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Czech Silesia České Slezsko (Czech) | |
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.JPG) | |
 Flag | |
| Anthem: "Slezská hymna" | |
 Czech Silesia (green) overlapped with the currentregions of the Czech Republic | |
 Location of Czech Silesia in Europe | |
| Coordinates:50°N18°E / 50°N 18°E /50; 18 | |
| Country | Czech Republic |
| Former capital | Opava |
| Largest city | Ostrava |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,459 km2 (1,722 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 830,000 |
| • Density | 190/km2 (480/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Primary airport | Leoš Janáček Airport Ostrava |
| Highways |    |
Czech Silesia[a] (Czech:České Slezsko;Polish:Śląsk Czeski) is a part of thehistorical region ofSilesia now in theCzech Republic. While it currently has no formal boundaries, in a narrow geographic sense, it encompasses most or all of the territory of the Czech Republic within theOder River'sdrainage basin. Together withBohemia andMoravia, it is one of the three historicalCzech lands.
Silesia lies in the north-east of the Czech Republic, predominantly in theMoravian-Silesian Region, with a section in the northernOlomouc Region. It is almost identical in extent withAustrian Silesia (also known as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia), before 1918; between 1938 and 1945, part of the area was also known asSudeten Silesia (German:Sudetenschlesien; Czech:Sudetské Slezsko; Polish:Śląsk Sudecki.
Czech Silesia bordersMoravia in the south,Poland (Polish Silesia) in the north (in the northwest theCounty of Kladsko, until 1742/48 an integral part ofBohemia) andSlovakia in the southeast. With the city ofOstrava roughly in its geographic centre, the area comprises much of the modern region ofMoravian-Silesia (save for its southern edges) and, in its far west, a small part of theOlomouc Region in the area ofJeseník District. After Ostrava, the most important cities areOpava andČeský Těšín. Historically Český Těšín is the western part of the city ofCieszyn, which nowadays lies in Poland.
About two thirds of the territory is situated in theEastern Sudetes. The rest of the territory extends into theOstrava Basin,Moravian Gate,Moravian-Silesian Foothills and into the western section of theWestern Beskids. Its major rivers are theOder,Opava andOlza (which forms part of the natural border with Poland).
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In theMiddle Ages,Silesia formed part ofPiast-ruled Poland, and in the 14th century it gradually passed to theKingdom of Bohemia. Modern-day Czech Silesia derives primarily from a small part of Silesia that remained within theBohemian Crown and theHabsburg monarchy at the end of theFirst Silesian War in 1742, when the rest of Silesia was ceded toPrussia. It was re-organised as theDuchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, with its capital at Opava (German:Troppau,Polish:Opawa). In 1900, the Duchy occupied an area of 5,140 km2 and had a population of 670,000.
In 1918, the former Duchy formed part of the newly created state ofCzechoslovakia, except forCieszyn Silesia, which was split between Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1920, Czechoslovakia gaining its western portion.Hlučín Region (Czech:Hlučínsko,German:Hultschiner Ländchen), formerly part ofPrussian Silesia, also became part of Czechoslovakia under theTreaty of Versailles in 1920.
Following theMunich Agreement of 1938, most of Czech Silesia became part of theReichsgau Sudetenland andPoland occupied the Trans-Olza area on the west bank of the Olza (the Polish gains being lost whenNazi Germanyoccupied Poland the following year). In 1939–1940, during the anti-PolishIntelligenzaktion campaign, many Polish activists, priests, officials, teachers and school principals were deported by the German occupiers toconcentration camps and then murdered there.[6] The Germans operated multipleforced labour camps in the region, including severalPolenlager camps for Poles,[7][8][9][10] multiple subcamps of theStalag VIII-B/344prisoner-of-war camp forAllied POWs,[11] andsubcamps of theAuschwitz concentration camp inBruntál andSvětlá Hora for mostly Jewish women.[12][13] The occupiers also established several POW camps, includingOflag VIII-E, Oflag VIII-G, Heilag VIII-G andStalag VIII-D, for Polish,French, Belgian, British, Serbian, Dutch and other Allied POWs.[14]
With the exception of the areas aroundCieszyn,Ostrava, andHlučín, Czech Silesia was predominantly settled by German-speaking populations up until 1945. Following theWorld War II, Czech Silesia and Hlučín Region were returned to Czechoslovakia and the ethnic Germans wereexpelled in accordance with thePotsdam Agreement. The border withPoland was once again set along the Olza (although not confirmed by treaty until 1958).
The population mainly speaksCzech with altered vowels. Some of the nativeSlavic population speakLach, which is classed byEthnologue as a dialect of Czech,[15] although it also shows some similarities toPolish. In Cieszyn Silesia, the uniqueCieszyn Silesian dialect is also spoken, mostly by members of thePolish minority there.
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