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SILESIA
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SILESIA , the name of a See also:district in the See also:east of See also:Europe, the greater See also:part of which is included in the See also:German See also:empire and is known as German Silesia. A smaller part, called See also:Austrian Silesia, is included in the empire of See also:Austria-See also:Hungary. German Silesia. • German Silesia is bounded by See also:Brandenburg, See also:Posen, See also:Russian See also:Poland, See also:Galicia, Austrian Silesia, See also:Moravia, Bohemia and the See also:kingdom and See also:province of See also:Saxony. Besides the bulk of the old duchy of Silesia, it comprises the countship of See also:Glatz, a fragment of the Neumark, and part of Upper See also:Lusatia, taken from the kingdom of Saxony in 1815. The province, which has an See also:area of 15,576 sq. m. and is the largest in See also:Prussia, is divided into three governmental districts, those of See also:Liegnitz and See also:Breslau comprising See also:lower Silesia, and of See also:Oppeln taking in the greater part of moun- tainous Silesia. Physiographically Silesia is roughly divided into a See also:flat and a hilly portion by the so-called Silesian Langental, which begins on the See also:south-east near the See also:river Malapane, and extends across the province in a See also:west-by-See also:north direction to the See also:Black See also:Elster, following in part the valley of the See also:Oder. The south-east part of the province, to the east of the Oder and south of the Malapane, consists of a hilly outpost of the Carpathians, the Tarnowitz See also:plateau, with a mean See also:elevation of about woo ft. To the west of the Oder the See also:land rises gradually from the Langental towards the See also:southern boundary of the province, which is formed by the central part of the Sudetic See also:system, including the Glatz Mountains and the See also:Riesengebirge (See also:Schneekoppe, 526o ft.). Among the loftier elevations in advance of this southern barrier the most conspicuous is the Zobten (2356 ft.). To the north and north-east of the Oder the province belongs almost entirely to the See also:great North-German See also:plain, though a hilly See also:ridge, rarely attaining a height of loco ft., may be traced from east to west, asserting itself most definitely in the Katzengebirge. Nearly the whole of Silesia lies within the See also:basin of the Oder, which flows through it from south-east to north-west, dividing the province into two approximately equal parts. The See also:Vistula touches the province on the south-east, and receives a few small tributaries from it, while on the west the See also:Spree and Black Elster belong to the system of the See also:Elbe. The Iser rises among the mountains on the south. Among the See also:chief feeders of the Oder are the Malapane, the Glatzer See also:Neisse, the Katzbach and the Bartsch; the See also:Bober and Queiss flow through Silesia, but join the Oder beyond the frontier. The only See also:lake of any extent is the Schlawa See, 7 M. See also:long, on the north frontier; and the only navigable See also:canal, the Klodnitz canal, in the See also:mining district of upper Silesia. There is a considerable difference in the See also:climate of Lower and Upper Silesia; some of the villages in the Riesengebirge have the lowest mean temperature of any inhabited See also:place in Prussia (below 40° F.). Of the See also:total area of the province 56% is occupied by arable land, 10.2 % by pasture and meadow, and nearly 29% by forests. The See also:soil along the See also:foot of the mountains is generally See also:good, and the district between See also:Ratibor and Liegnitz, where 70 to 8o% of the See also:surface is under the plough, is reckoned one of the most fertile in See also:Germany. The parts of lower Silesia adjoining Brandenburg, and also the district to the east of the Oder, are sandy and comparatively unproductive. The different cereals are all grown with success, See also:wheat and See also:rye sometimes in quantity enough for exportation. See also:Flax is still a frequent See also:crop in the hilly districts, and See also:sugar-See also:beets are raised over large areas. See also:Tobacco, oil-seeds, See also:chicory and hops may also be sppeecified, while a little See also:wine, of an inferior quality, is produced near (Griinberg. Mulberry trees for See also:silk-culture have been introduced and thrive fairly. Large estates are the See also:rule in Silesia, where about a third of the land is in the hands of owners possessing at least 250 acres, while properties of 50,000 to 100,000 acres are See also:common. The districts of Oppeln and Liegnitz are among the most richly wooded parts of Prussia. The See also:merino See also:sheep was introduced by See also:Frederick the Great, and since then the Silesian breed has been greatly improved. The See also:woods and mountains See also:harbour large quantities of See also:game, such as red See also:deer, roedeer, See also:wild boars and See also:hares. The See also:fishery includes See also:salmon in the Oder, See also:trout in the See also:mountain streams, and See also:carp in the small lakes or ponds with which the province is sprinkled.
