Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia
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- See also Duchy of Silesia.
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The Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia (German: Herzogtum Ober- und Niederschlesien) was an autonomous region of the Austrian Empire. It is also known as Austrian Silesia (German: Österreichisch Schlesien; Polish: Śląsk Austriacki), and despite the official name it only included parts of Upper Silesia, while none of Lower Silesia was within its borders. It is largely coterminous with the region of Czech Silesia.
As part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Silesia was inherited by the House of Habsburg in 1526 after the death of the Bohemian king, Louis II. The First Silesian War, part of the War of the Austrian Succession, was concluded in 1742 with the Treaty of Breslau, in which Silesia was divided. The Kingdom of Prussia received most of the territory, while a small part of southern Silesia remained with the Habsburg Monarchy as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia.
In 1918, the Austrian monarchy was abolished and the duchy was largely ceded to the newly-created state of Czechoslovakia, with the exception of land east of the River Olza around Cieszyn, which became part of Poland.
[edit] Major towns
Towns with more than 5,000 people in 1880:
| Cities | German name | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Opava | Troppau | 20,563 |
| Bielsko-Biała | Bielitz-Biala | 13,060 |
| Cieszyn/Český Těšín | Teschen | 13,004 |
| Krnov | Jägerndorf | 11,792 |
| Bruntál | Freudenthal | 7,595 |
| Frýdek-Místek| | Friedeck-Mistek | 5,912 |
[edit] Demographics
Austrian Silesia in 1910 was home to 756,949 people of the following nationalities:
pl:Śląsk Austriacki
