duchy · Germany and Central Europe

Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia

1742 CE – 1918 CE · capital Opava

The small part of Silesia that Austria kept after Frederick the Great's conquest, an industrial crown land of the Habsburgs.

Origins

Prussia seized most of Silesia in the War of the Austrian Succession, and under the Treaty of Breslau and the Peace of Berlin in 1742 Austria kept only a southern strip, including the duchies of Troppau, Teschen and part of Jägerndorf. This remnant was governed as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, usually called Austrian Silesia.

Rule and society

Austrian Silesia was administered from Troppau (Opava), joined to Moravia from 1782 and from 1849 a separate crown land with its own diet. Its population was German, Czech and Polish, Catholic with Lutheran minorities in Teschen. Coal mining in the Ostrava-Karviná basin and the heavy industry around it made it one of the most industrialised parts of the monarchy.

Decline and legacy

With the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the territory was claimed by Czechoslovakia and Poland. After a brief war over Teschen in 1919, it was divided in 1920, with most going to Czechoslovakia.

Lineage

Duchy of Opava 1269 CE – 1918 CEDuchy of Upper and Lower SilesiaCzechoslovakia 1918 CE – 1992 CE

Connections (3)

Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was part of Habsburg Monarchy1742 CE – 1804 CE
Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was part of Austrian Empire1804 CE – 1867 CE
Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was a province of Austro-Hungarian Empire1867 CE – 1918 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-upper-and-lower-silesia
MLA: “Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-upper-and-lower-silesia. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-upper-and-lower-silesia.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-upper-and-lower-silesia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