|
Germany's borders became an issue at the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I. The Western border was fairly simple. France got Alsace-Loraine back and Belgium a few towns. The German eastern border was far more complicated. The Allies as they worked on the Versailles Peace Trearty were amenasble to Germany losing territiry in the East to the new Polish republic. This included land east of the Oder River. The population of eastern Germany was mixed with some areas having Polish majorities. It was not only a matter of the nationality of residents. National viability was a factor. The Polish Corridor was created to give the new country access to the sea. Silesia was a particularly difficult issue becsause the population was mixed. Prussia obtained Silesia and its largely Polish population in the Polish Partitions (18th century). As part of Prussia/Germany's Germanization pro=cess, many cities acquired majority German populations. Upper Silesia wihits industry and resources became a major issue. Early drafts of the Treaty assigned Upper Silesia to Poland. The new Polish Republic expected to get Silesia wihout question because of the largely Polish population. Despite the largely Polish population, this sent shock waves through Germany. The Germans came up with the argument that they would be unable to pay the huge war reparations without the income from this valuable province. The Allies decided that in accordance with President Wilson's Fourteen Points decided to democratically detrmine the pricess with a mandated plebiscite to be taken in 2 years time. They left German administration and police in place. The decision disappointed Polish Government which expected to recieve the Silesian territories with a Polish majority east of the Oder River as well as the Poles involved hoping to join Poland. The result was 3 years of low-scale war.
Silesia is a historical region of eastern Europe. Silesia has been disputed for centuries by Prussia, Austria, Germany, and Poland. It was a rich prise for dtnasties able to seize it. Interestngly, as European ,oarchs squabeled over privinces like Silesia, Russia exopading east and America expanding west would become world powers. Sileesiaemerged in history as a Polish provinceand was largely populated by ethnic Poles. It became a possessiom of the Bohemian crown (1335). The Austrian Habsburgs inherited that criwn (1526). Prussia King Frederick the Great launched the War of the Austrian Secession seized most of Silesia (1742). Shortly after Prussia acquired more of Poland as prtbof the Polish Partitions. The province as part of a Germanization policy aquired a German minority, primarily in the cities. It was largely incorporated in the German Empire upon unification in 1871. The Polish question became an important issue in German politics (late-19th and early 20th centur)y. The Polish population increased and the German poplation througout eastern Germany declined despite efforts by the German government to favor German land holding.
Prussia/German has seized areas along it eastern border from the former Polish Kingdom (18th century). Most of Poland, hoeever had neen seized by Tasarist Russia. The first year of Workd War I in the east was largey fought over Poland. The German occupied Poland (1915). They created the General Government Notice the reluctancee of the Germans to call it Poland. The war then moved further east. Poles differed on whether to support the Allies or Central Powers. The problem for the Poles was that both Russia the Germans were imperialm powers. And the Western Allies were very far waay. Russia whivh had been their major oppresor was an Allied power. Germany won the war in the East, but was defeated in the West. As part of the Armistice (August 1918), Germany had to withdraw from the areas it occupied in the East, vut Silesia was part of pre-War Germny. It is at this time that Poland declared its independence. While Poland established a new republican government, actual boundaries were not established wih Germany, including Silesia. In particular, Poland wanted areas of Germany that had majority Polish populations. North of Silesia, the Allies played an important tole in establishing the Polish Corridor which had an even more mixed population than Silesia. The Allies were less focused on Silesia.
Germany's borders became an issue at the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I. The Western border was fairly simple. France got Alsace-Loraine back and Belgium a few towns. The German eastern border was far more complicated. The Allies as they worked on the Versailles Peace Trearty were amenasble to Germany losing territiry in the East to the new Polish republic. This included land east of the Oder River. The population of eastern Germany was mixed with some areas having Polish majorities. It was not only a matter of the nationality of residents. National viability was a factor. The Polish Corridor was created to give the new country access to the sea. Silesia was a particularly difficult issue becsause the population was mixed. Prussia obtained Silesia and its largely Polish population in the Polish Partitions (18th century). As part of Prussia/Germany's Germanization pro=cess, many cities acquired majority German populations. Upper Silesia wihits industry and resources became a major issue. Early drafts of the Treaty assigned Upper Silesia to Poland. The new Polish Republic expected to get Silesia wihout question because of the largely Polish population. Despite the largely Polish population, this sent shock waves through Germany. The Germans came up with the argument that they would be unable to pay the huge war reparations without the income from this valuable province. The Allies completed the Versilles Treaty (July 1919). The futire of Silesia would be settlled with a plebecitevdecided that in accordance with President Wilson's Fourteen Points decided to democratically determine the process with a mandated plebiscite to be taken in 2 years time. [Cienciala] They left German administration and police in place. The decision disappointed Polish Government which expected to recieve the Silesian territories with a Polish majority east of the Oder River as well as the Poles involved hoping to join Poland. The result was 3 years of low-scale war.
