Editing Opole (section)

===In Prussian Silesia===
King [[Frederick II of Prussia]] conquered most of Silesia from Austria in 1740 during the [[Silesian Wars]]; Prussian control was confirmed in the [[Peace of Breslau]] in 1742. In the 18th century, Opole belonged to the tax inspection region of [[Prudnik]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-16 |title=Historia Powiatu Prudnickiego - Starostwo Powiatowe w Prudniku |url=http://www.powiatprudnicki.pl/powiatprudnicki-historiapowiatu.html |access-date=2021-12-07 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116133028/http://www.powiatprudnicki.pl/powiatprudnicki-historiapowiatu.html |archive-date=16 November 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Under Prussian rule the ethnic structure of the city began to change. In the early 20th century the number of Polish and bilingual citizens of Opole, according to the official German statistics, varied between 25% and 31%.<ref name="Opole - Monografia miasta p. 263–268">W. Dziewulski, F. Hawranek, ''Opole - Monografia miasta'', [[Silesian Institute in Opole|Instytut Śląski]] Opole 1975, p. 263–268".</ref> Nonetheless, Opole remained an important cultural, social and political center for the Poles of Upper Silesia. From 1849 the Polish newspaper ''Gazeta Wiejska dla Górnego Śląska'' was published in Opole. Polish reporter and opponent of [[Germanisation]] [[Bronisław Koraszewski]] founded the newspaper ''Gazeta Opolska'' in 1890 and the People's Bank in Opole (''Opolski Bank Ludowy'') in 1897.<ref>T. Hunt Tooley, ''National Identity and Weimar Germany. Upper Silesia and the Eastern Border, 1918–1922'', University of Nebraska Press, 1997, p. 15</ref> Another Polish newspaper, the ''Nowiny'' was founded by Franciszek Kurpierz in 1911.

From 1816–1945 Opole was the capital of [[Regierungsbezirk]] Oppeln within Prussia. The city became part of the [[German Empire]] during the [[unification of Germany]] in 1871.