Silesia has passed from hand to hand over the centuries. Strange, with the sky once covered in smoke, now lush with greenery. He heard different speeches – Czech, German, Italian, English, French, Polish. He speaks his own language, which does not have the right to vote, although he stubbornly insists on having it.
The 100th anniversary of the annexation of Upper Silesia to Poland has just passed. And 123 years of scores, after which we found freedom, when it ended First World War, have nothing to do with it – Silesia has been outside our homeland since the 14th century. Anyone who reduces this absence to the date of throwing off the yoke of partitions is making a historical mistake. Poland returned to the map of Europe after 123 years, but Silesia had been outside Poland for longer, centuries. The return therefore proved to be much more difficult.
Upper Silesia. Milestones
US President Woodrow Wilson’s 14-point declaration, issued in January 1918, was to serve as the basis for negotiations with the defeated Austro-Hungarians and Germany. The declaration referred to the creation of an independent Polish state, which “should include territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations”.
