Silesian People's Party
Encyclopedia
The Silesian People’s Party was a political organization in Cieszyn Silesia
that existed from 1909 to 1938 in Austrian Silesia
, which later became international plebiscite territory and finally part of Czechoslovakia
. The party included mainly Slavic people, who saw themselves as members of a Silesian nation
. The party is seen as part of the Szlonzakian movement or Silesian separatist movement
.
, in Skoczów
. On February 7, 1909, the party counted about 2,000 members in 30 local groups in the counties of Bielsko
, Cieszyn
and Fryštát
. Local groups in Frydek
county formed later. Members and electors of the SPP came from Protestant circles among the citizens of Cieszyn Silesia
, so the largest organizations within the party existed in Bielsko and Cieszyn, where large Protestant communities lived. The party's largest local groups, as of 1913, existed in Skoczów
(214 members) and Cieszyn (210 members).
The goals of the SPP were not new – similar sentiments had been present in Cieszyn Silesia since the Revolutions of 1848
– but this was the first time that supporters of Silesian independence were organized into a distinct political party. Silesian nationalist positions were first advocated by the Union of Austrian Silesians, which was founded in 1848 by Silesian deputies of the Austrian Parliament: Franz Hein, Hans Kudlich
and Johann Demel von Elswehr. Such sentiments were also voiced informally by community institutions, like the paper Nowy Czas (New Time), edited by preacher Theodor Haase. "The Szlonzakian movement had expanded in the nineties of the 19th century, collecting Slavic people who didn’t want to vote for Poles
or Czechs and chose attachment to a separate Silesian nation". Silesian nationalism achieved successes mainly in the judicial districts of Skoczów
, Strumień
and Frydek
.
. The Silesian People's Party and German liberals had established a united election list, the Silesian Progressive Coalition, which included SPP candidates in rural electoral district
s and German liberal candidates in urban electoral districts. Finally electors from the rural Bielsko
-Strumień
-Skoczów
electoral district chose one deputy – the leader of Silesian People’s Party, Józef Kożdoń, who defeated Józef Londzin from the Union of Silesian Catholics, who was leader of the Poles in Cieszyn Silesia. In the rural Cieszyn
-Fryštát
-Jablunkov
electoral district, Fraciszek Halfar of the Union of Silesian Catholics won with support from the SPP and Polish parties as well. The second deputy from this circle, Jan Michejda, defeated the SPP candidate, Josef Cichy
, thanks to the votes of Polish Catholics and Czechs. Michejda became leader of the Protestant Polish National Party. The third SPP candidate, Edward Quasnitza, won the first round of elections in the rural Bohumín
-Slezská Ostrava
-Frýdek
electoral district, but in the second round he was defeated by the Czech candidate Jan Poppe, mayor of Slezská Ostrava
, who was supported by the Poles.
In July 1910, the non-political cultural base of Silesian People's Party was formed: the Union of Silesians , founded by Kożdoń, Cichy, and Paul Wania, originally under the name Silesian People's Union "Our Homeland" . From 1909 to 1923 the official paper of the Silesian People's Party was the weekly Ślązak (Silesian).
In 1911 there were local elections in Austria. The SPP won in 39 municipalities of the counties of Bielsko and Cieszyn: Jaworze
and Jasienica
in the judicial district of Bielsko; Bładnice Dolne, Cisownica
, Goleszów
, Godziszów
, Górki Wielkie
, Harbutowice
, Hermanice, Kozakowice Górne, Kozakowice Dolne, Łączka, Międzyświeć
, Nierodzim, Simoradz
, Wieszczęta
, Wilamowice
and Ustroń
(here with a coalition of Szlonzakians and Germans) in the judicial district of Skoczów
; Bąków
, Drogomyśl
, Pruchna
, Zaborze
and Rudzica
(here with a coalition of Szlonzakians and Poles) in the judicial district of Strumień
; Bażanowice
, Dzięgielów
, Gumna
, Konská
, Leszna Górna
, Komorní Lhotka
, Nebory
, Puńców
, Svibice
, Zamarski
, Horní Žukov
and Šumbark
(here with a coalition of Szlonzakians and Poles) in the judicial district of Cieszyn; Lyžbice
, Mosty u Jablunkova
and Oldřichovice
in the judicial district of Jablunkov
.
In 1911 there were also elections to the Austrian Parliament in Vienna
. SPP candidates lost many socialist votes and were defeated by Polish and Czech candidates. Kożdoń did not even win in majority municipalities that his party had ruled in local elections. Eight municipalities around Bielsko, called a "German language island", which had voted for Kożdoń in the Silesian Parliament elections in 1909, constituted an exception within the rural Bielsko electoral district. Kożdoń won 26% of the votes in the Bielsko electoral district and 19% of the votes in the Cieszyn electoral district. Louis Schindler took 7.5% votes in the Frydek
electoral district.
In the period when Cieszyn Silesia belonged to Austria–Hungary, the Silesian People's Party reached the largest popularity in the triangle between Cieszyn, Wisła and Strumień, centering on Skoczów, Jaworze, Ustroń and Goleszów.
members of Silesian People's Party hoped to get Austrian Silesia
a place as a free state in the federation of Austrian states. When this effort failed, they pushed for the independence of Cieszyn Silesia and probably a union with the formerly Prussian Upper Silesia
. Upper Silesia's independence was advocated by the Upper Silesian Committee (which, beginning in January 1919, was called the Union of Upper Silesians
).
