1.
Habsburg Monarchy
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The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, the monarchy had no official name. The entity had no official name, Austrian Empire, This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i. e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, Austria-Hungary, This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie meaning two states under one crowned ruler, Crownlands or crown lands, This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen or Lands of Holy Stephens Crown, the Bohemian Lands were called Lands of the St. Wenceslaus Crown. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary, Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars. Vienna, Austrias capital became a state January 1,1922, after being residence, Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns. Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen following the War of the Bavarian Succession by the so-called Innviertel, formerly part of Bavaria. Hereditary Lands or German Hereditary Lands or Austrian Hereditary Lands, In a narrower sense these were the original Habsburg Austrian territories, i. e. basically the Austrian lands, in a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term Crownlands in the 1849 March Constitution, within the Habsburg Monarchy, each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. An even greater attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the revolutions of 1848. For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary, in particular, ceased to exist as a separate entity, in this system, the Kingdom of Hungary was given sovereignty and a parliament, with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed, it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy, instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. Austria-Hungary collapsed under the weight of the various unsolved ethnic problems that came to a head with its defeat in World War I, to these were added in 1779 the Inn Quarter of Bavaria, and in 1803 the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen
2.
Frederick the Great
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Frederick II was King of Prussia from 1740 until 1786, the longest reign of any Hohenzollern king. Frederick was the last titled King in Prussia and declared himself King of Prussia after achieving full sovereignty for all historical Prussian lands, Prussia had greatly increased its territories and became a leading military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great and was affectionately nicknamed Der Alte Fritz by the Prussian, in his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than the art of war. Upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked Austria and claimed Silesia during the Silesian Wars, winning acclaim for himself. Near the end of his life, Frederick physically connected most of his realm by conquering Polish territories in the First Partition of Poland and he was an influential military theorist whose analysis emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics. Considering himself the first servant of the state, Frederick was a proponent of enlightened absolutism and he modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation. He reformed the system and made it possible for men not of noble stock to become judges. Frederick also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia, some critics, however, point out his oppressive measures against conquered Polish subjects during the First Partition. Frederick supported arts and philosophers he favored, as well as allowing complete freedom of the press, Frederick is buried at his favorite residence, Sanssouci in Potsdam. Because he died childless, Frederick was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II, son of his brother, historian Leopold von Ranke was unstinting in his praise of Fredericks Heroic life, inspired by great ideas, filled with feats of arms. Immortalized by the raising of the Prussian state to the rank of a power, Johann Gustav Droysen was even more extolling. However, by the 21st century, a re-evaluation of his legacy as a great warrior, Frederick, the son of Frederick William I and his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was born in Berlin on 24 January 1712. The birth of Frederick was welcomed by his grandfather, Frederick I, with more than usual pleasure, with the death of his father in 1713, Frederick William became King of Prussia, thus making young Frederick the crown prince. The new king wished for his sons and daughters to be educated not as royalty and he had been educated by a Frenchwoman, Madame de Montbail, who later became Madame de Rocoulle, and he wished that she educate his children. However, he possessed a violent temper and ruled Brandenburg-Prussia with absolute authority. As Frederick grew, his preference for music, literature and French culture clashed with his fathers militarism, in contrast, Fredericks mother Sophia was polite, charismatic and learned. Her father, George Louis of Brunswick-Lüneburg, succeeded to the British throne as King George I in 1714, Frederick was brought up by Huguenot governesses and tutors and learned French and German simultaneously. Although Frederick William I was raised a Calvinist, he feared he was not of the elect, to avoid the possibility of Frederick being motivated by the same concerns, the king ordered that his heir not be taught about predestination
3.