The great See also:wealth of Silesia, however, lies underground, in the shape of large stores of See also:coal and other minerals, which have been worked ever since the 12th See also:century. The coal See also:measures of Upper Silesia, in the south-east part of the province, are among the most extensive in See also:continental Europe, and there is another large See also: A busy manufacturing activity has long been See also:united with the underground See also:industries of Silesia, and the province in this respect is hardly excelled by any other part of Prussia. On the plateau of Tarnowitz the working and smelting of metals is the predominant See also:industry, and in the neighbourhood of Beuthen, See also:Konigshutte and See also:Gleiwitz there is an almost endless See also:succession of iron-See also:works, zinc-foundries, See also:machine-shops and the like. At the foot of the Riesengebirge, and along the southern mountain See also:line generally, the textile industries prevail. See also:Weaving has been practised in Silesia, on a large See also:scale, since the 14th century; and Silesian See also:linen still maintains its reputation, though the conditions of production have greatly changed. See also:Cotton and woollen goods of all kinds are also made in large quantities, and among the other See also:industrial products are beetroot sugar, See also:spirits, chemicals, tobacco, See also:starch, See also:paper, pottery, and " Bohemian See also:glass." See also:Lace, somewhat resembling that of See also:Brussels, is made by the See also:women of the mountainous districts. The See also:trade of Silesia is scarcely so extensive as might be expected from its important industrial activity. On the east it is hampered by the stringent regulations of the Russian frontier, and the great waterway of the Oder, though in See also:process of being regulated, is sometimes too See also:low in summer for See also:navigation. The See also:extension of the railway system has, however, had its usual effect in fostering See also:commerce, and the mineral and manufactured products of the province are freely exported. At the See also:census of 1905 the See also:population of Silesia was 4,942,611, of whom 2,120,361 were Protestants, 2,765,394 Catholics and 46,845 See also:Jews. The See also:density is 317 per sq. m., but the See also:average is of course very greatly exceeded in the industrial districts such as Beuthen. Three-fourths of the inhabitants and territory are. German, but to the east of the Oder the Poles, more than r,000,000 in number, See also:form the bulk of the population, while there are about 15,500 Czechs in the south part of the province and 25,000 See also:Wends near Liegnitz. The See also:Roman Catholics, most of whom are under the ecclesiastical sway of the See also:prince See also:bishop of Breslau, are predominant in Upper Silesia and Glatz; the Protestants prevail in Lower Silesia, to the west of the Oder, and in Lusatia. The See also:nobility is very numerous in Silesia, chiefly in the See also:Polish districts. The educational institutions of the province are headed by the university of Breslau. In 1900 the percentage of illiterate recruits, in spite of the large Polish-speaking contingent, was only 0.05. The See also:capital and seat of the provincial See also:diet is Breslau (q.v.), which is also by far the largest and most important See also:town. The towns next in point of See also:size are See also:Gorlitz, Liegnitz, Konigshiitte, Beuthen, See also:Schweidnitz, Neisse and See also:Glogau. The province sends See also:thirty-five members to the Reichstag and sixty-five to the Prussian chamber of deputies. The See also:government divisions of Breslau and Oppeln together form the district of the 6th See also:army See also:corps with its headquarters at Breslau, while Liegnitz belongs to that of the 5th army corps, the headquarters of which are at Posen. Glogau, Glatz and Neisse are fortresses. See also:History.—The beginnings of Silesian history do not reach back beyond the loth century A.D., at which See also:time the district was occupied by clans of See also:Slavonic See also:nationality, one of which derived its name from the mountain Zlenz (mod. Zobtenburg), near Breslau, and thus gave rise to the See also:present appellation of the whole province. The See also:etymology of place-names suggests that the See also:original population was See also:Celtic, but this conjecture cannot be verified in any See also:historical records. About the See also:year l000 the Silesian clans were incorporated in the kingdom of Poland, whose rulers held their ground with difficulty against continuous attacks by the See also:kings of Bohemia, but maintained themselves successfully against occasional raids from Germany. The decisive See also:factor in the separation of Silesia from Poland was furnished by a See also:partition of the Polish See also:crown's territories in 1138. Silesia was henceforth constituted as a See also:separate principality, and in 1201 its See also:political severance from Poland became See also:complete
A yet more important result of the partition of 1138 was the transference of Silesia to the German nation. The See also:independent See also:dynasty which was then established was See also:drawn under the See also:influence of the German See also: Thus by the end of the 14th century the See also:country had been split up into 18 principalities: Breslau, See also:Brieg, Glogau, See also:Jauer, Liegnitz, See also:Munsterberg, Ols, Schweidnitz and Steinau in Lower Silesia; Beuthen, Falkenberg, Kosel, Neisse, Oppeln, Ratibor, Strehlitz, See also:Teschen and See also:Troppau in the upper district. The See also:petty rulers of these sections wasted their strength with internecine quarrels and proved quite incompetent to check the lawlessness of their feudal vassals. See also:Save under the vigorous rule of some dukes of Lower Silesia, such as Henry I. and Bolko I., and the above-named Henry II. and IV., who succeeded in reuniting most of the principalities under their sway, the country See also:fell into a See also:state of growing anarchy.