Kożdoń, along with Richter and Fulda – the leaders of the Delegation of German Parties of East Silesia – wrote "Petition regarding an independent Republic of East Silesia – Cieszyn". During the Paris Peace Conference
, this petition was presented by a member of the town council in Bielsko – Robert Piesch – to a member of the Austrian delegation in Paris. The International Commission in Cieszyn had received "Petition regarding the rights of Cieszyn Land’s people to self-determination", whose author, Silesian economist and theoretical lawyer Eduard August Schroeder, supported the independence of Cieszyn Silesia. This option was supported by three members of the International Commission: Dubois from the United States, Tissi from Italy and Coulson from the United Kingdom, but the fourth – Grenard, the representative of France – was opposed to even including independence as an option in the planned plebiscite. The plebiscite was supposed to decide whether Cieszyn Silesia would belong to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Soon the leader of the SPP gained close contacts with leading Czechoslovak politicians: president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, prime minister Karel Kramář
, foreign affairs minister Edvard Beneš
and future prime minister Vlastimil Tusar
. They promised Kożdoń that if Silesia lay within the borders of Czechoslovakia it would have political autonomy.
Even when the SPP officially supported Czechoslovakia, the party did not abandon the option of independence, which was still advocated by its allies, the Germans of Cieszyn Silesia. Kożdoń cooperated with the leader of the Upper Silesian independence advocates, Ewald Latacz
, the chairman of the Union of Upper Silesians
, which had about half a million members.
In this period the Szlonzakian movement had a broad base of support. The SPP had more than 10,000 members and the Union of Silesians had 52,000. At this time, the Plebiscite Committee of the Silesian People's Party was founded in Karwina, along with 139 communal plebiscite committees in the counties of Bielsko (50 committees), Cieszyn (61 committees) and Fryštát (28 committees). In the winter of 1920 in Fryštat, František Janku and Paweł Bajtek founded the Silesian Social-Democratic Party, formed from Silesian workers, who were mainly former members of the Polish Socialist Party and the Silesian People's Party from Wisła, Ustroń and Goleszów. Karol Smyczek, Kożdoń’s personal secretary, was important in the formation of this new party's local organizations. Taken together, the members and supporters of the Szlonzakian movement numbered about 100,000 in 1920.
In July 1920, the Western allies divided Cieszyn Silesia without holding a plebiscite.
In January 1934, Konrad Markiton, Jan Pokrzyk, Paweł Teda, Alfons Pośpiech, Jerzy Jeleń and Waleska Kubistowa re-formed the Silesian People's Party in Katowice
. These people were also members of other Silesian organizations: the Association of Regional Writers, which edited the Trybuna Śląska (Silesian Tribune), the Cultural-Economic Association of Silesia and the Union of Upper Silesian Defence. They connected with the former electors Jan Kustos
from the former Prussian Upper Silesia
and Józef Kożdoń from the Polish part of Cieszyn Silesia. On April 15, 1934, Polish police confiscated the first issue of the party's bilingual paper, Śląska Straż Ludowa – Schlesische Volkswacht (Silesian People’s Watch) and stamped its editorial office. This act marked the end of the organization's activities in Katowice.
Sometimes in one commune started all three factions of the SPP, which competed among themselves. In communal elections the SPP gained various success. Its two candidates (Rudolf Francus and Karol Sikora) were members in the Český Těšín
county council, and the number of its members in the town council of Český Těšín was still expanding (five in 1923, ten in 1927, twelve in 1931), and from 1923 to 1928, Kożdoń served four terms as mayor of Český Těšín. The SPP dominated the commune of Svibice
too, and it had a large number of communal council members, starting in various political configurations (alone as the Silesian People's Party, in a separate Polish-language faction, in a separate German-language faction, in a broad German and Polish coalition, and in various communal and citizens committees).
The newspaper of the Polish-language faction was Nasz Lud (Our People). "Ślązak w Czechosłowacji" (Silesian in Czechoslovakia) and Nasz Ślązak (Our Silesian) were the pro-Czech papers. The Czechs founded the organization Czech-Szlonzakian Unity (Česko-šlonzacká jednota), which incorporated weak SPP organizations in Frydek county and connected it to the Czech political camp. The leading members of the Silesian People's Party in Czechoslovakia were: Józef Kożdoń, Rudolf Pierniczek, Karol Malina, Rudolf Francus, Walter Harbich in Český Těšín, Ludwik Niedoba i Alojzy Kuchejda in Jablunkov, Oswald Bayer in Třinec
, Gustaw Wałach in Orlová
, Robert Wallach in Komorní Lhotka
, Karol Sikora and Jan Pasterny in Šumbark
, Karol Kubik in Lyžbice
, Bruno Kappel in Třanovice
, Karol Bruck in Svibice and Józef Pellar in Bystrzyca.
In the 1925 parliamentary elections in Czechoslovakia, the SPP formed a coalition with the Polish minority parties: the Union of Silesian Catholics, the Polish People's Party
and the Polish Socialist Workers Party
. Gustaw Wałach, a member of the Szlonzakian movement, took third place, after Leon Wolf from the Union of Silesian Catholics and Wiesław Wójcik from the Polish Socialist Workers Party. The election slogan of the Polish coalition was "Silesia for Silesians", which was originally an SPP slogan that all Polish organizations had opposed in the Austrian period. Leon Wolf was elected deputy.
