At the same time, the vast majority of the landowners, businessmen, factory owners, local government, police and
Catholic clergy were already German.
Almost all of the higher German Silesian officials were
Protestant while the vast majority of Polish Silesians were Catholic.
In the German
census of
1900, 65% of the population of that eastern part of Silesia was recorded as Polish speaking, decreasing to 57% in
1910.
This was the result of forced Germanization as well as creating a category of "bilingual inhabitants" for the purpose of the census, which reduced the number of Polish-speaking Silesians.
According to a language map drawn up by German Professor
Paul Weber, in most Upper Silesian districts east of the Oder river Polish-speaking Silesians made up over 70% of the population in 1910.
Versailles plebiscite
The
Treaty of Versailles had ordered a
plebiscite in Upper Silesia to determine whether the territory should be a part of
Germany or
Poland.
[3] The Treaty mandated a plebiscite within two years in the whole of Silesia, although the Polish government only wanted one a part of Silesia East of the
Oder river.
Hence was held in all of Upper Silesia, including both the predominantly Polish speaking areas in the East and the predominantly German speaking
Upper Silesian areas West of the river.
It was decided by the Allies that the Upper Silesian plebiscite was to be conducted on March 20, 1921. In the meantime, German administration and police were left in place.
In the background,
propaganda and strongarm tactics on both sides led to increasing unrest.
The Germans told the workers that they would lose their jobs and old age pensions if they voted for Poland.
Furthermore, troops of the German "
Freikorps" (Free Corps), made up of veterans of the former German army, terrorized those Silesians who favored voting for Poland.
On the other side, Polish propaganda stressed that if Poland won the plebiscite, Silesian Poles would no longer be oppressed or treated as second class citizens as they were in Germany, and they would not lose their old age pensions.
The Polish sides also employed the
Polish Military Organisation - predecessor of
Polish intelligence - to further their cause.
[4]
Eventually the deteriorating situation resulted in the first two Silesian Uprisings in
1919 and
1920.
The plebiscite took place as arranged on March 20, two days after the signing of the
Treaty of Riga, on March 18, 1921, which ended the
Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1920.
In the
plebiscite, around 707,605 votes were cast for Germany, while 479,359 for Poland.
The Germans thus had 228,246 votes of majority.
A right to vote was granted to everybody who turned 20, had been born or had lived in the plebiscite area. A result was mass migration.
[5] The German outvoters numbering 179,910; the Polish numbering over 10,000.
Without the outvoters, the Germans would have a majority of 58,336 instead of 228,246.
The Third Silesian Uprising broke out in 1921. The
League of Nations was asked to settle the matter before it led to even more bloodshed. In
1922, a six-week investigation determined that the land should be divided between the two nations. This decision was accepted by both countries, and the majority of Upper Silesians. Approximately 736,000 Poles and 260,000 Germans lived in Polish (Upper) Silesia and 532,000 Poles and 637,000 Germans in German (Upper) Silesia.
First Silesian Uprising (1919)
A massacre of ten
civilians in the "Myslowitzer Grube" (
Mysłowice) mine by German ''
Grenzschutz'' (Border Guards) on
August 15 1919 during a
general strike (140,000 workers involved) sparked in Polish protests and ultimately, after arrests of several Polish leaders, the First Silesian Uprising against German control over Upper Silesia.
[6] The revolting Silesian Poles demanded that the police and local government authorities be both German and Polish
21,000 Germans soldiers (with an additional 40,000 troops in reserve) quickly suppressed the rebellion. What followed was German repression of the ethnic Poles of Silesia, and ca. 2,500 Poles were either hung or executed by
firing squad. 9,000 sought refuge in Poland along with thousands of family members (altogether about 22,000 persons). The repressive actions came to an end when
Allied forces were brought in to restore order, and the
refugees were allowed to return later that year. Once the Uprising had been crushed, a strong resentment arose within the Silesian Poles, reinforcing the Polish culture with which they identified.
Second Silesian Uprising (1920)
The 'Second Silesian Uprising' () was the second of three uprisings.
In February 1920, an Allied Plebiscite Commission arrived in Upper Silesia, made up of British, French, and Italian forces, but it was too small to maintain order. In any case, the British and Italians favored the Germans, while the French favored the Poles.
