Silesia (Chaos)

Silesia originally was a part of . In the 13th century however, Germans started to settle in the area, gradually dominating the Poles.
1301, Poland felt threatened by the Germans and the Przemyslids. The king tried to fight them to break free, so a coalition of the , , and under king formed against him. The war between Germans and Poles ended 1308, not in the latter's favor. Silesia became a German fief; the western third went to , which already had acquired the Lower Lausitz / Lusatia earlier. Bohemia and Moravia acquired Silesia south of the Oder river.
1336, an intrafamilial contract was made by the ids: King got Moravia and all of Silesia, while acquired Austria and Styria.
In 1379, , who was the last of the Bohemian Przemyslids, died. The duke of and inherited Bohemia, Moravia and (parts of) Silesia, which made him the mightiest prince in the Holy Roman Empire by far.
But his power wasn't lasting: As soon as 1386, the Czechs rebelled against his rule. In fact, a lot of ressentiment caused by hunger, poverty and some religious quarrels was mixed in. The deposed king tried to reconquer his lands from Austria and Silesia, but since the other princes of the HRE (including the Roman king ) weren't interested in helping him, had to deal with the and Poland with the Teutonic Order, noone helped him. In Bohemia, the property of the church was confiscated, preaching in Czech and the translation of the legalized, and some other reforms implemented. In 1389, the victorious Czechs formed a quasi-republic, with a parliament that elected a king. The nobles, the church, the peasants and the cities sent representatives to it, one quarter each. Heinrich had to accept the Czech independence, only got the southernmost parts of Bohemia and Moravia (which were German-settled). The electorate of Bohemia officially went to Austria.
In 1408, duke (and titular king of Bohemia) asked the Roman king to conquer Bohemia back for him. When king declined, Ottokar had himself elected anti-king with n help and started a war against Bohemia. In 1413, after his armies had been defeated severely several times by the Czech leader Prokop, he put down the crown again and apologizes.
In 1511, after the death of , the Przemyslid dynasty ended. His lands were divided between his daughters - Maria, who married the duke of , got the electorate, Carinthia and Styria (and theoretically Austria), and Elisabeth, who married the duke , got Silesia. From then on, its history was connected to that of Brandenburg.
After the , Silesia became the , a French satellite, in the . This situation lasted until the in 1818, when it became a part of united .
Category:Silesia