In 1927 the Czechoslovak authorities, against their own guarantees to the SPP, decided to connect Czech Silesia
with Moravia
. In response the mayor of Opava
, Ernst Franz, founded the Committee for the Protection of Silesian Rights, which opposed this decision. The committee produced a German-language brochure by Kożdoń, "Right of our Silesian homeland for administration unhabitance", in which he argued that the merging of Czech Silesia with Moravia was irrational, based on historical, social and economic issues. The SPP, the Union of Silesians and all the organizations of Polish and German minorities protested the decision, but authorities in Prague
ignored them.
In the 1928f elections to the Silesia–Moravia regional assembly, the SPP formed a coalition with the Poles again. A Szlonzakian–Polish–Jewish election list included Gustaw Wałach from the SPP, but nobody from this list was elected.
In the National Assembly elections in 1929 and elections to Silesian-Moravian Regional Assembly in 1935, the SPP supported the Polish-Jewish list. In the National Assembly elections of 1935, the SPP supported Polish candidate Karol Junga from a Polish-Slovak-Ruthenian list, the Autonomy Bloc. On the other hand, Walter Harbich, leader of the German-language faction, supported Sudetendeutsche Partei.
In 1938 Nazi Germany
claimed the Opava Silesia and other Czechoslovak territories inhabited by ethnic German majorities. Poland claimed the Zaolzie
region. In this situation, on September 8, 1938, the Silesian People's Party, as "representative of the Silesian nationality", sent a messeage to the representative of the United Kingdom, Sir Walter Runciman
, in which it reminded him of the question of the plebiscite in 1920. In this new emergency, the SPP demanded four allied powers to execute a plebiscite regarding the future of Cieszyn Silesia. The petition, to which was attached Kurt Witt's work "Die Teschener Frage" ("The Cieszyn question"), was signed by Kożdoń as mayor of Český Těšín, along with Bruno Kappel, Karol Kubik, Robert Wallach, Walter Harbich and Český Těšín county council member Rudolf Francus. On September 18, 1938 Walter Harbich as leader of the "assembly of the Silesian nationality" sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler
, requesting the independence of Cieszyn Silesia under the protection of Nazi Germany
. A petition about this issue was sent to the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain
, too.
incorporated Silesian territory near Opava and other territories into Nazi Germany
. On October 2, 1938, Rudolf Francus and Walter Harbich, the leaders of the German-language faction of the Silesian People's Party sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler
, speaking for the Silesian people and German people from Bohumín
in protest of the cession of the Zaolzie to Poland. All the telegrams were sent without Kożdoń's knowledge. On October 6, 1938, Polish authorities banned all non-Polish organizations in Zaolzie. German and Czechoslovak organizations were banned, as well as the Silesian People's Party and the Union of Silesians. Kożdoń was deposed as mayor of Český Těšín and authorities forced him to leave Cieszyn Silesia and go to Opava. At this time, Walter Harbich, in cooperation with Paul Lamatsch but without Kożdoń's knowledge, subordinated the illegal Silesian People's Party to the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle ("Central office of ethnic Germans living abroad") in Berlin
.
Two weeks after the invasion of Poland by Germany, Kożdoń "was welcomed by ovation" back to Cieszyn. In December 1939, Nazi Germans organized a police census, in which 157,000 citizens of Cieszyn Silesia declared themselves members of the "Szlonzakian nationality" (Volk der Schlonsaken) and 184,000 declared Szlonzakian (Schlonsakisch) to be their native language. The Germans did not legalise the activities of the Silesian People's Party or reinstate Kożdoń as mayor. The Germans used the immense popularity of party's ideals for the purpose of Germanization.
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...
that existed from 1909 to 1938 in Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia , officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Empire, from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
, which later became international plebiscite territory and finally part of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. The party included mainly Slavic people, who saw themselves as members of a Silesian nation
Silesians
Silesians , are the inhabitants of Silesia in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. A small diaspora community also exists in Karnes County, Texas in the USA....
. The party is seen as part of the Szlonzakian movement or Silesian separatist movement
Silesian Separatist Movement
Silesian Separatist Movement is a movement officially declaring its support for the independence of Silesia and official recognition of Silesian nation in Poland....
.
Genesis
The Silesian People's Party was founded in summer of 1908 by the principal of an elementary school, Józef KożdońJózef Kożdoń
Józef Kożdoń was Silesian autonomist politician.-Biography:...
, in Skoczów
Skoczów
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
. On February 7, 1909, the party counted about 2,000 members in 30 local groups in the counties of Bielsko
Bielsko
Bielsko was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town....
, Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
and Fryštát
Fryštát
is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, now administratively a part of the city of Karviná. Until 1948 it was a separate town. It lies on the Olza River, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
. Local groups in Frydek
Frydek
Frydek is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Miedźna, within Pszczyna County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Pszczyna and south of the regional capital Katowice....
county formed later. Members and electors of the SPP came from Protestant circles among the citizens of Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...
, so the largest organizations within the party existed in Bielsko and Cieszyn, where large Protestant communities lived. The party's largest local groups, as of 1913, existed in Skoczów
Skoczów
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
(214 members) and Cieszyn (210 members).
The goals of the SPP were not new – similar sentiments had been present in Cieszyn Silesia since the Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
– but this was the first time that supporters of Silesian independence were organized into a distinct political party. Silesian nationalist positions were first advocated by the Union of Austrian Silesians, which was founded in 1848 by Silesian deputies of the Austrian Parliament: Franz Hein, Hans Kudlich
Hans Kudlich
Hans Kudlich was an Austrian political activist, Austrian legislator, writer and physician.-Early life:...
and Johann Demel von Elswehr. Such sentiments were also voiced informally by community institutions, like the paper Nowy Czas (New Time), edited by preacher Theodor Haase. "The Szlonzakian movement had expanded in the nineties of the 19th century, collecting Slavic people who didn’t want to vote for Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
or Czechs and chose attachment to a separate Silesian nation". Silesian nationalism achieved successes mainly in the judicial districts of Skoczów
Skoczów
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Strumień
Strumien
Strumień is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, on the Vistula River....
and Frydek
Frydek
Frydek is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Miedźna, within Pszczyna County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Pszczyna and south of the regional capital Katowice....
