Zaolzie
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Zaolzie (Czech: Zaolší (Zaolží), Polish: Zaolzie, Śląsk zaolziański, literally: Trans-Olza River Silesia) was an area disputed between Poland and Czechoslovakia, west of Cieszyn. The term "Zaolzie" is used predominantly in Poland (literally meaning "lands beyond the Olza River") and also commonly by the Polish minority living on this territory. In Czech it is more frequently referred to with the term České Těšínsko/Českotěšínsko or by the neutral Těšínsko and Těšínské Slezsko (meaning Cieszyn Silesia).
Zaolzie was made up of the former districts of Těšín and Fryštát and since the 1960 reform of administrative divisions it has been made up of Karviná District and the eastern part of Frýdek-Místek District. It is de facto part of the western region of Cieszyn Silesia.
Historically, the largest ethnic group inhabiting this area were the Poles.[1] During the 19th century the number of Germans grew. At the beginning of the 20th century and later from 1920 to 1938, the Czech population grew significantly (mainly as a result of immigration and the assimilation of locals) and Poles became a minority, which they are to this day. Another significant ethnic group were the Jews, but almost the entire Jewish population was exterminated during World War II.
[edit] History
Initially a part of Poland, from 1339 the area belonged to Czech Silesia. Upon the death of its last ruler from the Polish Piast dynasty in 1653, it passed to the Habsburgs together with the rest of the Duchy of Cieszyn.[2]
From 1848 to the end of the 19th century, local Polish and Czech people co-operated, united against the Germanization tendencies of the Austrian Empire and later of Austria-Hungary.[3] At the end of the century, ethnic tensions appeared as the area's economic significance grew. This growth caused an immigration wave from Galicia. About 60,000 people arrived between 1880 and 1910.[4] The new immigrants were Polish and poor, about half of them being illiterate. They worked in coal mining and metallurgy. For these people the most important factor was material well-being; they cared little about the homeland from which they had fled. Almost all of them assimilated into the Czech population.[5]
[edit] Decision time (1918-1920)
In October 1918, in the wake of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the area was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia by two local self-government councils (Czech Národní Výbor pro Slezsko and Polish Rada Narodowa Księstwa Cieszyńskiego).[6] The majority of the area was taken over by Polish local authorities. In 1919 both councils were absorbed by the newly created and independent central governments in Prague and Warsaw. The former was not satisfied with the compromise and on 23 January 1919 invaded the area[7][8] while Poland was engaged in its war against the West Ukrainian People's Republic and also with Bolshevist Russia. Czech units were stopped near Skoczów and a cease-fire was signed on 3 February. The Czechs were driven mainly by economic aims. The area was important for them as the crucial railway line connecting Czech Silesia with Slovakia crossed the area (the Bohumín-Košice railway). The area is also very rich in black coal. Many important coal mines, facilities and metallurgy factories are located there. The Polish side based its claim to the area on ethnic criteria: a majority of the area's population was Polish according to the last (1910) Austrian census.[9]
In this very tense climate it was decided that a plebiscite would be held in the area asking people which country this territory should join. Plebiscite commissioners arrived there at the end of January 1920 and after analyzing the situation declared a state of emergency in the territory on 19 May 1920. The situation on the territory remained very tense. Mutual intimidation, acts of terror, beatings and even killings affected the area.[10] A plebiscite could not be held in this atmosphere. On 10 July both sides renounced the idea of plebiscite and entrusted the Conference of Ambassadors with the decision.[11] Eventually 58.1% of the area of Cieszyn Silesia and 67.9% of the population was taken over by Czechoslovakia on 28 July 1920 by a decision of the Spa Conference.[11] This division practically created Zaolzie.
