Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/68

 52 SILESIA gress, and the duchy at that time may be looked upon as a bulwark or mark against the Slavs in the south-east of Germany, just as the duchy of Prussia was in the north- east. Henry extended his sway much beyond the limits of Silesia, and in fact united under his sceptre nearly three quarters of the old Polish dominions. His son Henry II. (1238-1241) had a short reign with a glorious end, falling in 1241 at the battle of Liegnitz, where his determined resistance turned back from Germany the alarming Mongolian invasion. On his death his terri- tories were shared among his sons, and the series of divisions and subdivisions began which resulted in almost every Silesian town of any importance becoming the capital of an independent prince. At the beginning of the 14th century there were no fewer than 17 prin- cipalities of this kind, nearly all held by dukes of the Piast family. It was inevitable that these petty rulers should feel the want of a support against the encroach- ments of Poland, and it was inevitable, too, that the rela- tion opened in consequence with Bohemia should gradually change from mere protection to feudal supremacy. By 1355 the supremacy of Bohemia was formally recognized as extending over the whole of Silesia, though the Silesians retained a considerable measure of independence, including the right to hold general diets for the settlement of their internal relations. The kings of Bohemia at this time (John, Charles IV.) were members of the German house of Luxemburg, and Silesia under their sway may be looked upon as an entirely German land. During the Hussite wars of the 15th century Silesia, which adhered zealously to the old faith, suffered greatly from Hussite forays. The Luxemburg dominion broke up in 1458, when Hungary and Bohemia elected rulers of their own nationality. Silesia, however, neglected the opportunity to elect a German king for itself, and sup- ported the Bohemian king George Podiebrad. Breslau, still the most powerful of the principalities, threw in its lot with Matthew Corvinus of Hungary, who fought many of his battles on Silesian soil. By the treaty of Olmiitz in 1479 Matthew acquired all the tributary lands of the Bohemian crown, including Silesia, which remained attached to Hungary down to 1490. In that year Bohemia and Hungary became once more united under the same king. In 1526 Silesia passed with the rest of the Bohemian inheritance to the house of Hapsburg (see BOHEMIA). The Reformation at first made rapid progress in Silesia, and the native dukes placed little opposition in its way. The Hapsburg princes, however, acted very differently, and the Silesian Protestants suffered much persecution before, during, and after the Thirty Years' War. It was not indeed till the 18th century that they acquired formal recognition and the restoration of some of their confiscated churches. The First Silesian War between Austria and Prussia, which broke out in 1740, had its ultimate cause (nomin- ally at least) in a compact of mutual succession entered into in 1537 by the elector of Brandenburg on the one side and the duke of Liegnitz on the other. The emperor, as feudal superior of the duke, had indeed refused to recognize this agreement, but the Great Elector did not fail to put in his claim on the death of the last duke in 1675, and Frederick now thought the opportunity too good to be lost. The progress of the three Silesian wars is recounted in the article AUSTRIA (vol. iii. p. 127-129). At the peace of Hubertusburg (1763) Prussia was left in possession of nearly the whole of Silesia, with the frontier as it still exists. Frederick exerted himself to atone for the evils brought upon the district through the ravages of war by introducing colonists and capital, reforming the administration, granting complete religious liberty, and the like. That this seed did not fall on ungrateful soil seems proved by the modern prosperity of Silesia and the loyalty with which its inhabitants have clung to the Prussian cause. Silesia formed part of the reduced king- dom of Prussia left by the peace of Tilsit in 1806, and it was the centre of the national rising of 1813, when the king issued his celebrated address " To my People " from Breslau. Stein's emancipating edict of 1807 was wel- comed with profound satisfaction in Silesia, where the conditions of serfdom had been particularly oppressive, and no doubt contributed materially to the enthusiasm with which the Silesians flocked to the standard a few years later. 