Lower Silesia

Lower Silesia (Polish: Dolny Śląsk [ˈdɔlnɨ ˈɕlɔ̃sk]; Czech: Dolní Slezsko; German: Niederschlesien [ˈniːdɐˌʃleːzi̯ən] ; Silesian: Dolny Ślōnsk; Upper Sorbian: Delnja Šleska [ˈdɛlnʲa ˈʃlɛska]; Lower Sorbian: Dolna Šlazyńska [ˈdɔlna ˈʃlazɨnʲska]; Lower Silesian: Niederschläsing; Latin: Silesia Inferior) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first state to have a stable hold over the territory of what will be considered Lower Silesia was the short-lived Great Moravia in the 9th century. Afterwards, in the Middle Ages, Lower Silesia was part of Piast-ruled Poland. It was one of the leading regions of Poland, and its capital Wrocław was one of the main cities of the Polish Kingdom. Lower Silesia emerged as a distinctive region during the fragmentation of Poland in 1172, when the Duchies of Opole and Racibórz, considered Upper Silesia since, were formed of the eastern part of the Duchy of Silesia, and the remaining, western part was since considered Lower Silesia. The oldest Polish writing and first Polish print were created in the region. During the Ostsiedlung, the Piast rulers invited German settlers to settle in the region, which until then had a Polish majority. As a result, the region became largely German-speaking by the end of the 15th century. With the Treaty of Trentschin the region fell under the overlordship of the Bohemian Crown in 1335 and thus became part of the Holy Roman Empire. Large parts remained under the rule of local Polish dukes of the Piast, Jagiellonian and Sobieski dynasties, some up to the 17th and 18th century. Briefly under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Hungary, Lower Silesia fell to the Austrian Habsburg monarchy in 1526. In 1742, Austria ceded...