History of Silesia - Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

In 1740, the annexation of Silesia by King Frederick II the Great of Prussia was welcomed by many Silesians, not only by Protestants or Germans. Frederick based his claims on the Treaty of Brieg and began the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). By war's end, the Kingdom of Prussia had conquered almost all of Silesia, while some parts of Silesia in the extreme southeast, like the Duchy of Cieszyn and Duchy of Opava, remained possessions of the Crown of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy. The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) confirmed Prussian control over most of Silesia.

Already during the War of the Austrian Succession Prussia installed its own administration which met the needs of a modern absolutistic state. Headed by a provincial minister (German: Provinzialminister), who was directly subordinate to the king, Silesia was split into two war- and domain chambers in Breslau and Glogau, which administrated 48 districts (German: Kreise, singular Kreis). Silesia thus maintained its exceptional position inside Prussia, only the judicature was affiliated to the head of the respective Prussian department. The fortifications were strengthened and the number of soldiers increased tenfold to secure Silesia.

Silesia's industry suffered badly after the war. To stimulate the economy Protestant Czechs, Germans and Poles were invited to settle in the country, particularly in Upper Silesia. Most of the settlers originated from non-Prussian countries as Frederick II wished to increase the population of Prussia. The Poles, most of them from the Habsburg ruled area around Teschen, settled all over Upper Silesia, whereas the Czechs mainly located in the areas around Oppeln, Strehlen and Groß Wartenberg. With the recruitment of Germans from Middle and Western Germany many miners' and lumberjacks' settlements were established. The owners of large estates soon followed these examples of the state and also founded many new settlements. Frederick II supported the reconstruction of the cities, sometimes even by donation from his privy purse, but even more by measures to stimulate the economy, such as the ban to export wool to Saxony or Austria and the increase of customs duties.

Mining and metallurgy became of special importance in the middle of the 18th century. In 1769 Silesia received a standardised mining law, the so-called "revidierte Bergordnung", which excluded the miners of the subservience to the laird and placed them under the control of the upper mining authority (German: Oberbergamt), which first resided in Reichenstein and later in Breslau. In the beginning the center of mining and also metallurgy was in Waldenburg and Neurode in Lower Silesia, but later it moved to Upper Silesia.

The confessional restrictions were abolished already during the first Silesian war and, until 1752, 164 provisional churches, so called Bethäuser or Bethauskirchen, were built. The Moravian Church, a Protestant denomination, established several new settlements, among them Gnadenfrei (Polish: Pilawa Gorna), Gnadenberg (Polish: Godnow) and Gnadenfeld (Polish: Pawlowiczki). Although Frederick and the bishop of Breslau argued about the competences of the Catholic Church the king also strongly supported the Catholic school system.

In 1806 confederates of Napoleon invaded Silesia. Only the forts of Glatz, Silberberg and Cosel withstood until the Treaties of Tilsit. After the adoption of the reforms of Stein and Hardenberg between 1807 and 1812 Silesia was fully incorporated into Prussia, the Catholic Church properties were secularized and the social and economic conditions improved. At the same time the first European university with both a Protestant and a Catholic faculty was established in Breslau. In 1812 Silesia became the center of the revolt against Napoleon. The royal family moved to Breslau and Frederick William III published the letter An mein Volk (to my people) which called the German people to arms. The experience of the war of liberation strengthened the bond of the Silesians to Prussia and the Province of Silesia became one of the most loyal provinces of Prussia. Several military leaders of outstanding merit, like Blücher or Yorck von Wartenburg, received lavishly appointed manors in the country.

In 1815, the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia, formerly part of Saxony, was incorporated into the province, which was divided into the three administrative districts Liegnitz, Breslau and Oppeln. Already in the Middle Ages, German had become the only popular language in all of Lower Silesia. However, dialects of Polish were still used in much of the countryside of Upper Silesia, whereas German was the most common language in most Upper Silesian cities.