1 PRUSSIAN SILESIA, the largest province of Prussia (see vol. xx. plate I.), with an area of 15,560 square miles, forms the south- eastern limb of the kingdom, and is bounded by Brandenburg, Posen, Russian Poland, Galicia, Austrian Silesia, Moravia, Bohemia, and the kingdom and province of Saxony. Besides the bulk of the old duchy of Silesia, it comprises the countship of Glatz, a frag- ment of the Neumark, and part of Upper Lusatia, taken from Saxony in 1815. The province is divided into three governmental districts, Liegnitz and Breslau corresponding to lower Silesia, while Oppeln takes in the greater part of upper, southern, or mountainous Silesia. Physiographically Silesia is roughly divided into a flat and a hilly portion by the so-called Silesian Langenthal, which begins on the south-east near the Malapane, and extends across the pro- vince in a west-by-north direction to the Black Elster. following in part the valley of the Oder. The south-east part of the province, to the east of the Oder and south of the Malapane, consists of a hilly outpost of the Carpathians (the Tarnowitz plateau), with a mean elevation of about 1000 feet. To the west of the Oder the land rises gradually from the Langenthal towards the southern boundary of the province, which is formed by the central part of the Sndetic system, including the Glatz Mountains and the Rie- sengebirge (Schneekoppe, 5266 feet). Among the loftier elevations in advance of this southern barrier the most conspicuous is the Zobten (2215 feet), the historical connexion of which with the name of the province has been mentioned above. To the north and north-east of the Oder the province belongs almost entirely to the great North-German plain, though a hilly ridge, rarely attain- ing a height of 1000 feet, may be traced from east to west, assert- ing itself most definitely in the Katzengebirge. Nearly the whole of Silesia lies within the basin of the Oder, which flows through it from south-east to north-west, dividing the province into two approximately equal parts. The Vistula touches the province on the south-east, and receives a few small tributaries from it, while on the west the Spree and Black Elster belong to the system of the Elbe. The Iser rises among the mountains on the south. Among the chief feeders of the Oiler are the Malapane (right), the Glatzer Neisse (left), the Katzbach (left), and the Bartsch (right) ; the Bober and Queiss flow through Silesia but join the Oder beyond the frontier. The only lake of any extent is the Schlawa See, 7 miles long, on the north frontier. There is a considerable difference in the. climate of Lower and Upper Silesia, and some of the villages in the Riesengebirge have the lowest mean temperature of any inhabited place in Prussia (below 40 Fahr.). Of the total area of the province 56 per cent, is occupied by arable land, 10'8 per cent, by pasture and meadow, and nearly 29 per cent, by forests. The soil along the foot of the mountains is generally good, and the district between Ratibor and Liegnitz, where 70 to 80 per cent, of the surface is under the plough, is reckoned one of the most fertile in Germany. The parts of lower Silesia adjoining Brandenburg, and also the district to the cast of the Oder, are sandy and comparatively unproductive. The different cereals are all grown with success, wheat and rye sometimes in quantity enough for exportation. Flax is still a frequent crop in the hilly districts, and more sugar-beets are raised in Silesia than in any other Prussian province except Saxony. Tobacco, oil-seeds, chicory, and hops may also be specified, while a little wine, of an inferior quality, is produced near Griinberg. Mulberry trees for the silk-culture have been introduced and thrive fairly. Large estates are the rule in Silesia, where 35 per cent, of the land is in the hands of owners possessing at least 250 acres, while properties of 50,000 to 100,000 acres are common. The districts of Oppeln and Liegnitz are among the most richly wooded parts of Prussia. According to the live-stock census for 1883, Silesia contains 275,122 horses, 1,397,130 cows, 1,309,495 sheep, 518,612 pigs, 175,283 goats, and 128,828 bee-hives. The merino sheep was introduced by Frederick the Great, and since then the Silesian 1 Compare Gninhagen, Geschichte Schlesicns (Gotha, 1884 sq.). An account of the poetical schools of Silesia is given under the heading GERMANY (vol. x. pp. 530-1).