The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area transferred to the newly founded Polish Republic, fought German police and paramilitary forces, which sought to keep the area part of the new German state founded after World War I and the subsequent revolutions in Germany. Following the conflict, the area was divided between the two countries. The rebellions have subsequently been commemorated in modern Poland as an example of Polish nationalism. Despite central government involvement in the conflict, Polish historiography renders the events as uprisings reflecting the will of ordinary Upper Silesians rather than a war.
In total, several thousand people may have died violently in the militant clashes in Upper Silesia between 1919 and 1921. About four fifths of the victims were killed during the three Silesian uprisings, three fifths alone during the Third Silesian uprising in 1921.
However, due to the success of the Silesian Uprisings, Poland gained coal mines and territory that accelerated their economic development. If it were not for the success of the Third Silesian Uprising, most of the Silesian industrial area would have ended up in Germany's hands, leaving Poland an agrarian state. Additionally, the reconstruction of Poland, post WWI, would have been slower, hindering currency reform and the establishment of the Bank of Poland.
Background
Much of Silesia had belonged to the Crown of Polish Kingdom in medieval times (or to the Duchy of Silesia since 1138 as a result of the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth), but it passed to the Kings of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century. Following the death of Louis II of Hungary in the Battle of Mohács, Silesia became part of the Habsburg monarchy when Ferdinand I of Austria was elected as the King of Bohemia. Frederick the Great of Prussia seized Silesia from Maria Theresa of Austria in 1742 in the War of Austrian Succession, after which it became a part of Prussia and subsequently, in 1871, the German Empire. Although the province of Silesia overall had by then become Germanised through the Ostsiedlung and later the Kulturkampf, Poles constituted a majority in Upper Silesia.
Mineral resources
Upper Silesia was bountiful in mineral resources and heavy industry, with mines, iron and steel mills. The Silesian mines were responsible for almost a quarter of Germany's annual output of coal, 81% of its zinc and 34% of its lead.
After World War I, during the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles, the German government claimed that, without Upper Silesia, it would not be able to fulfill its obligations with regard to reparations to the Allies.
Demographics in the early 20th century
The area in Upper Silesia east of the Oder was dominated by ethnic Poles, most of whom were working class. Most spoke a dialect of Polish, a few felt they were a Slavic group of their own called Silesians. In contrast, most of the local middle and upper classes were ethnic Germans, including the landowners, businessmen, factory owners, local government, police, and Catholic clergy. The population of Upper Silesia was overwhelmingly Catholic with 92% of the people being Roman Catholic. Most of the 8% of Upper Silesians who were Protestant tended to be Germans, but the linguistic and ethnic divide between Catholic Germans and Poles tended to subsume their shared religion.
In the German census of 1900, 65% of the population of the eastern part of Silesia was recorded as Polish-speaking, which decreased to 57% in 1910. This was partly a result of forced Germanisation, but was also due to the creation of a bilingual category, which reduced the number of Polish speakers. American Paul Weber drew up a language map that showed that in 1910, in most of the Upper Silesian districts east of the Oder river, Polish-speaking Silesians constituted a majority, forming more than 70% of the population there.
While still under German control, various Poles identified as Silesians would write, publish, distribute pamphlets, newsletters and other written material, promoting the idea of a Polish-Silesian Identity. Included among the statements within these texts was adherence to the Roman Catholic church. One such publisher was Ignacy Bulla (later changed to Buła in celebration), who would spread information related to these principles at risk to his own life and freedom. He is widely credited with having inspired the Polish-Silesian patriotic feelings that inspired the uprisings. His contribution to bringing Silesia back into the Roman Catholic Church was the subject of at least one dissertation presented by a Seminary student.
World War I
As a frontier area, Upper Silesia was placed under martial law in August 1914 and remained so for the rest of the war. The German military administrators distrusted the Poles, taking the viewpoint that, as Slavs, they were naturally sympathetic towards the Russians, and governed Upper Silesia in a very high-handed and harsh manner. The First World War was a period in Upper Silesia of collapsing living standards as wages failed to keep up with inflation; almost everyone suffered from shortages of food and working hours were increased in the mines and factories. The nationalist climate produced by the Spirit of 1914, with its sense that all Germans should rally behind the Kaiser in the war effort, led members of Germany's Polish minority to feel more excluded and marginalised than before 1914. The subject of an independent Polish state was first raised by the Germans and Austrians, who in 1916 created a puppet Polish state on the territory of Congress Poland, the lands of which were taken from the Russian Empire in 1915. The way in which the Allies promoted the promise of an independent Poland after the war, most notably in the 14 Points issued by the American president Woodrow Wilson, led to hopes within the Polish community within the Reich that Poland might be reborn again after an Allied victory. During World War I, about 56,000 men from Upper Silesia were killed fighting in the war, with the heaviest losses being taken at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Versailles plebiscite
During the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, a strong division emerged between the British prime minister David Lloyd George, who wanted Upper Silesia to remain within Germany, and the French premier Georges Clemenceau, who supported the Polish claim to Upper Silesia. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, had ordered a plebiscite in Upper Silesia to determine whether the territory should be a part of Germany or Poland. The plebiscite was to be held within two years of the Treaty in the whole of Upper Silesia, although the Polish government had only requested it to be held in the areas east of the Oder river, which had a significant number of Polish speakers. Thus, the plebiscite took place in all of Upper Silesia, including the predominantly Polish-speaking areas in the east and the predominantly German-speaking areas west of the river. The Upper Silesian plebiscite was to be conducted on 20 March 1921. In the meantime, the German administration and police remained in place. The requirement for a referendum in Upper Silesia in the Treaty of Versailles was a compromise to resolve the Anglo-French dispute at the Paris Peace Conference. In the German city of Posen, which had now become the Polish city of Poznań, an uprising by the Polish majority in December 1918 had left about 2,900 people dead, and it was felt preferable to have a plebiscite in Upper Silesia rather than to resort to force of arms as was the case in Poznań.