Unable to See also:institute an effective See also:national government, and unwilling to attach themselves again to Poland, the Silesian princes began about 1290 to seek the See also:protection of the German dynasty then ruling in Bohemia. The intervention of these kings resulted in the See also:establishment of their See also:suzerainty over the whole of Silesia and the See also:appropriation cf several of its petty states as crown domains. The earliest of these Bohemian overlords, King See also: In spite of these reforms the Silesians, who See also:felt severely the See also:financial exactions of Matthias, began to resent the See also:control of the Bohemian crown. Profiting by the feebleness of Matthias' successor Vladislav, they extorted concessions which secured to them a See also:practical See also:autonomy. These privileges still remained to them at the outset of the religious See also:Reformation, which the Silesians, in spite of their See also:Catholic zeal during the Hussite wars, accepted readily andcarried out with singularly little opposition from within or without. But a drastic revolution in their government was imposed upon them by the German king, See also: Three-quarters of the population are estimated to have lost their lives, and commerce and industry were brought to a standstill. Recovery from these disasters was retarded by the permanent diversion of trade to new centres like See also:Leipzig and St See also:Petersburg, and by a state of unsettlement due to the government's disregard of its guarantees to its See also:Protestant subjects. A greater measure of religious liberty was secured for the Silesians by the representatives of King Charles XII. of See also:Sweden on their behalf, and effective measures were taken by the emperor Charles VI. to stimulate commercial intercourse between Silesia and Austria. Nevertheless in the earlier part of the 18th century the See also:condition of the country still remained unsatisfactory.
An important See also:epoch in the history of Silesia is marked by the year 1740, when the dominion of Austria was exchanged for that of Prussia. Availing himself of a testamentary See also:union made in 1537 between the duke of Liegnitz and the elector of Brandenburg, and of an attempt by the elector Frederick See also: The See also:annexation by Frederick was followed by a complete reorganization in which the obsolete See also:powers of the See also:local dynasts were abolished and Silesia became a See also:mere province of the highly centralized Prussian state. Owing to the lack of a corporate Silesian consciousness and the feebleness of their local institutions, the See also:people soon became reconciled to their See also:change of rulers. Moreover Frederick, who had proved by his wars the importance which he attached to Silesia, was indefatigable in times of peace in his attempts to justify his usurpation. Making yearly visits to the country, and further keeping himself in See also:touch with it by means of a See also:special " See also:minister of Silesia," he was enabled to effect numerous political reforms, chief of which were the strict enforcement of religious See also:toleration and the restriction of oppressive seignorial rights. By liberal endowments and See also:minute but judicious regulations he brought about a rapid development of Silesian industries; in particular he revived the mining and weaving operations which at present constitute the country's chief source of wealth. After its See also:incorporation with Prussia Silesia ceases to have an independent political history. During the See also:Napoleonic wars it was partly occupied by See also:French troops (1806-1813), and at the beginning of the War of Liberation it was the chief See also:scene of operations between the French and the allied armies. In 1815 it was enlarged by a portion of Lusatia, which had become detached from Silesia as far back as the rrth century and since then had been annexed to the kingdom of Saxony. During the See also:rest of the 19th century its peace has been interrupted from time to time by riots of discontented weavers. But the general See also:record of recent times has been one of industrial development and prosperity hardly inferior to that of any other part of Germany. See C. Grunhagen, Geschichte Schlesiens (2 vols., See also:Gotha, 1884—1886), and Schlesien unter See also:Friedrich dem Grossen (2 