Trans-OlzaErik Goldstein, Igor Lukes: The Munich Crisis, 1938: Prelude to World War II. 2012. p. 51. (, ; , Záolší; ), also known as Trans-Olza Silesia (), is a territory in the Czech Republic which was disputed between Poland and Czechoslovakia during the interwar period. Its name comes from the Olza River.
The history of the Trans-Olza region began in 1918 when, after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the newly-established Czechoslovakia claimed the area, which was mainly inhabited by Poles. Poland maintained control over the region and began to hold elections, to which Czechoslovakia responded by invading and annexing the territory in January 1919.
The area as it is known today was created in 1920, when Cieszyn Silesia was divided between the two countries during the Spa Conference. Trans-Olza forms the eastern part of the Czech portion of Cieszyn Silesia. The division did not satisfy either side, and persisting conflict over the region led to its annexation by Poland in October 1938, following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, the area became a part of Nazi Germany until 1945. After the war, the 1920 borders were restored.
Historically, the largest specified ethnic group inhabiting this area were Poles.Zahradnik 1992, 16–17. Under Austrian rule, Cieszyn Silesia was initially divided into three districts (Bielitz, Friedek and Teschen), and later into four, by adding Freistadt. One of them, Frýdek, had a mostly Czech population, the other three were mostly inhabited by Poles.Watt (1998), p. 161.Piotr Stefan Wandycz (1962). France and Her Eastern Allies, 1919-1925: French-Czechoslovak-Polish Relations from the Paris Peace Conference to Locarno. University of Minnesota Press, pp. 75, 79. During the 19th century the number of ethnic Germans grew. After declining at the end of the 19th century,Siwek (1996), p. 31: The 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 Austrian censuses asked people about the language they use. at the beginning of the 20th century and later from 1920 to 1938, the Czech population grew significantly to rival the Poles. Another significant ethnic group were the Jews, but almost the entire Jewish population was murdered during World War II by Nazi Germany.
In addition to the Polish, Czech and German national orientations there was a group claiming Silesian national identity, separate from the other three. This group enjoyed popular support throughout Cieszyn Silesia, though its strongest supporters were among the Protestants in the eastern part of Cieszyn Silesia (now part of Poland), not in Trans-Olza itself.Hannan (1996), p. 47.
Name and territory The Polish term Zaolzie (meaning "lands beyond the Olza") is used predominantly in Poland and by the Polish minority living in the territory. It is also often used by foreign scholars, e.g. American ethnolinguist Kevin Hannan.Hannan 1999, 191–203. The term Zaolzie was first used in 1930s by Polish writer Paweł Hulka-Laskowski. In Czech it is mainly referred to as České Těšínsko/Českotěšínsko ("land around Český Těšín"), or as Těšínsko or Těšínské Slezsko (meaning Cieszyn Silesia). The Czech equivalent of Zaolzie (Zaolší or Zaolží) is rarely used. The term Zaolzie denotes the territory of the former districts of Český Těšín and Fryštát, in which the Polish population formed a majority according to the 1910 Austrian census.Szymeczek 2008, 63.Irena Bogoczová, Jana Raclavska. "Report about the national and language situation in the area around Czeski Cieszyn/Český Těšín in the Czech Republic". Czeski Cieszyn/Český Těšín Papers. Nr 7, EUR.AC research. November 2006. p. 2. (source: Zahradnik. "Struktura narodowościowa Zaolzia na podstawie spisów ludności 1880-1991". Třinec 1991). It makes up the eastern part of the Czech portion of Cieszyn Silesia. However, Polish historian Józef Szymeczek notes that the term is often mistakenly used for the whole Czech part of Cieszyn Silesia.
Since the 1960 reform of administrative divisions of Czechoslovakia, Trans-Olza has consisted of Karviná District and the eastern part of Frýdek-Místek District.
History After the Migration Period the area was settled by West Slavs, which were later organized into the Golensizi tribe. The tribe had a large and important gord situated in contemporary Chotěbuz. In the 880s or the early 890s the gord was raided and burned, most probably by an army of Svatopluk I of Moravia, and afterwards the area could have been subjugated by Great Moravia,Žáček 2004, 12–13. which is however questioned by historians like Zdeněk Klanica, Idzi Panic, Stanisław Szczur.
After the fall of Great Moravia in 907 the area could have been under the influence of Bohemian rulers. In the late 10th century Poland, ruled by Bolesław I Chrobry, began to contend for the region, which was crossed by important international routes. From 950 to 1060 it was under the rule of Bohemia,Žáček 2004, 14–20. and from 1060 it was part of the Piast Kingdom of Poland. The written history explicitly about the region begins on 23 April 1155 when Cieszyn/Těšín was first mentioned in a written document, a letter from Pope Adrian IV issued for Walter, Bishop of Wrocław, where it was listed amongst other centres of castellanies. The castellany was then a part of Duchy of Silesia. In 1172 it became a part of Duchy of Racibórz, and from 1202 of Duchy of Opole and Racibórz. In the first half of the 13th century the Moravian settlement organised by Arnold von Hückeswagen from Starý Jičín castle and later accelerated by Bruno von Schauenburg, Bishop of Olomouc, began to press close to Silesian settlements. This prompted signing of a special treaty between Duke Vladislaus I of Opole and King Ottokar II of Bohemia on December 1261 which regulated a local border between their states along the Ostravice River.I. Panic, 2010, p. 50 In order to strengthen the border Władysław of Opole decided to found Orlová monastery in 1268.I. Panic, 2010, p. 428 In the continued process of feudal fragmentation of Poland the Castellany of Cieszyn was eventually transformed in 1290 into the Duchy of Cieszyn, which in 1327 became an autonomic fiefdom of the Bohemian crown.Panic 2002, 7. Upon the death of Elizabeth Lucretia, its last ruler from the Polish Piast dynasty in 1653, it passed directly to the Bohemian kings from the Habsburg dynasty.Zahradnik 1992, 13. When most of Silesia was conquered by Prussian king Frederick the Great in 1742, the Cieszyn region was part of the small southern portion that was retained by the Habsburg Monarchy (Austrian Silesia).
