thumb|305px|right|Polish [[Armored car (military)|armored car Korfanty in 1920 made by Polish fighters in Woźniak foundry. It was one of the two created; the second was named Walerus – Woźniak.]]

The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area transferred to the newly founded Polish Republic, fought German police and paramilitary forces which sought to keep the area part of the new German state founded after World War I and the subsequent revolutions in Germany. Following the conflict, the area was divided between the two countries. The rebellions have subsequently been commemorated in modern Poland as an example of Polish nationalism. Despite central government involvement in the conflict, Polish historiography renders the events as uprisings reflecting the will of ordinary Upper Silesians rather than a war.

In total, several thousand people may have died violently in the militant clashes in Upper Silesia between 1919 and 1921. About four fifths of the victims were killed during the three Silesian uprisings, three fifths alone during the Third Silesian uprising in 1921.

However, due to the success of the Silesian Uprisings, Poland gained coal mines and territory that accelerated their economic development. If it were not for the success of the third Silesian Uprising, most of the Silesian industrial area would have ended up in Germany's hands, leaving Poland an agrarian state. Additionally, the reconstruction of Poland, post WWI, would have been slower, hindering currency reform and the establishment of the Bank of Poland.

Background

thumb|[[Wojciech Korfanty organized the Third Polish Silesian Uprising in Upper Silesia.]]

Much of Silesia had belonged to the Crown of Polish Kingdom in medieval times (or to the Duchy of Silesia since 1138 as a result of the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth), but it passed to the Kings of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century. Following the death of Louis II Jagiellon of Bohemia and Hungary in the Battle of Mohács, Silesia became part of the Habsburg monarchy when Ferdinand I of Austria was elected as the King of Bohemia. Frederick the Great of Prussia seized Silesia from Maria Theresa of Austria in 1742 in the War of Austrian Succession, after which it became a part of Prussia and subsequently, in 1871, the German Empire. Although the province of Silesia overall had by then become Germanized through the Ostsiedlung and later the Kulturkampf, Poles constituted a majority in Upper Silesia.

Mineral resources

Upper Silesia was bountiful in mineral resources and heavy industry, with mines, iron and steel mills. The Silesian mines were responsible for almost a quarter of Germany's annual output of coal, of its zinc and 34 percent of its lead.

After World War I, during the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles, the German government claimed that, without Upper Silesia, it would not be able to fulfill its obligations with regard to reparations to the Allies.

Demographics in the early 20th century

The area in Upper Silesia east of the Oder was dominated by ethnic Poles, most of whom were working class. Most spoke a dialect of Polish, a few felt they were a Slavic group of their own called Silesians. but was also due to the creation of a bilingual category, which reduced the number of Polish speakers. The German newcomers accounted for 179,910, while Polish newcomers numbered over 10,000. Germans thus found themselves now in Polish (Upper) Silesia, and 532,000 Poles and 637,000 Germans remained in German (Upper) Silesia.

Uprisings

First Uprising (1919)

On 15 August 1919, German border guards (Grenzschutz Ost) massacred ten Silesian civilians in a labour dispute at the Mysłowice mine (Myslowitzer Grube). The massacre sparked protests from the Silesian Polish miners, including a general strike of about 140,000 workers, and caused the First Silesian uprising against German control of Upper Silesia. The miners demanded the local government and police become ethnically mixed to include both Germans and Poles. Some 9,000 ethnic Poles sought refuge in the Second Polish Republic, taking along their family members. This came to an end when Allied forces were brought in to restore order, and the refugees were allowed to return later that year.

Second Uprising (1920)

The Second Silesian Uprising () was the second of the three uprisings.

In February 1920, an Allied Plebiscite Commission was sent to Upper Silesia. It was composed of representatives of the Allied forces, mostly from France, with smaller contingents from United Kingdom and Italy.

On 19 August, the violence eventually led to a Polish uprising which quickly resulted within the occupation of government offices in the districts of Kattowitz (Katowice), Pless (Pszczyna) and Beuthen (Bytom). Between 20 and 25 August, the rebellion spread to Königshütte (Chorzów), Tarnowitz (Tarnowskie Góry), Rybnik, Lublinitz (Lubliniec) and Gross Strehlitz (Strzelce Opolskie). The Allied Commission declared its intention to restore order, but internal differences kept anything from being done; British representatives held the French responsible for the easy spread of the uprising through the eastern region.

The fighting was slowly brought to an end in September, by a combination of allied military operations and negotiations between the parties. The Poles obtained the disbanding of the Sipo police and the creation of a new police (Abstimmungspolizei) for the area, which would be 50% Polish. The French troops generally favored the insurrection, while within some cases, British and Italian contingents actively cooperated with Germans. In 2021, a dispute emerged over plans to put up a monument in Opole honoring those who fought for Poland. The Social-Cultural Society of Germans in Opole Silesia, representing the last of the volksdeutsche (ethnic German) minority in Silesia, called for a monument to honor both sides.