[edit] Part of Czechoslovakia (1920-1938)
The local Polish population felt that Warsaw had betrayed them and they were not satisfied with the division of Cieszyn Silesia. It is not quite clear how many Poles were in Zaolzie in Czechoslovakia. Estimates range from 110,000 to 140,000 people in 1921.[12] The 1921 and 1930 census numbers are not accurate since nationality depended on self-declaration and many Poles filled in Czech nationality mainly as a result of fear of the new authorities and as compensation for some benefits. Czechoslovak law guaranteed rights for national minorities but reality in Zaolzie was quite different. Local Czech authorities made it more difficult for local Poles to obtain citizenship, while the process was expedited when the applicant pledged to declare Czech nationality and send his children to a Czech school.[13] Newly-built Czech schools were often better supported and equipped, thus inducing some Poles to send their children there. This and other factors contributed to the assimilation of Poles and also to significant emigration to Poland. After few years, the heightened nationalism typical for the years around 1920 receded and local Poles increasingly co-operated with Czechs. Still, Czechization was enforced by Prague, which did not follow certain laws related to language, legislative and organizational issues.[14]
[edit] Part of Poland (1938-1939)
On 1 October 1938 the area was annexed by Poland following the Munich Conference.[15] The Polish Army, commanded by General Władysław Bortnowski, annexed an area of 801.5 km² with a population of 227,399 people. The Polish side argued that Poles in Zaolzie deserved the same rights as Germans in the Munich Agreement. The vast majority of the local Polish population enthusiastically welcomed the change, seeing it as a liberation and a form of historical justice.[16] But they quickly changed their mood. The new Polish authorities appointed people from Poland to various positions from which Czechs were fired. The Polish language became the sole official language. Rapid Polonization followed. Czech organizations were dismantled and their activity was prohibited. Czech education ceased to exist.[17] About 35,000 Czechs emigrated to Czechoslovakia by choice or forcibly.[18] The behaviour of the new Polish authorities was similar to that of the Czech ones before 1938. Two political factions appeared: socialists (the opposition) and rightists (loyal to the new authorities). Leftist politicians and sympathizers were discriminated against and often fired from work.[19] The Polish political system was artificially implemented in Zaolzie. Local Polish people continued to feel like second-class citizens and a majority of them were dissatisfied with the situation after October 1938.[20] Zaolzie remained a part of Poland for only 11 months.
[edit] World War II
On 1 September 1939 Zaolzie was annexed by Germany after it invaded Poland. During World War II Zaolzie was a part of Nazi Germany. During the war, strong Germanization was introduced by the authorities. The Jews were in the worst position, followed by the Poles.[21] Poles received lower food rations, they were supposed to pay extra taxes, they were not allowed to enter theatres, cinemas, etc.[21] Polish and Czech education ceased to exist, Polish organizations were dismantled and their activity was prohibited. The Nazis especially targeted the Polish intelligentsia and many functionaries died during the war. The German authorities introduced terror into Zaolzie. Mass killings, executions, arrests, taking locals to forced labour and deportations to concentration camps all happened on a daily basis.[21] The most notorious war crime was a murder of 36 villagers in and around Żywocice on 6 August 1944.[22] This massacre is known as Tragedia Żywocicka (the Żywocice tragedy). The resistance movement, mostly comprised of Poles, was fairly strong in Zaolzie. Volkslists were introduced. (A Volksliste was a document introduced by the Nazi authorities; a non-German citizen declared that he had some German ancestry by signing it. Refusal to sign this document could lead to deportation to a concentration camp.) Local people who took them were later on enrolled in the Wehrmacht. Many local people with no German ancestry were also forced to take them. The World War II death toll in Zaolzie is estimated at about 6000 people: about 2500 Jews, 2000 other citizens (80% of them being Poles)[23] and more than 1000 locals who died in the Wehrmacht (those who took the Volksliste). Also a few hundred Poles from Zaolzie were murdered by Russians in the Katyń massacre. Percentage-wise, Zaolzie suffered the worst human loss from the whole of Czechoslovakia–about 2.6% of the total population.[23]
[edit] Since 1945
Immediately after World War II, Zaolzie was returned to Czechoslovakia within its 1920 borders, although local Poles hoped it would again be given to Poland.[24] The local Polish population again suffered discrimination, as many Czechs blamed them for the discrimination by the Polish authorities in 1938-1939.[25] Polish organizations were banned, and Czech authorities conducted many arrests and firings from work.[26] Situation had somehow improved when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took the power in February 1948. Polish properties stolen by the Germans during the war were never returned. Poland signed a treaty with Czechoslovakia in Warsaw on 13 June 1958 confirming the border as it existed on 1 January 1938. Zaolzie continued to be part of Czechoslovakia until the latter's dissolution in 1993, and since then has been part of the Czech Republic.