The Allies seem oblibious to the situation in Silesia. The decision to delay the referndum to decide the futute of Poland for 2 years was to give time for the volitile situation to cool. Why they though the situation would cool is unclear. It did not and in fact tensions onlyn heated up. Vocal disputes turned into bloodshed, atrocities and actual low-scale war. The Allies sought to avoid disorder, but delaying the plebecite and avoiding forceful action only intensified an already volitile situation. The Germans considered it a national humiliation to lose territory. The Poles did not want to continue to be subject to discrinaroty laws and regulations. Both sides had formed citizen militias. Mostly German war veterans created the Freikorps (Free Corps) to protect Germans. The Poles saw the Freikorpos as terrorizing Poles, especually activists. The Poles also formed citizen militias with support from the Polish Government--Polska Organizacja Wojskowa (POW--Polish Military Organisation). This group would evolve into Polish intelligence. Both sides stoked the situation with inceniary nationalist propaganda and rhetoric. German nationalist sentiment was hightened by the loss of the War and the possibility of losing territory. And Polish natiional feeling was high because they finally had their country back. And Poles in Silesia wanted to be part of it. Particularly notable were speeches and articles by Wojciech Korfanty. His message to Silesian Poles was to organize and support joining the Polish nation. He wanted Poles in Silesia to seize control from the German authorities the Allies left in control.
Poles in Silesia staged a series of risings. This was done by the Poles because the Allies at the end of the War had left the German authoirities in charge. The situation exploded when hyped-up German border guards were brought in during a labor dispute at the Mysłowice coal mine. The Germans favoring the German mine owners over the mostly Polish miners murdered 10 strikers (August 15). Armed Polish militias roseup and took control of several small towns in Silesia as well as launching a guerrilla camapign in the countryside against the German authorities. The First Silesian Rising was lasgely spontaneous. It was not coordinated by any central authority. And it did not last long. The German Government acted swiftly and sent in the army. Some 61,000 well-equipped German soldiers quickly broke the back of the rising. And it was all over in 10 days. The soldiers committed brutal reprisals. They rounded up about 2,500 Silesian Poles and executed them by both hanging and firing squads. This essentially ended the small chance of any negotiated settlement which may have existed. The police which were all Germans assisted in the pacification effort. As a result, the Allies deployed a Plebiscite Commission consisting of Italians, Frenchmen and British soldiers to keep the peace (February 1920). The Inter-Allied force was able to keep a shakey peace at least in the cities, but outside the cities in the countryside the government control was tenuous. The situation was not helped by the fact that the Allies disagreed about who was responsible for the disorder. British representatives on the Allied Commission beleved that the French were responsible for the easy spread of the uprising into eastern Silesia. [Gajda, p. 69.] The ease with which the Germans had supressed the First Rising onscured a fatal flaw in the German position. Whikle the German Army which had supressed the Poles, the Freiokorps which was so effecrive in ither areasof Germany, was not a dominate force in Silesia with its majority Polish population. The Poles were able to organize stronger para-military groups than the Germans.
