Lower Silesia
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- This article is about the historical region. For the Polish administrative region see Lower Silesian Voivodeship. For the former Prussian province see Province of Lower Silesia.
Lower Silesia Polish: Dolny Śląsk; (German: Niederschlesien; Latin: Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast. Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of medieval Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, and Germany, and after 1945 was split between Poland and Germany.
Polish Lower Silesia, the bulk of the historical region, is administratively part of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in western Poland, while a small region west of the Lusatian Neisse added to Silesia in 1815 is divided between Görlitz, Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis, and Oberspreewald-Lausitz in eastern Germany.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The area of all of Silesia is recorded entirely in Magna Germania two thousand years ago with a number of Germanic tribes among them the Vandals, Lugii and the Silingians.
A number of groups of people came into eastern Magna Germania from Sarmatia, Minor Asia and the Asian steppes during the Great Migrations at the beginning of the 6th century.
A Bavarian geographer (ca. 845) reported the Ślężanie (from whom Silesia (Śląsk) probably takes its name) and Dziadoszanie tribes, while a document of the Bishopric of Prague (1086) listed the Zlasane, Trebovane, Poborane, and Dedositze tribes. At the same time Upper Silesia was inhabited by the Opolanie, Lupiglaa, and Golenshitse tribes. In the 9th and 10th centuries the territory was subject to the Moravian and then Bohemian rulers of the neighbouring area covered by today's Czech Republic. In 990 Silesia was conquered and incorporated into an area later called Poland by the duke Mieszko I.
[edit] Feudal fragmentation of Poland
The dukes continued pledging allegiance to the empire. Silesia was split into Lower and Upper parts in 1172 during the period of Poland's feudal fragmentation, when the land was divided between two sons of High Duke Władysław II: Bolesław the Tall ruling over Lower Silesia with his capital in Wrocław (then known as Vratislav or Prezla) and Mieszko Plątonogi ruling over Upper Silesia with his capital in Opole.
Later Silesia was divided into as many as 17 duchies.
Duchies of Lower Silesia in the 14th century (German names in italics):
- Wrocław (Breslau)
- Brzeg (Brieg)
- Oleśnica (Oels)
- Legnica (Liegnitz)
- Ziębice (Münsterberg)
- Świdnica (Schweidnitz)
- Głogów (Glogau)
- Nysa (Neisse)
- Żagań-Szprotawa (Sagan - Sprottau)
- Krosno Odrzańskie-Ścinawa (Krossen - Steinau)
[edit] The Bohemian Crown and Austria (1348-1742)
In 1348 most of the Silesian duchies were ruled by the Silesian Piast dukes under the feudal overlordship of the Bohemian kings, and thus became part of the Crown of Bohemia. In 1476 the Crossen district became part of Brandenburg, when the widow of the Piast ruler, Barbara von Brandenburg, daughter of elector Arbert Achilles, inherited Crossen. In 1526 Silesia was acquired by Austria's Habsburg Monarchy after the death of King Louis II of Bohemia. All of Silesia was inherited by Brandenburg as well, but remained under the claim of the emperors until 1742.
[edit] In Prussia (1742-1945)
Most of Silesia became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 after the First Silesian War and was turned into the Province of Silesia, divided into the districts of Lower Silesia (Liegnitz), Middle Silesia (Breslau), and Upper Silesia (Oppeln).
The area around Görlitz in Upper Lusatia was added to Lower Silesia in 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars.
By the beginning of the 20th century Lower Silesia had a predominantly German-speaking population. After World War I, Upper Silesia was divided between Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, while Lower Silesia remained in Germany. The Prussian Province of Silesia was reorganized into the Provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia.
[edit] After 1945
Following the end of World War II, Lower Silesia east of the Lusatian Neisse was placed under Polish administration according to the Potsdam Conference in 1945. The territory's German and Czech population was expelled and replaced with Poles, many of whom had themselves been expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.
The Red Army's Northern Group of Forces occupied part of the region till 1991, such as much of the city of Legnica, part of Świdnica, many air-fields, barracks, and one large proving ground.
From 1945-1975 Lower Silesia was administered within the Wrocław Voivodeship. As a result of the Local Government Reorganisation Act (1975), Poland's administration was reorganized into 49 voivodeships, four of them in Lower Silesia: Jelenia Góra, Legnica, Wałbrzych, and Wrocław Voivodeships (1975-1998). As a result of the Local Government Reorganisation Act of 1998, these four provinces were joined into the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (effective 1 January 1999), whose capital is Wrocław.
The section of Lusatia belonging to Lower Silesia since 1815, west of the Lusatian Neisse, which remained in Germany is divided between the districts of Görlitz (urban) and Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis in Saxony and Oberspreewald-Lausitz in Brandenburg.
[edit] See also
de:Niederschlesien pl:Dolny Śląsk ru:Нижняя Силезия