.
Activity in Austria
In 1909 there were elections to the Silesian Parliament in OpavaOpava
Opava is a city in the northern Czech Republic on the river Opava, located to the north-west of Ostrava. The historical capital of Czech Silesia, Opava is now in the Moravian-Silesian Region and has a population of 59,843 as of January 1, 2005....
. The Silesian People's Party and German liberals had established a united election list, the Silesian Progressive Coalition, which included SPP candidates in rural electoral district
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
s and German liberal candidates in urban electoral districts. Finally electors from the rural Bielsko
Bielsko
Bielsko was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town....
-Strumień
Strumien
Strumień is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, on the Vistula River....
-Skoczów
Skoczów
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
electoral district chose one deputy – the leader of Silesian People’s Party, Józef Kożdoń, who defeated Józef Londzin from the Union of Silesian Catholics, who was leader of the Poles in Cieszyn Silesia. In the rural Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
-Fryštát
Fryštát
is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, now administratively a part of the city of Karviná. Until 1948 it was a separate town. It lies on the Olza River, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
-Jablunkov
Jablunkov
Jablunkov is a town in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 5,750 , 23% of the population are Poles. Jablunkov lies between the Silesian and Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain ranges, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, and is the...
electoral district, Fraciszek Halfar of the Union of Silesian Catholics won with support from the SPP and Polish parties as well. The second deputy from this circle, Jan Michejda, defeated the SPP candidate, Josef Cichy
Josef Cichy
Josef Cichy was Silesian politician, owner of manufacture in Goleszów, member of the first authorities of Silesian People's Party, a candidate this party in the time election to Silesian Parliament in Opava from country election district Frysztat-Cieszyn-Jabłonków, leader of local group of...
, thanks to the votes of Polish Catholics and Czechs. Michejda became leader of the Protestant Polish National Party. The third SPP candidate, Edward Quasnitza, won the first round of elections in the rural Bohumín
Bohumín
Bohumín is a town in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic on the border with Poland. The confluence of the Oder and Olza Rivers is situated just north of the town. The town lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
-Slezská Ostrava
Slezská Ostrava
Slezská Ostrava , till 1919 Polnisch Ostrau is a district of the city of Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, not counting Koblov and Antošovice lying north-west from the Oder river in the Hlučín Region.It comprises...
-Frýdek
Frýdek
Frýdek:* Frýdek , now the eastern part of Frýdek-Místek...
electoral district, but in the second round he was defeated by the Czech candidate Jan Poppe, mayor of Slezská Ostrava
Slezská Ostrava
Slezská Ostrava , till 1919 Polnisch Ostrau is a district of the city of Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, not counting Koblov and Antošovice lying north-west from the Oder river in the Hlučín Region.It comprises...
, who was supported by the Poles.
In July 1910, the non-political cultural base of Silesian People's Party was formed: the Union of Silesians , founded by Kożdoń, Cichy, and Paul Wania, originally under the name Silesian People's Union "Our Homeland" . From 1909 to 1923 the official paper of the Silesian People's Party was the weekly Ślązak (Silesian).
In 1911 there were local elections in Austria. The SPP won in 39 municipalities of the counties of Bielsko and Cieszyn: Jaworze
Jaworze, Silesian Voivodeship
Jaworze is a village and the seat of Gmina Jaworze in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 6,195. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1305....
and Jasienica
Jasienica, Silesian Voivodeship
Jasienica is a village and the seat of Gmina Jasienica, Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 4,872 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1305....
in the judicial district of Bielsko; Bładnice Dolne, Cisownica
Cisownica
Cisownica is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, close to the border with the Czech Republic. In 2008 it had a population of 1,705. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia on the slopes of Mała Czantoria mountain.It was first mentioned in...
, Goleszów
Goleszów
Goleszów is a village and the seat of Gmina Goleszów in Cieszyn County in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of about 4,000. Goleszów lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Godziszów
Godziszów, Silesian Voivodeship
Godziszów is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, close to the border with the Czech Republic. It has a population of about 600. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.- External links :...
, Górki Wielkie
Górki Wielkie
Górki Wielkie is a village in Gmina Brenna, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 3554 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1305....
, Harbutowice
Harbutowice, Silesian Voivodeship
Harbutowice is a village in Gmina Skoczów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of about 880. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document at the beginning of the 16th century as Harburtowice....
, Hermanice, Kozakowice Górne, Kozakowice Dolne, Łączka, Międzyświeć
Miedzyswiec
Międzyświeć is a village in Gmina Skoczów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.-References:...
, Nierodzim, Simoradz
Simoradz
Simoradz is a village in Gmina Dębowiec, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 987 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1286.- External links :*...
, Wieszczęta
Wieszczeta
Wieszczęta is a village in Gmina Jasienica, Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 487 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.There is a Lutheran church in the village.- External links :...
, Wilamowice
Wilamowice, Cieszyn County
Wilamowice is a village in Gmina Skoczów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of about 460 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
and Ustroń
Ustron
Ustroń is a health resort town in Cieszyn Silesia, southern Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , having previously been in Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship . It lies in the Silesian Beskids mountain range....