The initial Polish Silesian rising (August 1919) was largely spontaneous and a reaction to German actions. It also proved unsucessful after the German Goverment deployed substantial military force. Poles in Silesia staged a somewhat organized second rising on the 1 year anniversary of the First Rising. This time they were better prepared and organized. Cities throughout Silesia were either seized by Poloish insurgents or paralysed by strikes. The Poles seeized control of major government buildings in the important cities of Katowice, Pszczyna and Bytom--the important industrial 'Black Triange' east of the Oder. Fighting spread throughout Silesia. The fighting only abated with Allied military interventioin. Diplomatic efforts had some success in getting the various groups to ngarree egotiate terms of a ceasefire. The Polish side scored a major success by putting and end to the German controlled police force. It was replaced by creating a new force in which Poles had half the positions. Poles also were also given positions inm local governmenbt offices for the first time in any numbers. The Poles committed to disband the Polish Military Organisation. This did not occur as the Poles clandestently built their covert and military organization. The Germnas in contrast had the backing of the German military and Freicorps.
After the figting during the Second Riding (August 1921) subsided, negotiations could take place over the the plebecite which was noe only months away--March 20, 1921. The terms of the plbecite would largely determine the outcome. The Poles wanted the voters to be limited to Silesian residents meaning with an overall majority in Silesia, they would win. The Germans wanted any one born in Silesia eligible to vote. And the Allied backed that plan. Of course this made it more difficult to determine who was eligible. The Allies settled on ythe birth arragenents. What occured was a massive influx of Reich Germans into Silesia claiming to have been born there--some 200,000 German voters. The cities like Katowize with many Germans voted strongly for Germany. [Urban]
The overll results surprisingly were 60 percent of the voters choosing to stay part of Germany. The German Government claimed a major victory. The Polish Government and the Poles of Silesia charged it was a reigged vote. The Allies were confused seemed confused and were not sure what to do with the importabt industrial Black Trainge. The French were set on weakening Germany and strongly supported Poland's claim. The British and Italians seemed more concerned bout German's ability to pay reparations.
Wojciech Korfanty emerged as the major spkesman for Silesian Poles. His father was a Polish Silesian coal miner. He studied studied philosophy, law, and economics at the University of Breslau (Wrocław). He becamne involved in Polish nationalist politics at an early age. He joined the secret nationalist society “Z,” which resisted the Imperial German policy of Germanisation of Poles in eastern Germany. He became editor of the Polish language paper Górnoslązak/The Upper Silesian (12901). He used this platform promote the national consciousness of the region’s Polish population. Hewaselected Upper Silesia’s first Polish member of the Reichstag (1903). his was notablke given the province's heavy Polish population. He prioved to be acapable politicua, in part because of his insoirational rheoric. He used the position to try to protect Germany’s Polish minority. He favored shifting political allegiances away from the Catholic Church and toward a more secular Polish national movement. After World War I, and the reestanlishmebt of a Polish nation, Korfanty emerged as the moist infglentil advocate of joining Upper Silesia and other eastern German territories ith their Polish populations with the new Polish Republic. With Germany resisting such territirial realignments, Korfanty became a revilutionary nd paras-,iolitary organizer. He emerged as one of eaders of the Second Silesian Rrising and the primary organiser of the Third Silesian Rising resisting German rule in Upper Silesia. The Germans accused him of organising terrorism and atricvities against the German population of Upper Silesia.
The Allies were unsure of what to do. The Poles im Silasia had, however, no real doubt. They saw their opportunirt to get out from under German rule slipping away. It was now not just rumors that the Germans would retain Silesia. Despite the majority Polish population, the plebecite results mean a continued German Silesia. The Poles prepared for a fight. And Korfanty played acentral role in organising an army of 40,000 volunteers. They launched the Third Silesian Rising (May 2, 1921). Their first step was to sever Silesia from Germany. This began with blowing up rail bridges. This mean that unlike the First Rising, Germnany could not easily and quickly rush troops into Silesia to assist the Freikorps. The Allies as part of the efforts to end the Third Rising fightinf had aorganized the removal of German rmy unis from Silesia. Korfanty's surprise offensive was a huge success. The Poles pushed the Freikorps. And his forces he actually crossed the Oder (June 4). They captured the strategic 400 metre-high hill of Annaberg which dominated the Oder Valley. The stunned Germans prepared a counter oiffensive. For 2 weeks as the Germans prepred their countr stroke, the Poles seized control of most of Upper Silesia. This apparently earned them some credibility anf diplomatic leverage with the Allied Commission. The only major battled of the risding occurred at Annaberg. For the most prt the prising consisted of small-scakle skirmishes and para-military guerrilla operations. The Battle of Annaberg was inconvlusive despite considerable blood loss. This meant that the German Army did not cross the Oder in force to quel the rebellion. The Inter-Allied Commission meanwhile condemned the Rising, but did littl to nothing to stop the violence. There were forces in the city, but the Allies were powerless to deal ewith the countryside.
