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The 'Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship' (, ) was an autonomous region of the Poland created as the result of the popular plebiscite in 1921, the treaty in Geneva, three Silesian Uprisings, and the partition of Upper Silesia between Poland, Germany and then-Czechoslovakia. The special status of the voivodeship dated to a July 15 1920 act of Sejm. The act was forcibly renounced in May 6 1945 by the ruling communists.

Contents

General description

Politics

Administrative divisions

Counties (powiaty)

Cities

The Silesian Uprisings 1919-1921

See also

References

General description

Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship was the richest and best developed of all provinces of interbellum Poland. It owed its wealth to rich deposits of coal, which resulted in construction of numerous coal mines and steelworks. For this reason, this Voivodeship was crucial to Polish armament production. However, its location - right on the border with Germany, made it vulnerable. So, in mid-1930s, Polish government decided to move some sectors of heavy industry to the nation’s heartland, creating Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy. With highly effective agriculture, Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship also was a major producer of food, despite its small size.
According to the 1931 census, 92.3% of population stated Polish as their mother tongue, which made it the most “Polish” of all Voivodeships. Germans made 7% and Jews - only 0.5%, which was the lowest percentage in the whole nation. Poles lived mainly in the villages (95.6% of population there), while Germans preferred cities (12.9% of Polish Upper Silesian cities’ population was German).
Population density (299 persons per 1 km²) was the highest in the country (by comparison - in Polesie Voivodeship the density was only 31 persons per 1 km²). On January 1, 1937, forested was 27.9% of area (with the national average of 22.2%). Rail density was the highest in the country (18.5 km. per 100 km², by comparison - in Polesie Voivideship it was only 3.1 km. per 100 km²) In 1931, illiterate was only 1.5% of population (with the national average of 23.1%, in Polesie Voivodeship - 48.4%).

Politics

This region possessed wide autonomy, including having its own Silesian Parliament as well as its own national treasury - the Silesian Treasury (), all of which were connected to autonomic Silesia (excluding foreign policy and military laws to competence of the Silesian Lower House of Parliament. There was a separate Silesian Parliament with 48 MPs elected in democratic elections. Sejm elections designated a Silesian Voivod as the head of administration.

Administrative divisions

Counties (powiaty)

In mid-1939 the population of the Voivodeship was 1,533,500 (together with Zaolzie, annexed in October 1938) and its area was 5 122 sq. km. The Voivodeship was divided into these counties:

Powiaty	Population	Area
Katowice county (powiat katowicki)	357,300	213 km²
Rybnik county (powiat rybnicki)	212,900	890 km²
Cieszyn county (powiat cieszyński)	176,600	1 305 km²
Pszczyna county (powiat pszczyński)	151,500	1 046 km²
Fryštát county (powiat frysztacki)	143,000	262 km²
Chorzów (powiat grodzki)	128,900	32 km²
Katowice (powiat grodzki)	126,200	42 km²
Tarnowskie Góry county (powiat tarnogórski)	107 000	268 km²
Bielsko county (powiat bielski)	59,500	339 km²
Lubliniec county (powiat lubliniecki)	45,200	715 km²
Bielsko (powiat grodzki)	25,400	10 km²

Cities

Biggest cities of the Voivodeship within its 1939 boundaries were (population based on 1931 census):

Cities	Population
Chorzów¹	128,900
Katowice	126,200
Siemianowice Śląskie	37,800
Cieszyn	28,000
Bielsko	25,400
Rybnik	23 000
Mysłowice	22,700
Karwina	22,300
Tarnowskie Góry	15,500
Mikołów	11,900
Bogumin	10,800
Orłowa	10 000

★ ¹ – in 1934 the cities of Królewska Huta, Maciejkowice and Chorzów municipality joined with Chorzów

The Silesian Uprisings 1919-1921

★ First Silesian Uprising: 16 August-26 August 1919

★ Second Silesian Uprising: 19 August-25 August 1920

★ Third Silesian Uprising: 2 May-5 July 1921

★ Upper Silesia plebiscite

See also

★ Silesian Voivodeship

★ Silesia

References

★ "Mały rocznik statystyczny" nakładem Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego - 1939, (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).