Silesian Uprisings

The Silesian Uprisings (German: Aufstände in Oberschlesien; Polish: Powstania śląskie) 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. In the latter-day history of Poland after World War II, the insurrections were celebrated as centrepieces of national pride.

Historical background

Much of Silesia belonged to the Polish Crown in medieval times, but passed to the Kings of Bohemia in the 14th 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^[2] and, in 1871, the German Empire.

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 fulfil its obligations in regards to reparations to the Allies.

Mineral resources

Upper Silesia was a bounty 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."^[3]

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.^[2] Simultaneously, most of the local elites - the landowners, businessmen, factory owners, local government, police and Catholic clergy - were German.^[2] There was a further division along the religious lines: almost all of the higher German Silesian officials were Protestant while the vast majority of Polish Silesians were Catholic.^[2]

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.^[2] This was the result of forced Germanization^[4] as well as creating a category of "bilingual inhabitants" for the purpose of the census, which reduced the number of Polish-speaking Silesians.^[2] German scholar Paul Weber drew a language map that showed that in 1910 in majority of Upper Silesian districts east of the Oder river Polish-speaking Silesians were a majority, forming over 70% of the population.^[2]

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.^[2] The plebiscite was to be held within two years of the Treaty (signed in 1919) in the whole of Silesia, although the Polish government only wanted it to be held in the part of Silesia east of the Oder river where there were significant numbers of Polish speakers.^[2] It was however decided to hold the plebiscite 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.^[2]

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.^[2]

In the background, propaganda and strongarm tactics on both sides led to increasing unrest.^[2] The German authorities warned that those voting for Poland would lose their jobs and pensions.^[2] Former German Army veterans joined "Freikorps" (Free Corps), an organization whose troops terrorized pro-Polish activists.^[2] At the same time, Poles argued that under the new Polish regime, Silesian Poles would no longer be discriminated against; the Poles also promised to honor the German state social benefits such as the old age pensions.^[2] The Polish sides also employed the Polish Military Organisation - a secret military organization and predecessor of Polish intelligence - to further their cause.^[5]

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.^[2] The Germans thus had 228,246 votes of majority.

A right to vote was granted to those aged 20 and older who had been born in or lived within the plebiscite area. A result was mass migration.^[6] The German outvoters numbering 179,910; the Polish numbering over 10,000.^[2] Without the outvoters, the Germans would have a majority of 58,336 instead of 228,246.^[2] However, the inclusion of outvoters had been done by explicit request of the Polish delegation in Versailles who counted on the support of pro-Polish organizations in the Ruhr area.

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 (whereby the Germans having lost World War I had no power to oppose such a decision). 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)

On 15 August 1919, German border guards (Grenzschutz) massacred ten Silesian civilians in the Mysłowice mine (Myslowitzer Grube) and caused the First Silesian Uprising against German control over Upper Silesia. The massacre sparked protests from the Silesian Polish miners. Ultimately, several Polish leaders were arrested during a general strike of about 140,000 mine workers.^[7] Revolting, the miners declared that they want the police and local government officials to be both German and Polish in the future.^[2]

Roughly 21,000 Germans soldiers of the Weimar Republic's Provisional National Army (Vorläufige Reichsheer), with about 40,000 troops in reserve, quickly suppressed the uprising. What followed was German repression of the ethnic Poles of Silesia, and approximately 2,500 Poles were either hanged or executed by firing squad. 9,000 ethnic Poles sought refuge in the Second Polish Republic 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 (Polish: Drugie powstanie śląskie) was the second of three uprisings.

In February 1920 an Allied Plebiscite Commission was sent to Upper Silesia. It was composed of the representatives of the Allied forces, and thus its members hailed from mostly from France, with smaller contingents from United Kingdom and Italy.^[2] Soon, however, it became apparent that the Allied forces were too few to maintain order; further, the Commission was torn apart by lack of consensus: the British and Italians favored the Germans, while the French supported the Poles.^[2] Those forces failed to prevent continuing unrest.^[2]

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. This led to celebrations among the German community over what they assumed would be the end of independent Poland. The volatile situation quickly degenerated into violence (as German militias attacked the Poles) which continued even after it was made clear that Warsaw had not fallen.^[2][8]

The violence eventually led on August 19 to a Polish uprising which quickly took control of government offices in the districts of Kattowitz, Pless, Beuthen. Between August 20 and 25, the rebellion spread to Konigshutte, Tarnowitz, Rybink, Lublinitz and Gross Strehlitz. 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.^[9]

The uprising 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.^[8] 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.