Meanwhile, propaganda and strong arm tactics by both sides led to increasing unrest. The German authorities warned that those voting for Poland might forfeit their jobs and pensions. Pro-Polish activists argued that, under Polish rule, Silesian Poles would no longer be discriminated against. Poland also promised to honour their German state social benefits, such as the old age pensions. However, many German Army veterans joined the Freikorps (Free Corps), a paramilitary organisation whose troops fought any pro-Polish activists. The pro-Poland side employed the Polish Military Organisation (POW) – a secret military organisation and predecessor of Polish intelligence – to fight back with the same force.
The majority of the men serving in the para-military forces on both sides were veterans of the First World War and were experienced soldiers, accustomed to fighting and killing. In addition, most of the men serving on the German side had served in the Freikorps ("Free Corps"), units of volunteers raised by the government to fight against the possibility of a Communist revolution. Most of the men serving on the Polish side had previously served in the German military during World War I.
Eventually, the deteriorating situation resulted in the Upper Silesian Uprisings conducted by Poles in 1919 and 1920.
The right to vote was granted to all aged 20 and older who either had been born in or lived in the plebiscite area. A result was the mass migration of both Germans and Poles. The German newcomers accounted for 179,910, while Polish newcomers numbered over 10,000. Without these "new voters", the pro-German vote would have had a majority of 58,336 instead of the final 228,246. The plebiscite took place as arranged on 20 March. A total of 707,605 votes were cast for Germany and 479,359 for Poland.
The Third Silesian Uprising, conducted by Poles, broke out in 1921, supported by thousands of troops from outside the region mobilised by the Polish government... The League of Nations was asked to settle the dispute before it led to even more bloodshed. In 1922, a six-week debate decided that Upper Silesia should be divided. This was accepted by both countries and the majority of Upper Silesians. Approximately 736,000 Poles and 260,000 Germans thus found themselves now in Polish (Upper) Silesia, and 532,000 Poles and 637,000 Germans remained in German (Upper) Silesia.
Uprisings
First Uprising (1919)
On 15 August 1919, German border guards (Grenzschutz Ost) massacred ten Silesian civilians in a labour dispute at the Mysłowice mine (Myslowitzer Grube). The massacre sparked protests from the Silesian Polish miners, including a general strike of about 140,000 workers, and caused the First Silesian uprising against German control of Upper Silesia. The miners demanded that the local government and police become ethnically mixed to include both Germans and Poles.
About 21,000 German soldiers of the Weimar Republic's Provisional National Army (Vorläufige Reichsheer), with about 40,000 troops held in reserve, quickly put down the uprising. The army's reaction was harsh, with 2,500 Poles either hanged or executed by firing squad for their parts in the protest. Some 9,000 ethnic Poles sought refuge in the Second Polish Republic, taking along their family members. This came to an end when Allied forces were brought in to restore order, and the refugees were allowed to return later that year.
Second Uprising (1920)
The Second Silesian Uprising (Polish: Drugie powstanie śląskie) was the second of the three uprisings.
In February 1920, an Allied Plebiscite Commission was sent to Upper Silesia. It was composed of representatives of the Allied forces, mostly from France, with smaller contingents from the United Kingdom and Italy. Soon, however, it became apparent that the Allied forces were too few to maintain order. Further, the commission was torn apart by a lack of consensus: the British and Italians favored the Germans, while the French supported the Poles. The British blamed this situation on France's intent on limiting Germany's industrial might. Those forces failed to prevent continuing unrest.
In August 1920, a German newspaper in Upper Silesia printed what later turned out to be a false announcement of the fall of Warsaw to the Red Army in the Polish–Soviet War. Pro-German activists spontaneously organised a march to celebrate what they assumed would be the end of independent Poland. The volatile situation quickly degenerated into violence as pro-German demonstrators began looting Polish shops; the violence continued even after it had become clear that Warsaw had not fallen.
On 19 August, the violence eventually led to a Polish uprising which quickly resulted in the occupation of government offices in the districts of Kattowitz (Katowice), Pless (Pszczyna) and Beuthen (Bytom). Between 20 and 25 August, the rebellion spread to Königshütte (Chorzów), Tarnowitz (Tarnowskie Góry), Rybnik, Lublinitz (Lubliniec) and Gross Strehlitz (Strzelce Opolskie). The Allied Commission declared its intention to restore order, but internal differences kept anything from being done; British representatives held the French responsible for the easy spread of the uprising through the eastern region.
The fighting was slowly brought to an end in September by a combination of allied military operations and negotiations between the parties. The Poles obtained the disbanding of the Sipo police and the creation of a new police (Abstimmungspolizei) for the area, which would be 50% Polish. Poles were also admitted to the local administration. The Polish Military Organisation in Upper Silesia was supposed to be disbanded, though in practice this did not happen.