Editing Silesian Voivodeship (section)

== History ==

=== Interwar Poland ===
Silesian Voivodeship was first created in 1920 when the newly independent Polish state established an [[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)|autonomous region]] for all historical lands of Upper Silesia that were to end up in Poland. At the time, Upper Silesia was under international control, and a [[1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite|plebiscite]] was to be held in 1921 to divide the region between Germany and Poland following local results. Katowice has been chosen to be the provincial capital. In 1938, following the annexation of [[Trans-Olza]] region by Poland, the voivodeship's area was expanded to include these new territories. 

The interwar region did not include more than half of its current area, which were parts of the [[Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Kielce voivodeship]] ([[Sosnowiec]] and [[Częstochowa]] areas), [[Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Kraków voivodeship]] ([[Jaworzno]] and [[Żywiec]] areas) or [[Germany]] (cities of [[Zabrze]] and [[Bytom]] as well as [[Gliwice]] and [[Racibórz]] areas). 

=== German occupation ===
After the [[invasion of Poland]] in 1939, Polish administrative divisions ceased to exist. Nazi Germany annexed most of the current voivodeship's area directly into the German [[Gau Silesia|province of Silesia]] (''Gau Schlesien'') with capital in [[Wrocław]] (''Breslau'') as the governmental district of Katowice (''Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz''). This new district included both historically Silesian areas as well as western parts of Lesser Poland. Northern parts of what is the Silesian Voivodeship today, with Częstochowa, found themselves in the [[General Government]] area. 

In 1941, the province of Silesia was split into Lower Silesia (with a capital in Wrocław) and Upper Silesia (with a capital in Katowice), the latter of which included the governmental district of Opole in addition to the one of Katowice. 

=== Socialist Poland ===
Following [[World War II]], the new communist government of Poland cancelled the autonomous status of the Silesian voivodeship and established a new Silesian-Dabrowa voivodeship (''województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie''), the area of which roughly corresponded to the German province of Upper Silesia. The name of this region reflected both the Silesian part and the [[Dąbrowa Basin]] part. 

In 1950, [[Opole Voivodeship|Opole voivodeship]] was created from the western part of Silesian-Dabrowa voivodeship, and the name of the remaining area changed to Katowice voivodeship. The new region's borders included, for the first time, the Częstochowa area, and roughly resembled the contemporary Silesian Voivodeship. Between 1956–59, the name of the region was changed to Stalinogród voivodeship (''województwo stalinogrodzkie''), reflecting Katowice's forced name change to Stalinogród following the death of [[Joseph Stalin]]. 

In 1975, a new [[Voivodeships of Poland (1975–1998)|administrative reform]] introduced 49 new voivodeships. The area of today's Silesian Voivodeship was divided between [[Częstochowa Voivodeship|Częstochowa voivodeship]] (''województwo częstochowskie'') in the north, [[Katowice Voivodeship|Katowice voivodeship]] (''województwo katowickie'') in the center, and [[Bielsko Voivodeship|Bielsko-Biała voivodeship]] (''województwo bielskie'') in the south. 

=== After 1989 ===
As Poland aimed to join the European Union, European negotiators named administrative reform as one of the conditions for accession. As such, in 1999, a new administrative division was introduced, reducing the number of voivodeships from 49 to 16. A Silesian voivodeship has emerged from the reform, with its capital in Katowice, and consisting of most municipalities of the former Katowice, Częstochowa, and Bielsko-Biała voivodeships.