POWSTANIA.COMThe main events from the end of the First World War to the new border. Choose a subject to narrow the list.
Germany’s defeat in the First World War opened a dispute over Upper Silesia’s state affiliation. The Polish movement sought incorporation into the restored Polish state; the German camp sought to retain the region in Germany. Neither side represented a uniform community.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, provided in Article 88 for a plebiscite in a defined part of Upper Silesia. It did not simply award the whole region to the overall winner. The commission was to report commune results and recommend a border, taking geographical and economic conditions into account.
On 15 August 1919 people who had come to the Mysłowice mine over wage payments were shot and killed. The incident became an important focus for mobilisation. It does not explain the uprising by itself: tensions, strikes and underground preparations were already under way.
Maksymilian Iksal’s order, issued during the night of 16–17 August, initially reached some structures in the Pszczyna and Rybnik districts. Fighting began on 17 August and spread to other districts the following day. We therefore date the outbreak to the night of 16–17 August 1919.
The consulted IPN chronology records the last clashes on 26 August 1919. The uprising ended in military failure; the treaty’s plebiscite remained the basis of an international settlement. The next phase of the conflict would unfold under Allied administration.
Wojciech Korfanty headed the Polish Plebiscite Commissariat at the Lomnitz Hotel in Bytom. Kurt Urbanek led the German commissariat in Katowice. The campaign involved newspapers, meetings and organisational work; competition extended beyond electoral argument.
The Inter-Allied Administrative and Plebiscite Commission took over the plebiscite territory in February 1920. It was chaired by French General Henri Le Rond. France, Britain and Italy participated in Allied administration, but their interests and partition proposals differed.
On 17 August 1920 violent unrest in Katowice led to clashes with French soldiers. Andrzej Mielęcki, a doctor and Polish plebiscite activist helping the wounded, was killed by German rioters. Attacks on Polish institutions deepened the security crisis.
The Second Uprising is conventionally dated from the night of 19–20 August to 25 August 1920. Mirosław Węcki’s detailed account also includes actions from 18 August and clashes through 28 August. Orders, the principal phase and final actions need not share the same date range.
The Allies dissolved the Sicherheitspolizei and established a parity-based Plebiscite Police, the Abstimmungspolizei (APO). This significantly changed the conditions of the campaign. It did not settle the region’s state affiliation: the vote still lay ahead.
The plebiscite took place on 20 March 1921. Voters chose between remaining in Germany and joining Poland. Ballot cards carried the names of both states. The Allied commission supervised the vote; it was not a plebiscite administered by the League of Nations.
The German camp invoked the overall majority, while Korfanty pointed to commune majorities within his proposed Polish sector. His line was a political proposal, not a border automatically established by the vote. The British–Italian Percival–de Marinis line was likewise a proposal, not the final partition.
As the uprising’s dictator, Korfanty headed the civilian authorities. Maciej Mielżyński assumed military command and was later replaced by Kazimierz Zenkteler. Headquarters were in Szopienice. Insurgent forces were organised into North, East and South groups.
In the first days the insurgents seized substantial industrial areas. Allied interventions forced them out of some larger towns, including Bytom and Katowice, which were occupied by Allied garrisons.
Attempts to end the fighting caused disputes among the uprising’s leaders. In late May and early June a command crisis developed, and some East Group officers challenged Korfanty. The political aim of pressuring the Allies did not always align with commanders’ expectations of further military action.
The Third Uprising began during the night of 2–3 May 1921. Operation Bridges, carried out by the group led by Tadeusz Puszczyński under the pseudonym Konrad Wawelberg, aimed to sever transport links with Germany. Railway disruption was intended to hinder German reinforcements.
Between 6 and 10 May 1921 insurgent forces fought for Kędzierzyn and its important railway junction. They had taken the area by 10 May. Kędzierzyn became a battleground again during the German offensive in June. Control of transport was an important dimension of the conflict.
Góra Świętej Anny, called Annaberg in German sources, was a major focus of fighting in May 1921. The detailed IPN chronology dates the German offensive and capture of the hill to 21 May. Insurgent counterattacks failed to recover it. This local German success did not amount to control of the whole industrial district.
The Third Uprising ended through negotiations and withdrawal. On 25 June 1921 the German side signed an evacuation agreement. Forces on both sides withdrew between 28 June and 5 July. Thus 5 July marks completion of evacuation, not a single all-purpose ceasefire date.
The Third Uprising ended through negotiations and withdrawal. On 25 June 1921 the German side signed an evacuation agreement. Forces on both sides withdrew between 28 June and 5 July. Thus 5 July marks completion of evacuation, not a single all-purpose ceasefire date.
The partition dispute was referred to the League of Nations. Its recommendation formed the basis of the settlement approved by the Conference of Ambassadors on 20 October 1921. The border decision in 1921 and transfer of administration in 1922 were separate stages.
The German–Polish Convention concerning Upper Silesia was signed in Geneva on 15 May 1922. It regulated consequences of partition, including economic matters and minority protection. The new border raised questions of citizenship, language and everyday life on both sides.
On 20 June 1922 Polish troops under General Stanisław Szeptycki ceremonially entered Katowice. Transfer of the Polish part of the region proceeded in stages during June and July. The Act marking Poland’s assumption of Upper Silesia was signed in Katowice on 16 July 1922.
On 20 June 1922 Polish troops under General Stanisław Szeptycki ceremonially entered Katowice. Transfer of the Polish part of the region proceeded in stages during June and July. The Act marking Poland’s assumption of Upper Silesia was signed in Katowice on 16 July 1922.
No results. Try another filter or search term.