Those forces failed to prevent continuing unrest, and in August 1920, German rumors of a Polish defeat by the Red Army in the ongoing
Polish-Soviet war led to German attacks on Poles, and sparked the Second Silesian Uprising.
Among the results were disbanding of the ''
Sipo'' police and the
Polish Military Organisation, and admitting Poles into the local administration and the new security forces (''
Abstimmungspolizei'').
Third Silesian Uprising (1921)
The 'Third Silesian Uprising' () was the last and largest and longest of the three uprisings.
It begun in the aftermath of
the plebiscite which yielded mixed results, not giving any side a major advantage. The British and French governments disagreed on the interpretation of the plebiscite.
The main bone of contention was the "Industrial Triangle," that is the coal and steel producing district east of the
Oder river bounded by the cities of
Bytom (Beuthen),
Gliwice (Gleiwitz) and
Katowice (Kattowitz).
The French wanted it to go to Poland, to give the latter an industrial base and weaken Germany; the British, supported by the Italians, wanted it to stay in Germany because the Germans claimed they could not pay war reparations without Upper Silesia.
In late April 1921, rumors flew that the British and Italians would prevail over the French, so Upper Silesia would stay in Germany.
The insurrection began on the date planned early in
May, because the population had already been terrified by many acts of
violence of German
paramilitary groups, ''
Freikorps'', formally created to support the border protection
police (''Grenzschutz''). The Freikorps consisted mostly of
demobilised German soldiers and
volunteers.
The
Inter-Allied Commission, in which General
Henri Le Rond was the most influential personage, waited rather a long time before taking any steps to end the violence. The
French troops of
occupation generally favored the insurrection as means of so-called "self-defense". In some cases
British and
Italian contingents actively cooperated with Germans. On the other hand UK Prime Minister
Lloyd George's speech in the
British Parliament, strongly disapproving of the insurrection, aroused the hopes of some Germans. But the ''Entente'' appeared to have no troops ready and available for dispatch. The only action the 'Inter-Allied Military Control Commission' and the
French government made was demanding immediate prohibition of the recruiting of German volunteers from outside Upper Silesia, and this was promptly made
public.
After an initial success of the
insurgents, taking over 2/3 of the area of Upper Silesia, the German ''Grenzschutz'' several times resisted the attacks of
Wojciech Korfanty's Silesian troops, some cases in cooperation with British and Italian troops of occupation. An attempt on the part of the
English troops to take steps against the Silesians on their own account was prevented by General
Jules Gratier, the French
commander-in-chief of the Allied troops. Eventually, the insurgents kept most of territory they had won, including the local
industrial district. They proved that they could
mobilize large amounts local support, while the German forces based outside Silesia were barred from taking an active part in the conflict.
Twelve days after the outbreak of the insurrection Mr. Korfanty offered to take his troops behind a line of
demarcation, conditional upon the released territory not being re-occupied by German forces, but by Allied troops. It was not, however, until
July 1st that the British troops arrived in Upper Silesia and began to advance in company with those of the other Allies towards the former
frontier. Simultaneously with this advance the 'Inter-Allied Commission' pronounced a general
amnesty for the illegal actions committed during the insurrection, with the exception of acts of
revenge and
cruelty. The German ''Grenzschutz'' was finally withdrawn, disbanded and amity restored.
Aftermath
Agreements between the Germans and Poles in Upper Silesia and appeals issued by both sides, as well as the dispatch of six
battalions of Allied troops and the disbandment of the local guards, contributed markedly to the
pacification of the district.
The Allied Supreme Council was however still unable to come to an agreement on the partition of the Upper Silesian territory on the lines of the plebiscite.
The British and the French could only agree on one solution: turning the question over to the Council of the
League of Nations.
The greatest excitement was caused all over Germany and in the German part of Upper Silesia by the intimation that the Council of the League of Nations had handed over the matter for closer investigation to a commission, consisting of four representatives — one each from
Belgium,
Brazil,
Spain, and
China. The commission gathered its own data, interviewed Poles and Germans from the region, and made its decision on the basis of
self-determination.
On the basis of the reports of this commission and those of its experts, the Council awarded the greater part of the Upper Silesian industrial district to Poland.
Polish Government had decided to give Silesia considerable Autonomy with
Silesian Parliament as a constituency and
Silesian Voivodship Council as the executive body.
