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Upper Silesia • 1918–1922

Short guide

POWSTANIA Silesian Uprisings

1919 • 1920 • 1921

Upper Silesia, 1919–1922.

Insurgents attending a field mass, with an armoured car in the background. The consulted description does not establish the exact place or day.
Field mass during the Third Uprising · 1921Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe / Wikimedia Commons · Provenance
1919
AI illustration: volunteers by a makeshift barricade on an industrial street, in lantern light.
AI illustration · imagined scene

The First Silesian Uprising

The first uprising began in August 1919, following strikes and the killings at the Mysłowice mine. The insurgents were unable to defeat the German forces.

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1920
AI illustration: volunteers by a brick factory gate and residents of an industrial town.
AI illustration · imagined scene

The Second Silesian Uprising

In August 1920, the insurgents demanded the dissolution of the German security police. The fighting led to the creation of a Polish–German Plebiscite Police force.

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1921
AI illustration: a volunteer patrol among trees beside railway tracks, in dawn mist.
AI illustration · imagined scene

The Third Silesian Uprising

The uprising began on the night of 2–3 May 1921. Korfanty wanted to influence the division of the region before the Allies settled the border.

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Upper Silesia after the war

After 1918, Poland and Germany disputed the region’s future. For its residents, the dispute also concerned work, safety and belonging.

Household language did not determine national identification or a plebiscite vote. Some inhabitants used Polish or Silesian varieties of speech while favouring Germany. Regional, religious and family attachments could overlap with Polish or German affiliations.

Sources for this passage
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20.03.1921

A vote that did not end the conflict.

Plebiscite

Places of the uprisings

Choose a place to see its related events. Select a year to narrow the results.

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Photographs and documents

Historical photographs of participants and a document about preparations for the plebiscite.

A Maxim model 1908 heavy machine gun during the Third Uprising. The archival description identifies the Oder, but not the precise position.
Machine-gun position by the Oder · 1921Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe / Wikimedia Commons · Provenance
Letter concerning the plebiscite campaign in Upper Silesia, Page 1
Letter concerning the plebiscite campaign in Upper Silesia · 11 August 1920 (catalog date)Instytut Józefa Piłsudskiego w Ameryce, 701-001-058-187 / Wikimedia Commons · Provenance
Portrait published in Światowid, issue 35 of 1939. Photographer and exact exposure date unknown.
Wojciech Korfanty · before 1939Światowid 35/1939 / Jagiellońska Biblioteka Cyfrowa / Wikimedia Commons · Provenance
Archive

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Events of 1918–1922People involved in the uprisingsThe partition of Upper SilesiaThe Silesian Insurgents Monument in KatowiceA short guide to the Silesian UprisingsSources and bibliography

Sources and further reading

Every important claim leads to evidence. Uncertain dates, conflicting totals and gaps in the record are identified explicitly.

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