960-1331 - Silesia
The history of Silesia before its occupation by a Slav people is purely conjectural. The earliest notices of Silesia are extremely vague, nor can the scope of the name be clear in the first 1,000 years AD. It seems to have formed part of the great but short-lived kingdom of Moravi in the ninth century. In the latter half of the ninth century the people recognized the authority of Svatoplak of Moravia, but after the fall of the Moravian Empire in the tenth century Silesia came partly under the administration of Poland, and partly under that of Bohemia. It oscillated between the neighhoring kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland, becoming definitely incorporated with the latter at the end of the tenth century. Christianity was introduced ahout the year 960, and from 1000 on there is an unbroken list of bishops of Breslau.
In the later years of the century the whole of Silesia fell under the dominion of Boleslav the Great, of Poland, and the following century witnessed a continuous struggle between Poland and Bohemia, and the first German intervention. On the death of Boleslav, in 1025, Silesia was reconquered by the Bohemians under Bretoslav, who was, however, compelled to do homage to the Emperor, Henry III, for Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. Under Boleslav II (1058-1079), Silesia was again recovered and held by the Poles against the German invasion, under the Emperor Henry V, in 1109.
The separate history of Silesia begins with the death of Boleslav III of Poland in 1139, who, in the preceding year, partitioned his Polish territory among his four sons. The eldest, Vladislav, deposed by his brother Boleslav in 1146, took refuge in Germany, where he died in 1159. In 1163, owing to the intervention of the Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa, Boleslav IV of Poland was compelled to restore Silesia to the three sons of Vladislav, one of whom, dying soon afterwards, and his share passing to his eldest brother, Silesia became divided into the dukedoms of Lower and Upper Silesia, with Breslau and Ratibor as their respective capitals. From this time, German interests were encouraged ; German colonists were invited to settle in Silesia, German methods of administration were introduced, waste lands reclaimed, and mining and weaving industries started.
The Mongol invasion, under Batu, crippled for a time the agricultural and industrial expansion of the country, but by the end of the thirteenth century the greater part of Silesia was becoming rapidly Germanized ; the nobility and ruling houses were either German in origin or had adopted the German language and German customs.
The first contact of Germany with Silesia was disastrous to the former, as it was on the fastnesses of Silesia that Henry V squandered his strength in his unsuccessful expedition against Poland in 1109. More fortunate was the intervention of Frederick Barharossa in 1163 in behalf of the three sons of the dispossessed Ladislaus, a member of the Polish royal family of the Piasts. Under his grandson Henry the Bearded (1202-1238) the Germanization of Silesia made rapid progress, and the duchy at that time may be looked upon as a bulwark or mark against the Slavs in the southeast of Germany, just as the duchy of Prussia was in the northeast. Henry extended his sway much beyond the limits of Silesia, and in fact united under his scepter nearly three quarters of the old Polish dominions.
Until the 12th century the few Slavic natives were without knowledge of iron, mere forest-dwelling savages. Then, following German traders, came German power and capital, the German hoes and plows. Forests were felled, agriculture and comfort arrived. The long line of barter by wagons, between Orient and Occident, passed through a cultured and prosperous German Silesia. When the Turks blocked the world highway and the age of sea voyages and the great discoveries came, Silesia lost both wealth and culture. A 17th century traveler says: "They have nothing of humanity but the shape."
In the fourteenth century, close relations were established with the Luxemburg kings of Bohemia, and, as the result of serious internal troubles, coupled with the reviving power of Poland, the Province of Silesia was thrown more and more on the dependence of the German rulers of Bohemia. From 1331 to 1742 Silesia was almost continuously a province of Bohemia, and subject to the Bohemian crown.
Frederick II of Prussia despoiled Maria Theresa of a major portion of it. Thus was created Prussian Silesia and Austrian Silesia. In Macaulay's "Life of Frederick the Great," we read why the Prussian King made war on his neighbor. In manifestoes he might, for form's sake, insert some idle stories about his antiquated claim on Silesia; but in his conversations and Memoirs he took a very different tone. His own words were: " Ambition, interest, the desire of making people talk about me, carried the day; and I decided for war."
Frederick assembled an army with all speed, and marched on Breslau, which capitulated on January 2, 1741. Glogau surrendered in March, and in April the Austrians were driven from the field at Molwitz, with the loss of eight thousand men. Brieg fell in May, and in October Maria, threatened by France, withdrew her troops from Silesia.
By the Peace of Breslau, in 1742, all Silesia except Teschen and the district beyond the river Oppa and the high mountains, was ceded to Frederick. In 1744, the king made an alliance with France, and in the autumn recommenced hostilities against Maria. Prague was captured in August, but this success was followed by a retirement into Silesia. The Austrian army was, however, in its turn, compelled by the rigors of winter to retire to Bohemia. In May of the following year the Austrians were defeated at Hohenfriedberg ; in September at Sorr, at Hennersdorf in November, and, before the close of the year, Frederick had made peace with Austria.
The conclusion of the Seven Years' War saw the Prussians in firm possession of Silesia, with the exception of the districts of Troppau and Teschen, and since 1742 Teschen has been regarded as an Austrian and not as a Bohemian province. In 1848 the Bohemian revolutionary demands included the reconstitution of the ancient Bohemian kingdom with Silesia and Moravia, and in 1868 the National Party again asked for the restoration of the ancient kingdom. But since the suppression of the Bohemian revolt in 1868-69 the question had remained in abeyance.
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