(here with a coalition of Szlonzakians and Germans) in the judicial district of Skoczów
Skoczów
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
; Bąków
Baków, Silesian Voivodeship
Bąków is a village in Gmina Strumień, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 1,534 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. Former village of Rychułd is now also a western part of Bąków....
, Drogomyśl
Drogomysl
Drogomyśl is a village in Gmina Strumień, Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland. It has a population of 2,121 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, on the Vistula River....
, Pruchna
Pruchna
Pruchna is a village in Gmina Strumień, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 2,442 . Pruchna lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1305....
, Zaborze
Zaborze, Cieszyn County
Zaborze is a village in Gmina Chybie, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 1,005 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1574.-References:...
and Rudzica
Rudzica, Silesian Voivodeship
Rudzica is a village in Gmina Jasienica, Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 2,742 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.There is a Catholic John the Baptist Church in the village....
(here with a coalition of Szlonzakians and Poles) in the judicial district of Strumień
Strumien
Strumień is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, on the Vistula River....
; Bażanowice
Bazanowice
Bażanowice is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, close to the border with the Czech Republic. It has a population of about 1,100...
, Dzięgielów
Dziegielów
Dzięgielów is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It has a population of about 1,300 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Gumna
Gumna
Gumna is a village in Gmina Dębowiec, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 414 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1523.-References:...
, Konská
Konská (Trinec)
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, on the Olza River. It was a separate municipality but later became administratively a part of the town of Třinec. It has a population of 1,598...
, Leszna Górna
Leszna Górna
is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland, on the border with the Czech Republic. It has a population of 576 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Komorní Lhotka
Komorní Lhotka
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It has a population of 1,097 , 21.5% of the population are the Poles. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.- External links :...
, Nebory
Nebory
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Třinec in 1980. It has a population of 1,531 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.According to the Austrian census of 1910 Niebory...
, Puńców
Punców
Puńców is a village in Gmina Goleszów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, on the border with the Czech Republic. It has a population of 1,508 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Svibice
Svibice
was a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality, but became administratively a part of Český Těšín in 1947. It was formerly a village but during the communist era a massive construction of so-called paneláks occurred and Svibice was...
, Zamarski
Zamarski
is a village in Gmina Hażlach, Cieszyn County in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 1,286 and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Horní Žukov
Horní Žukov
is a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Český Těšín in 1975. It has a population of 719 ....
and Šumbark
Šumbark
was a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but in 1960 became administratively a part of the city of Havířov built in 1955. It has a population of 22,340...
(here with a coalition of Szlonzakians and Poles) in the judicial district of Cieszyn; Lyžbice
Lyžbice
is a part of the town of Třinec in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, on the Olza River. It was a separate municipality but later became administratively a part of the town of Třinec...
, Mosty u Jablunkova
Mosty u Jablunkova
is a village in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, located in the Jablunkov Pass. It has 3,997 inhabitants, 18.3% of the population are the Poles. 83.9% of the population are religious, of whom 93.8% are Catholic...
and Oldřichovice
Oldrichovice (Trinec)
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Třinec in 1980. It has a population of 3,182 . and lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. Tyrka flows through the village.- References :...
in the judicial district of Jablunkov
Jablunkov
Jablunkov is a town in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 5,750 , 23% of the population are Poles. Jablunkov lies between the Silesian and Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain ranges, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, and is the...
.
In 1911 there were also elections to the Austrian Parliament in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. SPP candidates lost many socialist votes and were defeated by Polish and Czech candidates. Kożdoń did not even win in majority municipalities that his party had ruled in local elections. Eight municipalities around Bielsko, called a "German language island", which had voted for Kożdoń in the Silesian Parliament elections in 1909, constituted an exception within the rural Bielsko electoral district. Kożdoń won 26% of the votes in the Bielsko electoral district and 19% of the votes in the Cieszyn electoral district. Louis Schindler took 7.5% votes in the Frydek
Frydek
Frydek is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Miedźna, within Pszczyna County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Pszczyna and south of the regional capital Katowice....
electoral district.
In the period when Cieszyn Silesia belonged to Austria–Hungary, the Silesian People's Party reached the largest popularity in the triangle between Cieszyn, Wisła and Strumień, centering on Skoczów, Jaworze, Ustroń and Goleszów.
In the plebiscite period
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
members of Silesian People's Party hoped to get Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia , officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Empire, from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
a place as a free state in the federation of Austrian states. When this effort failed, they pushed for the independence of Cieszyn Silesia and probably a union with the formerly Prussian Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
. Upper Silesia's independence was advocated by the Upper Silesian Committee (which, beginning in January 1919, was called the Union of Upper Silesians
Union of Upper Silesians
The Union of Upper Silesians was a mass movement for the independence of Upper Silesia. The lands of Prussian Upper Silesia and Austrian Silesia, which existed from January 1919 to 1924 within the borders of Germany, then in the borders of the international plebiscite territory, constituted Upper...
).
