Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)
| Silesian Voivodeship Województwo Śląskie (Polish) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voivodeship of Poland | |||||||||||
| 1920–1939 | |||||||||||
Location of the Silesian Voivodeship within Poland (1938). | |||||||||||
Poland, population density, 1931 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Katowice | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
| • Coordinates | 50°15′N 19°00′E / 50.250°N 19.000°E | ||||||||||
• 1921 | 5,100 km2 (2,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1921 | 1,125,528 | ||||||||||
• 1931 | 1,295,027 | ||||||||||
• 1939 | 1,533,500 | ||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||
| • Type | Autonomous voivodeship | ||||||||||
| Voivode | |||||||||||
• since 1922 | Józef Rymer | ||||||||||
• until 1939 | Michał Grażyński | ||||||||||
| Legislature | Silesian Parliament | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 15 July 1920 | ||||||||||
| 8 October 1939 | |||||||||||
| Political subdivisions | See list | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||||
The Silesian Voivodeship (Polish: województwo śląskie; German: Woiwodschaft Schlesien) was an autonomous province (voivodeship) of the Second Polish Republic. The bulk of its territory had formerly belonged to the German/Prussian Province of Silesia and became part of the newly reborn Poland as a result of the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite, the Geneva Conventions, three Upper Silesian Uprisings, and the eventual partition of Upper Silesia between Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia. The remainder had been the easternmost portion of Austrian Silesia (see Cieszyn Silesia) which was partitioned between Poland and Czechoslovakia following the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Polish–Czechoslovak War and the Spa Conference of 1920. The capital of the voivodeship was Katowice.
The voivodeship was dissolved on 8 October 1939 following the German invasion of Poland, and its territory was incorporated into the German Province of Silesia. After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, its territory was incorporated into a new, larger Silesian Voivodeship which existed until 1950.