Third Silesian Uprising (1921)

The Third Silesian Uprising (Polish: Trzecie powstanie śląskie) was the last and largest and longest of the three uprisings, as it included the Battle of Annaberg.

It began in the aftermath of the plebiscite which yielded mixed results. The British and French governments could not reach a consensus on the interpretation of the plebiscite.^[2] The primary problem was the disposition of the "Industrial Triangle" east of the Oder river, whose triangle ends were marked by the cities of Beuthen (Bytom), Gleiwitz (Gliwice) and Kattowitz (Katowice).^[2] The French wanted to weaken Germany, and thus supported the Polish claim; the British and the Italians disagreed, particularly as the Germans claimed they could not pay war reparations if they were to lose the Silesian industries.^[2]

In late April 1921, rumors spread that the British pro-German position would prevail.^[2] This caused the local Polish sympathizers to act again. The insurrection began on a date planned for early in May. Unlike the Second Uprising, the Third was carefully planned and organized under the leadership of Wojciech Korfanty.

The Third Silesian Uprising began on May 2–3, 1921, with Polish destruction of German rail bridges (see "Wawelberg Group") in order to thwart immediate German measures to suppress the uprising. A particular concern was to prevent a recurrence of the many acts of violence that had been perpetrated against the populace by German paramilitary groups, the Freikorps, which had ostensibly been created to support the German border-protection police (the Grenzschutz). The Freikorps comprised mostly volunteers and demobilised German soldiers.

The Inter-Allied Commission, in which General Henri Le Rond was the most influential personage, waited rather long before taking any steps to end the violence.^[10] The French troops of occupation generally favored the insurrection.^[10] In some cases British and Italian contingents actively cooperated with Germans.^[10] 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.^[10] But the Entente appeared to have no troops ready and available for dispatch.^[10] 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.^[10]

After an initial success of the insurgents, taking over a large portion of the area of Upper Silesia, the German Grenzschutz several times resisted the attacks of Wojciech Korfanty's Polish troops, some cases in cooperation with British and Italian troops.^[10] An attempt on the part of the British troops to take steps against the Polish forces was prevented by General Jules Gratier, the French commander-in-chief of the Allied troops.^[10] 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 Korfanty offered to take his troops behind a line of demarcation (the "Korfanty Line"), conditional upon the released territory not being re-occupied by German forces, but by Allied troops.^[10] It was not, however, until July 1 that the British troops arrived in Upper Silesia and began to advance in company with those of the other Allies towards the former frontier.^[10] 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.^[10] The German Grenzschutz was withdrawn and disbanded.^[10]

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.^[10]

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.^[2][10] The British and the French could only agree on one solution: turning the question over to the Council of the League of Nations.^[2][10]

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.^[10] The commission collected its own data and issued a decision, stressing the principle of self-determination.^[2] On the basis of the reports of this commission and those of its experts, in October 1921 the Council awarded the greater part of the Upper Silesian industrial district to Poland.^[2]

Polish Government had decided to give Silesia considerable Autonomy with Silesian Parliament as a constituency and Silesian Voivodeship 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).^[10] 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 fell to Poland. All iron mines with an output of 61,000 tonnes fell to Poland.^[10] 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.^[10] Of 16 zinc and lead mines, which produced 233,000 tons in 1920, only 4 with an output of 44,000 tonnes remained German.^[10] The main towns of Königshütte (Chorzów), Kattowitz (Katowice), and Tarnowitz (Tarnowskie Góry) were given to Poland.^[10]

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).^[2]

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.^[10] Special measures were threatened in the event that either of the two states should refuse to participate in the drawing up of such regulations, or to accept them subsequently.^[10]

In May 1922, League of Nations issued the Upper Silesian Convention (also known as the Geneva Convention) intended to preserve the economic unity of the area. The League also set up a tribunal to arbitrate disputes. Furthermore, in response to a German complaint about the importance of Silesian coal for the German industry, Germany was given the right to import 500,000 tons per year at discounted prices.^[2] Three years down the road, in 1925, when the coal agreement ended, Germany refused to import the coal, attempting to use the coal issue as a lever against Poland, trying to impose a revision of the whole Polish–German frontier.^[2] Polish-German relations worsened, as Germany also begun a tariff war with Poland, but the Polish government would not yield on the border issue.^[2]

The last veteran of the Silesian Uprisings, Wilhelm Meisel, died in 2009.

References

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), w: 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
• Hughes, Rupert, "Germany's Silesian Plot: Colonizing Scheme to Overcome Polish Majority in a Region Which Contains Vast Resources for Future War-Making", The New York Times, October 12, 1919.