Kożdoń, along with Richter and Fulda – the leaders of the Delegation of German Parties of East Silesia – wrote "Petition regarding an independent Republic of East Silesia – Cieszyn". During the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
, this petition was presented by a member of the town council in Bielsko – Robert Piesch – to a member of the Austrian delegation in Paris. The International Commission in Cieszyn had received "Petition regarding the rights of Cieszyn Land’s people to self-determination", whose author, Silesian economist and theoretical lawyer Eduard August Schroeder, supported the independence of Cieszyn Silesia. This option was supported by three members of the International Commission: Dubois from the United States, Tissi from Italy and Coulson from the United Kingdom, but the fourth – Grenard, the representative of France – was opposed to even including independence as an option in the planned plebiscite. The plebiscite was supposed to decide whether Cieszyn Silesia would belong to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Soon the leader of the SPP gained close contacts with leading Czechoslovak politicians: president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, prime minister Karel Kramář
Karel Kramár
Karel Kramář was a Czech politician.- Biography :Leader of the Young Czech Party in Austria-Hungary and later of the National Democratic Party in Czechoslovakia...
, foreign affairs minister Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.- Youth :...
and future prime minister Vlastimil Tusar
Vlastimil Tusar
Vlastimil Tusar was a Czech journalist and political figure. He served as prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1919 to 1920....
. They promised Kożdoń that if Silesia lay within the borders of Czechoslovakia it would have political autonomy.
Even when the SPP officially supported Czechoslovakia, the party did not abandon the option of independence, which was still advocated by its allies, the Germans of Cieszyn Silesia. Kożdoń cooperated with the leader of the Upper Silesian independence advocates, Ewald Latacz
Ewald Latacz
Ewald Latacz was Silesian politician, doctor of law, lawyer in Racibórz since 1913 and Wodzisław Śląski, chairman of Workers Council in Wodzisław Śląski and co-founder secret Upper Silesian Committee in 1918, civil law notary since 1919, co-founder and leader Union of Upper Silesians in the period...
, the chairman of the Union of Upper Silesians
Union of Upper Silesians
The Union of Upper Silesians was a mass movement for the independence of Upper Silesia. The lands of Prussian Upper Silesia and Austrian Silesia, which existed from January 1919 to 1924 within the borders of Germany, then in the borders of the international plebiscite territory, constituted Upper...
, which had about half a million members.
In this period the Szlonzakian movement had a broad base of support. The SPP had more than 10,000 members and the Union of Silesians had 52,000. At this time, the Plebiscite Committee of the Silesian People's Party was founded in Karwina, along with 139 communal plebiscite committees in the counties of Bielsko (50 committees), Cieszyn (61 committees) and Fryštát (28 committees). In the winter of 1920 in Fryštat, František Janku and Paweł Bajtek founded the Silesian Social-Democratic Party, formed from Silesian workers, who were mainly former members of the Polish Socialist Party and the Silesian People's Party from Wisła, Ustroń and Goleszów. Karol Smyczek, Kożdoń’s personal secretary, was important in the formation of this new party's local organizations. Taken together, the members and supporters of the Szlonzakian movement numbered about 100,000 in 1920.
In July 1920, the Western allies divided Cieszyn Silesia without holding a plebiscite.
In Poland
On the Polish side, where about 80% of the Szlonzakian movement's organization was located, its activity was prohibited. "Members of the Silesian People’s Party and Union of Silesians were subject to persecution and arrests".In January 1934, Konrad Markiton, Jan Pokrzyk, Paweł Teda, Alfons Pośpiech, Jerzy Jeleń and Waleska Kubistowa re-formed the Silesian People's Party in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
. These people were also members of other Silesian organizations: the Association of Regional Writers, which edited the Trybuna Śląska (Silesian Tribune), the Cultural-Economic Association of Silesia and the Union of Upper Silesian Defence. They connected with the former electors Jan Kustos
Jan Kustos
Jan Kustos was a Silesian politician, philosophy magister, press editor, founder and chairman of the Union of Upper Silesians Defence from 1925-1932, spokesman rights national minority for Silesians in Poland, member of town council in Katowice in the period 1926-1927, founder of the Trade Union...
from the former Prussian Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
and Józef Kożdoń from the Polish part of Cieszyn Silesia. On April 15, 1934, Polish police confiscated the first issue of the party's bilingual paper, Śląska Straż Ludowa – Schlesische Volkswacht (Silesian People’s Watch) and stamped its editorial office. This act marked the end of the organization's activities in Katowice.
Activity in Czechoslovakia
In 1923 there was a schism in the Silesian People's Party. Three factions appeared: one German-speaking (including Rudolf Francus, Walter Harbich, Karol Sikora, Arthur Wohrizek, Emmanuel Harbich, Otto Wohlman, Karl Kordula and Hans Peschke); a second Polish-speaking (including Karol Folwartschny, Gustaw Wałach, Józef Santarius, Adam Broda and Paweł Tomanek); and a third pro-Czech (including Karol Smyczek, Karol Pawlas and Alfred Farnik). The German-language faction started in some communal and all-district elections in a coalition with the German-minority election community. The Polish-language faction formed election coalitions with Polish minority parties. Kożdoń, as leader of all the party, linked these two factions. In some communes he stood for election alone. The pro-Czech faction cut ties with Kożdoń and became a separate organization, closely affiliated with the Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People. In communal elections it stood for election alone or entered Czech coalitions.Sometimes in one commune started all three factions of the SPP, which competed among themselves. In communal elections the SPP gained various success. Its two candidates (Rudolf Francus and Karol Sikora) were members in the Český Těšín
Ceský Tešín
Český Těšín is a town in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. The town is commonly known in the region as just Těšín . It lies on the west bank of the Olza River, in the heart of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia...
county council, and the number of its members in the town council of Český Těšín was still expanding (five in 1923, ten in 1927, twelve in 1931), and from 1923 to 1928, Kożdoń served four terms as mayor of Český Těšín. The SPP dominated the commune of Svibice
Svibice
was a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality, but became administratively a part of Český Těšín in 1947. It was formerly a village but during the communist era a massive construction of so-called paneláks occurred and Svibice was...
too, and it had a large number of communal council members, starting in various political configurations (alone as the Silesian People's Party, in a separate Polish-language faction, in a separate German-language faction, in a broad German and Polish coalition, and in various communal and citizens committees).