There is a significant Polish minority in Zaolzie today.
[edit] Census data
Ethnic structure of Zaolzie based on census results:
| Year | Total | Poles | Czechs | Germans | Slovaks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880[27] | 94,370 | 71,239 | 16,425 | 6,672 | - |
| 1890[27] | 107,675 | 86,674 | 13,580 | 7,388 | - |
| 1900[27] | 143,220 | 115,392 | 14,093 | 13,476 | - |
| 1910[27] | 179,145 | 123,923 | 32,821 | 22,312 | - |
| 1921[28] | 177,176 | 68,034 | 88,556 | 18,260 | - |
| 1930[29] | 216,255 | 76,230 | 120,639 | 17,182 | - |
| 1939[30] | 213,867 | 51,499 | 44,579 | 38,408 | - |
| 1950[31] | 219,811 | 59,005 | 155,146 | - | 4,388 |
| 1961[31] | 281,183 | 58,876 | 205,785 | - | 13,233 |
| 1970[32] | 350,825 | 56,075 | 263,047 | - | 26,806 |
| 1980[31] | 366,559 | 51,586 | 281,584 | - | 28,719 |
| 1991[31] | 368,355 | 43,479 | 263,941 | 706 | 26,629 |
Sources: Zahradnik 1992, 178-179. Siwek 1996, 31-38.
[edit] See also
- Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia
- Edmund Charaszkiewicz
- History of Cieszyn and Těšín
- Polish minority in the Czech Republic
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 16-17.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 13.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 40.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 48.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 51.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 52.
- ^ Długajczyk 1993, 7.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 59.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 178-179.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 62-63.
- ^ a b Zahradnik 1992, 64.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 72.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 76.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 76-79.
- ^ Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN 1997, vol. VI, 981.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 86.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 87.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 89-90.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 88-89.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 96.
- ^ a b c Zahradnik 1992, 99.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 102-103.
- ^ a b Zahradnik 1992, 103.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 116.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 111.
- ^ Zahradnik 1992, 116-120.
- ^ a b c d The 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 Austrian censuses asked people about the language they use. (Siwek 1996, 31.)
- ^ The 1921 Czechoslovak census asked people about their native language. (Siwek 1996, 32.)
- ^ People could declare a nationality other than that indicated by their native language. (Siwek 1996, 32.)
- ^ The German occupational census based nationality on self-declaration of citizens. The census was distorted by the occupational regime. (Siwek 1996, 32.)
- ^ a b c d The 1950, 1961, 1980 and 1991 Czechoslovak censuses based nationality on self-declaration of citizens. (Siwek 1996, 37-38.)
- ^ The 1970 Czechoslovak census asked people about their native language. (Siwek 1996, 37.)
[edit] References
- Długajczyk, Edward (1993). Tajny front na granicy cieszyńskiej. Wywiad i dywersja w latach 1919-1939. Katowice: Śląsk. ISBN 83-85831-03-7.
- Siwek, Tadeusz (1996). Česko-polská etnická hranice. Ostrava: Filozofická fakulta Ostravské univerzity. ISBN 80-7042-457-5.
- Zahradnik, Stanisław; and Marek Ryczkowski (1992). Korzenie Zaolzia. Warszawa - Praga - Trzyniec: PAI-press.
- "Zaolzie". Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN VI. (1997). Warszawa: PWN. ISBN 83-01-11969-1.
[edit] Further reading
- Badziak, Kazimierz; Giennadij Matwiejew and Paweł Samuś (1997). "Powstanie" na Zaolziu w 1938 r.: Polska akcja specjalna w świetle dokumentów Oddziału II Sztabu Głównego WP. Warszawa: ADIUTOR. ISBN 83-86100-21-4.
[edit] External links
| History of Cieszyn and Těšín | |
|---|---|
| Cieszyn | Olza | Český Těšín | |
| Duchy of Cieszyn | Silesia | Upper Silesia | Austrian Silesia | Czech Silesia | Cieszyn Silesia | Zaolzie | |
