Silesia

1 - For a long time, Silesia belonged to the Austrian Empire. In 1740, the Prussian king Frederick II invaded the region with his soldiers and conquered it for the Kingdom of Prussia. The German Empire was founded in 1871, with the King of Prussia ruling as emperor. Until 1918, the Province of Silesia was a province in the southeast of the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1918 to 1945, it was divided into the provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia, with a brief interruption. Its capital was Breslau.

2 - In 1939, almost 5 million people lived in Silesia. Breslau was once Germany’s eighth-largest city. After World War II, the German territories east of the Oder and Neisse rivers became part of Poland. Almost all the German-speaking population was expelled. Poland’s borders shifted westward. It had to cede territory in the east of the country to the Soviet Union, and in return received parts of eastern Germany. German place names were replaced with Polish ones. Breslau became Wrocław. Today, about 150,000 Germans live in Poland, most of them in the former province of Silesia.

3 - Silesia had coal, tin and lead, as well as iron ore, clay and quartz sand. As in other German territories in the east, Silesia had large estates whose owners often belonged to the nobility. The soil in Silesia was very fertile.