The newspaper of the Polish-language faction was Nasz Lud (Our People). "Ślązak w Czechosłowacji" (Silesian in Czechoslovakia) and Nasz Ślązak (Our Silesian) were the pro-Czech papers. The Czechs founded the organization Czech-Szlonzakian Unity (Česko-šlonzacká jednota), which incorporated weak SPP organizations in Frydek county and connected it to the Czech political camp. The leading members of the Silesian People's Party in Czechoslovakia were: Józef Kożdoń, Rudolf Pierniczek, Karol Malina, Rudolf Francus, Walter Harbich in Český Těšín, Ludwik Niedoba i Alojzy Kuchejda in Jablunkov, Oswald Bayer in Třinec
Trinec
Třinec is a town in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Olza River, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. The town has 37,405 inhabitants as of 2009, in 2001 17.7% of the population were Poles...
, Gustaw Wałach in Orlová
Orlová
Orlová is a town in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.- History :...
, Robert Wallach in Komorní Lhotka
Komorní Lhotka
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It has a population of 1,097 , 21.5% of the population are the Poles. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.- External links :...
, Karol Sikora and Jan Pasterny in Šumbark
Šumbark
was a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but in 1960 became administratively a part of the city of Havířov built in 1955. It has a population of 22,340...
, Karol Kubik in Lyžbice
Lyžbice
is a part of the town of Třinec in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, on the Olza River. It was a separate municipality but later became administratively a part of the town of Třinec...
, Bruno Kappel in Třanovice
Tranovice
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. The population is 932 , Poles making up 21.2%. The village lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, Karol Bruck in Svibice and Józef Pellar in Bystrzyca.
In the 1925 parliamentary elections in Czechoslovakia, the SPP formed a coalition with the Polish minority parties: the Union of Silesian Catholics, the Polish People's Party
Polish People's Party (Czechoslovakia)
Polish People's Party was a political party in Czechoslovakia founded in autumn 1922, based amongst Polish middle-class Protestants. The chairman of the party was doctor Jan Buzek. Other prominent party activists were pastor Józef Berger and journalist Jarosław Waleczko. In the 1929 parliamentary...
and the Polish Socialist Workers Party
Polish Socialist Workers Party
Polish Socialist Workers Party was a political party in Czechoslovakia founded in February 1921, based amongst Polish workers. The party was active in trade union struggles, mainly mobilizing miners and workers in heavy industries. The chairman of the party was Emanuel Chobot. Other prominent...
. Gustaw Wałach, a member of the Szlonzakian movement, took third place, after Leon Wolf from the Union of Silesian Catholics and Wiesław Wójcik from the Polish Socialist Workers Party. The election slogan of the Polish coalition was "Silesia for Silesians", which was originally an SPP slogan that all Polish organizations had opposed in the Austrian period. Leon Wolf was elected deputy.
In 1927 the Czechoslovak authorities, against their own guarantees to the SPP, decided to connect Czech Silesia
Czech Silesia
Czech Silesia is an unofficial name of one of the three Czech lands and a section of the Silesian historical region. It is located in the north-east of the Czech Republic, predominantly in the Moravian-Silesian Region, with a section in the northern Olomouc Region...
with Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. In response the mayor of Opava
Opava
Opava is a city in the northern Czech Republic on the river Opava, located to the north-west of Ostrava. The historical capital of Czech Silesia, Opava is now in the Moravian-Silesian Region and has a population of 59,843 as of January 1, 2005....
, Ernst Franz, founded the Committee for the Protection of Silesian Rights, which opposed this decision. The committee produced a German-language brochure by Kożdoń, "Right of our Silesian homeland for administration unhabitance", in which he argued that the merging of Czech Silesia with Moravia was irrational, based on historical, social and economic issues. The SPP, the Union of Silesians and all the organizations of Polish and German minorities protested the decision, but authorities in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
ignored them.
In the 1928f elections to the Silesia–Moravia regional assembly, the SPP formed a coalition with the Poles again. A Szlonzakian–Polish–Jewish election list included Gustaw Wałach from the SPP, but nobody from this list was elected.
In the National Assembly elections in 1929 and elections to Silesian-Moravian Regional Assembly in 1935, the SPP supported the Polish-Jewish list. In the National Assembly elections of 1935, the SPP supported Polish candidate Karol Junga from a Polish-Slovak-Ruthenian list, the Autonomy Bloc. On the other hand, Walter Harbich, leader of the German-language faction, supported Sudetendeutsche Partei.
In 1938 Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
claimed the Opava Silesia and other Czechoslovak territories inhabited by ethnic German majorities. Poland claimed the Zaolzie
Zaolzie
Zaolzie is the Polish name for an area now in the Czech Republic which was disputed between interwar Poland and Czechoslovakia. The name means "lands beyond the Olza River"; it is also called Śląsk zaolziański, meaning "trans-Olza Silesia". Equivalent terms in other languages include Zaolší in...
region. In this situation, on September 8, 1938, the Silesian People's Party, as "representative of the Silesian nationality", sent a messeage to the representative of the United Kingdom, Sir Walter Runciman
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford PC was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s.-Background:...
