"Silesia at the Crossroads": Defining Germans and Poles in Upper Silesia during the First World War and Plebiscite Period

Abstract

On March 20, 1921, nearly 1.2 million Upper Silesians went to the polls, participating in a plebiscite to determine if they would belong to Germany or Poland. A part of German Prussia since the mid-eighteenth century, Upper Silesia differed from other areas of Prussian Poland in that it was never a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The area was ethnically and linguistically mixed but religiously homogenous, with Catholics comprising 90 percent of the population. Many inhabitants held fast to a regional or religious identity rather than a national one. In the age of national self-determination, however, non-national identities would not do. Much of the historiography of nationalism in East Central Europe has focused on lands of the Habsburg Empire. This dissertation, set in a different national context, argues that the Upper Silesian Plebiscite and its preceding two-year propaganda campaign gave nationalists the space in which to define and refine what it meant to be German or Polish. As the German Revolution remade Germany into a Republic and Poland was reconstituted, a myriad of possibilities became available for Upper Silesians. The area was inundated with plebiscite propaganda for almost two years. I argue that the German and Polish Plebiscite Commissariats, with the backing and blessing of their respective governments, appropriated the new post-war situation to continue the work of previous national activists in the region with new tactics. Through the plebiscite propaganda, Germans and Poles redefined themselves and each other. The propaganda employed a variety of techniques, stressing not only the importance of one’s ethnicity but also the economic consequences of “staying in Germany” or “becoming Polish.” In addition, class and gender distinctions, the latter of which has not been explored in the historiography on the region, feature prominently and add to the conceptions of what it meant to be German or Polish. Finally, this dissertation examines the plebiscite results and the ultimate decision, made by international leaders, to divide the region.Doctor of Philosoph