Up to the mid-19th century members of the local Slav population did not identify themselves as members of larger ethnolinguistic entities. In Cieszyn Silesia (as in all West Slavic borderlands) various territorial identities pre-dated ethnic and national identity. Consciousness of membership within a greater Polish or Czech nation spread slowly in Silesia.Hannan 1996, 76–77.
From 1848 to the end of the 19th century, local Polish and Czech people co-operated, united against the Germanizing tendencies of the Austrian Empire and later of Austria-Hungary.Zahradnik 1992, 40. At the end of the century, ethnic tensions arose as the area's economic significance grew. This growth caused a wave of immigration from Galicia. About 60,000 people arrived between 1880 and 1910.Zahradnik 1992, 48. The new immigrants were Polish and poor, about half of them being illiterate. They worked in coal mining and metallurgy. For these people the most important factor was material well-being; they cared little about the homeland from which they had fled. Almost all of them assimilated into the Czech population.Zahradnik 1992, 51. Many of them settled in Ostrava (west of the ethnic border), as heavy industry was spread through the whole western part of Cieszyn Silesia. Even today, ethnographers find that about 25,000 people in Ostrava (about 8% of the population) have Polish surnames. The Czech population (living mainly in the northern part of the area: Bohumín, Orlová, etc.) declined numerically at the end of the 19th century, assimilating with the prevalent Polish population. This process shifted with the industrial boom in the area.
Decision time (1918–1920)
Cieszyn Silesia was claimed by both Poland and Czechoslovakia: the Polish Rada Narodowa Księstwa Cieszyńskiego made its claim in its declaration "Ludu śląski!" of 30 October 1918, and the Czech Zemský národní výbor pro Slezsko did so in its declaration of 1 November 1918.Gawrecká 2004, 21. On 31 October 1918, at the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the majority of the area was taken over by local Polish authorities supported by armed forces.Kovtun 2005, 51. An interim agreement from 2 November 1918 reflected the inability of the two national councils to come to final delimitation and on 5 November 1918, the area was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia by an agreement of the two councils.Zahradnik 1992, 52. In early 1919 both councils were absorbed by the newly created and independent central governments in Prague and Warsaw.
Following an announcement that elections to the Sejm (parliament) of Poland would be held in the entirety of Cieszyn Silesia,Gawrecká, 23, in particular the quotation of Dąbrowski: "Czesi uderzyli na nas kilka dni przed 26 stycznia 1919, w którym to dniu miały się odbyć wybory do Sejmu w Warszawie. Nie chcieli bowiem między innemi dopuścić do przeprowadzenia tych wyborów, któreby były wykazały bez wszelkiej presyi i agitacyi, że Śląsk jest polskim". the Czechoslovak government requested that the Poles cease their preparations as no elections were to be held in the disputed territory until a final agreement could be reached. When their demands were rejected by the Poles, the Czechs decided to resolve the issue by force and on 23 January 1919 invaded the area.Długajczyk 1993, 7.Zahradnik 1992, 59.
The Czechoslovak offensive was halted after pressure from the Entente following the Battle of Skoczów, and a ceasefire was signed on 3 February. The new Czechoslovakia claimed the area partly on historic and ethnic grounds, but especially on economic grounds.Mamatey 1973, 34. The area was important for the Czechs as the crucial railway line connecting Czech Silesia with Slovakia crossed the area (the Košice–Bohumín Railway, which was one of only two railroads that linked the Czech provinces to Slovakia at that time). The area is also very rich in black coal. Many important coal mines, facilities and metallurgy factories are located there. The Polish side based its claim to the area on ethnic criteria: a majority (69.2%) of the area's population was Polish according to the last (1910) Austrian census.Dariusz Miszewski. Aktywność polityczna mniejszości polskiej w Czechosłowacji w latach 1920-1938. Wyd. Adam Marszałek. 2002. p. 346.Zahradnik 1992, 178–179.
In this very tense atmosphere it was decided that a plebiscite would be held in the area asking people which country this territory should join. Plebiscite commissioners arrived there at the end of January 1920, and after analysing the situation declared a state of emergency in the territory on 19 May 1920. The situation in the area remained very tense, with mutual intimidation, acts of terror, beatings and even killings.Zahradnik 1992, 62–63. A plebiscite could not be held in this atmosphere. On 10 July both sides renounced the idea of a plebiscite and entrusted the Conference of Ambassadors with the decision.Zahradnik 1992, 64. Eventually, on 28 July 1920, by a decision of the Spa Conference, Czechoslovakia received 58.1% of the area of Cieszyn Silesia, containing 67.9% of the population. It was this territory that became known from the Polish standpoint as Zaolzie – the Olza River marked the boundary between the Polish and Czechoslovak parts of the territory.