French General Henri Le Rond with a background in the Deuxième Bureau (French Intelligence) was the most influential member of the Inter-Allied Commission. The Commision dithered before taling any action, n large measure because they wee divided. [Burke and Dodsley, pp. 179-180.] The French forces ternded to favor the Polish insurgent. British and Italian forces cooperated with the Germans to some extent. British Prime Minister Lloyd George's speech in the British Parliament, strongly criticized the Poles givng some degree of hope among the Germans. The Allies, however, did not have a force avaiable to make a meanungful difference. The only meniful step taken by the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission and the French government was to prohibition of the recruiting of German volunteers outside of Upper Silesia. The differences among the Allies and the limited available forces meant that Allied troops did not have any significant imapact.
It seems inevitble that any major German offensive could crush Korfanty lightly armed insurgebnts. The Polish Government occuoied with the Soviet War was not prepred to send in its Army. Here Korfabty proved as astute a diplomat as he was a military commnder. He decided to negotiae while he still held a strong hand. Korfanty offered to withdraw his units behind a negotiable line. His only condition was that the territory the Poles wihdrew from would only be occupied by Allied, not Germans forces. Korfanty's master stroke was to baically force the Allies to engage in the conflict at a time that thr Third Risding had basically suceeded. The Allies agreed and Korfanty diplomatic efforts are largedly resonsibled gaining a favorable position for th Poles when the boundaries were formalised. British troops began to move into Upper Silesia (July 1). This would result in a general amnesty. The fighting ceased, but the Poles held on to the northern industrial Black Triangle.
The Allied Commission was split and totally incapble of reaching a solution of the Dilesian inpass. They finally decided to fob off the issue to the Council of the League Of Nations. And rather like a hot potato, the Council passed the matter to an investigative committee of four representatives, one each from the four disinterested countries (Belgium, Brazil, China and Spain). The committee went to Silesia and gathered data, They intervied Germans and Poles (October 1921). After a brief 6 week investigation, the committee reached a decision. They decided to split the province, following ethnic lines as as closly as pooible. Abd this meant the important industrial black triange went to Poland. In fact, Poland did not receive half of Silesia, but a third of the territory, but this was where most of the industry and natural resources were situated. One account explains the importance of the portion of Silesia that the Poles got. "At the final tally, Poland had actually obtained less than a third of the geographic territory, but it was generally considered to be 'the good part.' Of 61 coal mines, 50 fell to PL; of the 37 furnaces, 22 to PL; of the 16 zinc and lead mines, 12 went to Poland along with all the iron mines, and on and on." ["The Silesian ..."]
Burke, Edmund and James Dodsley. The Annual Register, 1921 (1922).
Cienciala, Anna M. The Rebirth of Poland.
Gajda, Patricia A. (1982). PostScript to Victory: British Policy and the German-Polish Borderlands 1919–1925 (University Press of America: 1982)..
Urban, Thomas. Von Krakau bis Danzig (2004).
"The Silesian Uprisings (1919-1921), Inyourpocket website (July 9, 2021).
Navigate the CIH World War I Sectione:
[Return to Main Polish border page]
[Return to Main Polish World War I page]
[About Us]
[Aftermath]
[Alliances]
[Animals]
[Armistace]
[Biographies]
[Causes]
[Campaigns]
[Casualties]
[Children]
[Countries]
[Declaration of war]
[Deciding factors]
-------[Diplomacy]
[Economics]
-------[Geo-political crisis]
[Home front]
[Intelligence]
[Military forces]
[Neutrality]
[Pacifism]
[People]
[Peace treaties]
[Propaganda]
[POWs]
[Russian Revolution]
[Terrorism]
[Trench warfare]
[Weaponry]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Return to Main World War I page]
[Return to Main war essay page]
[Return to CIH Home page]