Poland obtained almost exactly half of the 1,950,000 inhabitants, ''viz.'', 965,000, but not quite a third of the territory, ''i.e.'', only 3,214 of 10,951 square kilometres (1,241 of 4,228 mi²). This, however, comprised by far the more valuable portion of the district. Of 61
coal mines 49½ fell to Poland, the Prussian state losing 3 mines out of 4. Of a coal output of 31,750,000 tonnes, 24,600,000 tonnes fall to Poland. All iron mines with an output of 61,000 tonnes fell to Poland. Of 37 furnaces 22 went to Poland, 15 to Germany. Of a pig-iron output of 570,000 tonnes, 170,000 tonnes remained German, and 400,000 tonnes became Polish. Of 16 zinc and lead mines, which produced 233,000 tons in 1920, only 4 with an output of 44,000 tonnes remained German. The main towns of
Chorzow (Königshütte),
Katowice (Kattowitz), and
Tarnowskie Gory (Tarnowitz), were given to Poland.
In the Silesian territory which Poland regained the Germans were a significant minority. Similarly, a significant minority of Poles
(about half a million Poles) was still left on the German side, most of them in Oppeln (
Opole).
In order to mitigate the hardships likely to arise from the partition of a district which was essentially an economic unit, it was decided, on the recommendation of the Council of the League of Nations, that German and Polish delegates, under a chairman appointed by the Council of the League, should draw up economic regulations as well as a statute for the protection of minorities, which were to have a duration of fifteen years. Special measures were threatened in case either of the two states should refuse to participate in the drawing up of such regulations, or to accept them subsequently.
In May 1922, the Upper Silesian or Geneva Convention, was worked out by the League of Nations to preserve the economic unity of the area. It also set up a tribunal to arbitrate disputes. Furthermore, since Germany claimed she could not do without Upper Silesian coal, she was allowed to import 500,000 tons per year at reduced prices. However, when the coal agreement ran out in 1925, Germany refused to import the coal, and tried to use this as economic pressure to make Poland agree to a revision of the whole Polish-German frontier. Then Germany started a tariff war with Poland with the same intent, but failed to reach her goal.
References
1.
Paris 1919, , Margaret, MacMillan, Random House, ,
2. Ostatnie chwile odlewni Woźniaków. Zaglebie.info
3. Anna M. Cienciala, THE REBIRTH OF POLAND
4. Polish military leaders during Polish-Bolshevik War
5. Plebiscite contributions for benefit of uniting Warmia and Masuria, Spisz and Orawa, Cieszyn Silesia. Poland.pl portal
6. ŚLADY PRZESZŁOŚCI W MYSŁOWICACH
Further reading
★ Lt.-Colonel
Graham Seton Hutchison, ''Silesia Revisited'', DSO, MC, FRGS, London, 1929.
★
Friedrich Glombowski, ''Frontiers of Terror'', London, 1935.
★
Henryk Zieliński, ''Rola powstania wielkopolskiego oraz powstań śląskich w walce o zjednoczenie ziem zachodnich z Polską (1918–1921), ''Droga przez Półwiecze''.
★
Rohan Butler, MA,
J.P.T. Bury, MA, &
M.E. Lambert (ed.), MA, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919–1939'', 1st Series, volume XI, ''Upper Silesia, Poland, and the Baltic States, January 1920–March 1921'', Her Majesty's Stationary Office (
HMSO), London, 1961 (amended edition 1974), ISBN 0-11-591511-7
★
★
W.N. Medlicott, MA, D.Lit.,
Douglas Dakin, MA, PhD, &
M.E. Lambert, MA (ed.), ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919–1939'', 1st Series, volume XVI, ''Upper Silesia, March 1921 – November 1922''
HMSO, London, 1968.
★
David G.Williamson, ''The British in Germany 1918–1930'',
Berg Publishers, London and New York, 1991, ISBN 0-85496-584-X
★ Dziewanowski, M. K., ''Poland in the 20th century'', New York : Columbia University Press, 1977.
★ Macmillan, Margaret, ''Paris 1919'',
Random House, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-375-50826-0.
★ Clark, Christopher, ''Iron Kingdom : The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947'',
Penguin Group (Canada), 2006
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