page_title: History of Cieszyn
section_title: After World War I
hierarchical_section_title: History of Cieszyn / History / After World War I
caption_attribution_description: Memorial dedicated to World War II resistance fighters of Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries. It was built at Kontešinec (Konteszyniec), Český Těšín (Czeski Cieszyn), in place, where during World War II a prisoners of war camp Stalag VIII was located. Sculpted by Štěpán Mikula.
context_page_description: Cieszyn, one of the oldest towns in Silesia, has had a Slav population since at least the 7th century. According to a modern legend, in 810 three sons of a Slav king – Bolko, Leszko and Cieszko, met here after a long pilgrimage, found a spring, and in their happiness decided to found a new settlement. They supposedly called it Cieszyn. This well stands in the ulica Trzech Braci, just west of the town square. More scientific explanation for the name is that it's patronymic in origin, derived from the Slavic name *Ciecha or *Ciesza. The town centres on Castle Hill, where the oldest traces of settlement date back to the 6th or 7th centuries. The gród built on the hill gradually gained importance and became and important administrative and religious center, as a castle and a Romanesque chapel were erected within its stakes in the 11th century, the latter surviving to this day.
  The first written reference to Cieszyn came in a document from Pope Adrian IV for the Wrocław bishop Valter from 23 April 1155. It concerned the castle of Tessin, which was listed among other centres of castellanies, however it was no earlier than 1223 that it was explicitly described as castellany.
context_section_description: Historian Piotr Stefan Wandycz argues that:
  The dispute over Teschen during the Paris Peace Conference is crucial for understanding Czechoslovak-Polish relations in 1919 and in the following years. It also brings out clearly the French attitude toward both Czechoslovakia and Poland.
  The region was rich in coal and rail connections and was eagerly sought by both Poland and Czechoslovakia. At the end of World War I local Poles and Czechs each established their own self-governing organs. Both groups claimed that the whole of Cieszyn Silesia rightfully belonged to their new nation.  To ease the friction which developed, the local self-governments concluded an interim agreement on 5 November 1918 concerning the division of the area based on ethnic composition. However, by 1919 metropolitan governments in Prague and Warsaw superseded the local administrations, with the Czechs arguing that the division was unfair. In particular, the crucial railway going to east Slovakia (Košice-Bohumín Railway) went through the region and access to the railway was vital: newly formed Czechoslovakia was at war with the Hungarian Soviet Republic over control over Slovakia. This set the stage for conflict.
  Despite of the division being interim only, Poland decided to organise elections to the Polish parliament (Sejm) in the area. Czechoslovakia claimed that no sovereign rule could establish itself in the disputed area before determination of a definitive solution, and requested that the polls not take place in the area. Poland rejected the Czechoslovak request and Czechoslovakia attacked the Polish part of the region on 23 January 1919 and forced Poland, which was at that time in war also with the West Ukrainian National Republic over eastern Galicia, to withdraw from the western part of Cieszyn Silesia. After the fight near Skoczów a cease-fire was reached, signed in Paris on 3 February 1919. Poland had to recognize new borders running along the Olza River in 1920. Czechoslovakia received the western section (including the Karviná coal basin and the railway line) and smaller western part of the town, known later as Český Těšín, while Poland received the eastern section with Cieszyn and its historical centre.
  During interwar period two villages were submerged with Cieszyn: Błogocice (in 1923) and Bobrek (in 1932).
  Since then, Poland occasionally claimed the Czech section, eventually annexing it in October 1938 after the Munich Agreement. The whole town was annexed by Germany in 1939 as a result of the invasion of Poland. During World War II the city was a part of Nazi Germany. The 1920 borders were restored after the war in 1945. During the German occupation there was a stalag camp in the town, Stalag VIII-D.
  After World War II, both cities were expanded by joining adjacent villages. Svibice (1947), Dolní Žukov (1960), Horní Žukov, Mistřovice (together with Mosty and Koňákov) and Stanislavice (1975) were amalgamated with Český Těšín, whereas in 1973 Boguszowice, Gułdowy, Kalembice, Krasna, Mnisztwo, Pastwiska and in 1977 Marklowice were amalgamated with Cieszyn.
caption: Memorial dedicated to World War II resistance fighters of Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries. Constructed at Kontešinec, Český Těšín, on the site of the World War II prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VIII-D.
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