vols., Gotha, 1890-1892) ; M. Morgenbesser, Geschichte von Schlesien (See also:Berlin, 1892) ; Knotel, Geschichte Oberschlesiens (See also:Kattowitz, 1906); H. See also:Grotefend, Stammtafeln der schlesischen Fiirsten bis 1740 (Breslau, 1889) ; F. Rachfahl, See also:Die Organisation der Gesamtstaatsverwaltung Schlesiens vor dem dreissigjdhrigen Kriege (Leipzig, 1894); H. See also:Fechner, Geschichte See also:des schlesischen See also:Berg- and Huttenwesens 1741—1806 (Berlin, 1903) ; see also the Zeitschrift des Vereins See also:fur Geschichte and Altertum Schlesiens (Breslau, 1855 sqq.), and Oberschlesische Heimat, Zeiischrift des oberschlesischen Geschichtsvereins (Oppeln, 1905 sqq.). Austrian Silesia. Austrian Silesia (Ger. Osterreichisch-Schlesien) is a duchy and crownland of Austria, bounded E. by Galicia, S. by Hungary and Moravia, W. and N. by Prussian Silesia. It has an area of 1987 sq. m. and is the smallest province of Austria. Silesia is divided by a projecting See also:limb of Moravia into two small parts of territory, of which the western part is flanked by the Sudetic mountains, namely the Altvater Gebirge; while the eastern part is flanked by the Carpathians, namely the Jablunka Gebirge with their highest See also:peak the See also:Lissa Hora (4346 ft.). A great See also:pro-portion of the surface of Silesia is occupied by the offshoots of these ranges. The province is traversed by the Vistula, which rises in the Carpathians within eastern Silesia, and by the Oder, with its affluents the Oppa and the Olsa. Owing to its mountainous See also:character, and its slopes towards the N. and N.E., Silesia has a somewhat severe climate for its See also:latitude, the mean See also:annual temperature being 50° F., while the annual rainfall varies from 20 to 30 in. Of the total area 49.4% is arable land, 34.2 % is covered by forests, 6.2 % by pasturages, while meadows occupy 5.8% and gardens 1.3 %. The soil cannot, as a rule, be termed See also:rich, although some parts are fertile and produce cereals, vegetables, beetroot and See also:fruit. In the mountainous region See also:dairy-farming is carried on after the Alpine See also:fashion and the breeding of sheep is improving. Large herds of geese and pigeons are reared, while See also:hunting and fishing constitute also important resources. The mineral wealth of Silesia is great and consists in coal, iron-ore, marble and See also:slate. It possesses several mineral springs, of which the best known are the alkaline springs at Karlsbrunn. Like its adjoining provinces, Silesia boasts of a great and varied industrial activity, chiefly represented by the metallurgic and textile industries in all their branches. The clothand woollen industries are concentrated at See also:Bielitz, Jagerndorf and Engelsberg; linen is manufactured at Freiwaldau Freudenthal and Bennisch ; cotton goods at Friedek. The iron industry is concentrated at Trzinietz, near Teschen, and various industrial and agricultural See also:machines are manufactured at Troppau, Jagerndorf, Ustron and Bielitz. The See also:organs manufactured at Jagerndorf enjoy a good reputation. Other important branches of industry are chemicals at Hruschau and Petrowitz; sugar refineries, milling, See also:brewing and See also:liqueurs. In 1900 the population numbered 680,422, which corresponds to 342 inhabitants per sq. m. The Germans formed 44.69% of the population, 33.21 % were Poles and 22'05% Czechs and Slays. According to See also:religion, 84.73 were Roman Catholics, 14% Protestants and the See also:remainder were Jews. The local diet is composed of 31 members, and Silesia sends 12 deputies to the Reichsrat at See also:Vienna. For administrative purposes Silesia is divided into 9 districts and 3 towns with autonomous municipalities: Troppau, the capital, Bielitz and Friedek. Other principal towns are: Teschen, Polnisch-See also:Ostrau, Jagerndorf, Karwin, Freudenthal, Freiwaldau and Bennisch. The actual duchy is only a very small part, which was See also:left to Austria after the Seven Years' War, from its former province of the same name. It formed, with Moravia, a single province until 1849, when it was created a separate duchy. See F. Slama, Osterreichisch-Schlesien (See also:Prague, 1887) ; and A. See also:Peter, Des Herzogtum Schlesien (Vienna, 1884). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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