, in which it reminded him of the question of the plebiscite in 1920. In this new emergency, the SPP demanded four allied powers to execute a plebiscite regarding the future of Cieszyn Silesia. The petition, to which was attached Kurt Witt's work "Die Teschener Frage" ("The Cieszyn question"), was signed by Kożdoń as mayor of Český Těšín, along with Bruno Kappel, Karol Kubik, Robert Wallach, Walter Harbich and Český Těšín county council member Rudolf Francus. On September 18, 1938 Walter Harbich as leader of the "assembly of the Silesian nationality" sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, requesting the independence of Cieszyn Silesia under the protection of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. A petition about this issue was sent to the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
, too.
End of activity
On October 2, 1938 Polish Army incorporated Zaolzie into Poland, and eventually the WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
incorporated Silesian territory near Opava and other territories into Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. On October 2, 1938, Rudolf Francus and Walter Harbich, the leaders of the German-language faction of the Silesian People's Party sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, speaking for the Silesian people and German people from Bohumín
Bohumín
Bohumín is a town in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic on the border with Poland. The confluence of the Oder and Olza Rivers is situated just north of the town. The town lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
in protest of the cession of the Zaolzie to Poland. All the telegrams were sent without Kożdoń's knowledge. On October 6, 1938, Polish authorities banned all non-Polish organizations in Zaolzie. German and Czechoslovak organizations were banned, as well as the Silesian People's Party and the Union of Silesians. Kożdoń was deposed as mayor of Český Těšín and authorities forced him to leave Cieszyn Silesia and go to Opava. At this time, Walter Harbich, in cooperation with Paul Lamatsch but without Kożdoń's knowledge, subordinated the illegal Silesian People's Party to the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle ("Central office of ethnic Germans living abroad") in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Two weeks after the invasion of Poland by Germany, Kożdoń "was welcomed by ovation" back to Cieszyn. In December 1939, Nazi Germans organized a police census, in which 157,000 citizens of Cieszyn Silesia declared themselves members of the "Szlonzakian nationality" (Volk der Schlonsaken) and 184,000 declared Szlonzakian (Schlonsakisch) to be their native language. The Germans did not legalise the activities of the Silesian People's Party or reinstate Kożdoń as mayor. The Germans used the immense popularity of party's ideals for the purpose of Germanization.
See also
- Józef KożdońJózef KożdońJózef Kożdoń was Silesian autonomist politician.-Biography:...
- Josef CichyJosef CichyJosef Cichy was Silesian politician, owner of manufacture in Goleszów, member of the first authorities of Silesian People's Party, a candidate this party in the time election to Silesian Parliament in Opava from country election district Frysztat-Cieszyn-Jabłonków, leader of local group of...
- Ewald LataczEwald LataczEwald Latacz was Silesian politician, doctor of law, lawyer in Racibórz since 1913 and Wodzisław Śląski, chairman of Workers Council in Wodzisław Śląski and co-founder secret Upper Silesian Committee in 1918, civil law notary since 1919, co-founder and leader Union of Upper Silesians in the period...
- Joseph MusiolJoseph MusiolJoseph Musiol was a Silesian politician. He served as secretary of the Catholic Trade Union, as a member of the town council in Bytom, and as leader of a local group in Bytom...
- Union of Upper SilesiansUnion of Upper SilesiansThe Union of Upper Silesians was a mass movement for the independence of Upper Silesia. The lands of Prussian Upper Silesia and Austrian Silesia, which existed from January 1919 to 1924 within the borders of Germany, then in the borders of the international plebiscite territory, constituted Upper...
- Jan KustosJan KustosJan Kustos was a Silesian politician, philosophy magister, press editor, founder and chairman of the Union of Upper Silesians Defence from 1925-1932, spokesman rights national minority for Silesians in Poland, member of town council in Katowice in the period 1926-1927, founder of the Trade Union...
- Theofil KupkaTheofil KupkaTheofil Kupka was a Silesian politician.- Biography :...
- Silesian Autonomy MovementSilesian Autonomy MovementThe Silesian Autonomy Movement is a movement officially declaring its support for the autonomy of Silesia as part of a unified Europe. The association was founded in January 1990 by Rudolf Kołodziejczyk and is based in the Polish part of Upper Silesia...
Sources
- Tomasz KamusellaTomasz KamusellaTomasz Kamusella is a European scholar pursuing interdisciplinary research in language politics, nationalism and ethnicity.-Education:...
, Silesia and Central European Nationalisms: The Emergence of National and Ethnic Groups in Prussian Silesia and Austrian Silesia, 1848–1918 (Ser: Central European Studies; Foreword by Professor Charles W. Ingrao). 2007. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 386 pp. ISBN 978 1 55753 371 5 - Upper Silesia 1870–1920: Between Region, Religion, Nation and Ethnicity: journal article by Tomasz KamusellaTomasz KamusellaTomasz Kamusella is a European scholar pursuing interdisciplinary research in language politics, nationalism and ethnicity.-Education:...
; East European Quarterly, Vol. 38, 2004 - Dariusz JerczyńskiDariusz JerczyńskiDariusz Jerczyński is a Silesian politician and historical writer.-Biography:Dariusz Jerczyński has authored books about the history of Silesia, historical articles in the magazines Czas Górnośląski and Jaskółka Śląska. From 2001 to 2007, Jerczyński was a member of the Silesian Autonomy Movement...
, Historia Narodu Śląskiego (History of Silesian Nation), second edition (implemented and corrected), Zabrze 2006, ISBN 978-83-60540-55-8.