Battle of Dettingen
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The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 at Dettingen on the River Main, Germany, during the War of the Austrian Succession. The British forces, in alliance with those of Hanover and Hesse, George II commanded his troops in the battle, and this marked the last time a British monarch personally led his troops on the field. The battle straddled the river about 18 miles east of Frankfurt, with guns on the Hessian bank, the village of Dettingen is today the town of Karlstein am Main, in the extreme northwest of Bavaria. The British force of 17,000 men under John Dalrymple, here it joined the Pragmatic Army, some 50,000 strong at the start of the campaign, also containing 16,000 Hanoverians with the balance made up of Austrians, Hessians and Dutch. The army remained inactive until January 1743, when King George II ordered Dalrymple to march into Germany, leaving the Hessians. The internal divisions in the Dutch Republic delayed their army of 20,000 so that it too late to participate in the campaign. On 17 June the army set up camp between Kleinostheim and Aschaffenburg, George, accompanied by 25 squadrons of British and Hanoverian cavalry, arrived there on 19 June and took up overall command. This was the result of skillful maneuvering and harassment by a French army of some 45,000 led by Noailles, Noailles had also lined the south bank of the Main with artillery that could fire without interference on the Pragmatic armys left flank. Meanwhile, about 12,000 French troops marched north on Aschaffenburg, thickly wooded hills to the Pragmatic Armys right flank prevented the allies from turning Gramonts position. Some six hours passed with the British, Austrians and Hanoverians trying to form an advance in this confined position, at one point, George IIs horse ran off with him, it was halted by Ensign Cyrus Trapaud, who received a promotion as a reward. James Wolfe wrote that the Pragmatic first line of infantry consisted of nine regiments of British foot, four or five Austrian regiments, the French infantry followed and they too had initial success, throwing back several British regiments of foot. However, the charge forced the French artillery to stop firing and, with the attack spent and the French out of their defenses, the allies counter-attacked. The French line collapsed with the Allies driving Gramonts force across, as a consequence, the road to Hanau was opened, which allowed the Allies to continue their retreat and re-supply. With the French defeat at Dettingen, the Duc de Noailles missed the best opportunity to win the war at a stroke for the French. Had the French prevailed, the Pragmatic Army would have had to surrender or starve, during the battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw warned his regiment The Royal Scots Fusiliers not to fire until they could see the whites of their een. A noted wit, Sir Andrew is also quoted as addressing his regiment thus, Lads, better kill them afore they kill you. And to George II after the battle, who had chided him for letting a French cavalry charge break into his regiments position, Ay, please Your Majesty, in memory of this victory, Handel composed his Dettingen Te Deum and Dettingen Anthem. The two parties had agreed before the battle that the sick and wounded who fell into the hands of the enemy would be cared for, when the allies retreated they left behind most of their wounded, and the French respected the agreement, a precursor of the Geneva Convention
4.
Battle of Fontenoy
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The battle was one of the most important in the war and considered the masterpiece of Saxe, serving France, Louis XV, and his son, the Dauphin, were present at the battle. Saxe went on the offensive in April 1745 with a large French army and his initial aim was to take control of the upper Scheldt basin and thereby gain access to the heart of the Austrian Netherlands. To these ends, he first besieged the fortress of Tournai, in order to relieve Tournai, the allies first decided to attack Saxes position – a naturally strong feature, hinged on the village of Fontenoy and further strengthened by defensive works. Despite devastating flanking fire the allied column, made up of British and Hanoverian infantry, only when Saxe concentrated all available infantry, cavalry, and artillery was the column forced to yield. The allies retreated in order, conducting a fighting withdrawal. The battle had shown, however, the strength of a defensive force relying on firepower, casualties were high on both sides, but the French had gained the field, and Tournai fell shortly after the battle. This success was followed by an advance against the less organised and outnumbered allied army, Ghent, Oudenarde, Bruges. By the years end, the Saxon-born Saxe had completed the conquest of much of the Austrian Netherlands, the battle had established French superiority in force and high command. In 1744, France went over to the offensive in the Low Countries. King Louis XV and the Duke of Noailles scored early successes with the capture of the fortresses of western Flanders, Menin, Ypres. Opposing Saxe was the Pragmatic Army, the bulk of which was made up of British and Hanoverian troops under General George Wade, much had been expected of the allies in 1744 but the timidity of their generals had produced nothing against a numerically inferior enemy. Although Wade eventually advanced towards Lille, he did more than bicker with the Austrians about the cost of moving his siege train from Antwerp. Saxe was able to maintain his position at Courtrai and along the lines of the Lys, elsewhere, the Pragmatic Allies had scored considerable success in late 1744. A joint Austro-Saxon force under Charles of Lorraine and Count Traun drove Frederick IIs Prussian army from Bohemia, further success followed with the death in January 1745 of the French puppet emperor, Charles VII. Joseph sued for peace and gave his support for the candidacy of Maria Theresas husband, Francis Stephen, with Bavaria out of the war the Austrians could now try to win back Silesia from Frederick II. Likewise, Bavarian repudiation of its French ties meant France was freed of its German involvement, and could now concentrate on its own efforts in Italy. As early as December 1744, Saxe had prepared plans for an offensive in the Low Countries. The trio of generals was completed by Prince Waldeck, commander of the Dutch contingent in theatre and they hoped to gain the initiative by the establishment of forward magazines and an early opening of the campaign season
5.
Battle of Lauffeld
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The Battle of Lauffeld, also known as Lafelt, Laffeld, Lawfeld, Lawfeldt, Maastricht or Val, took place on 2 July 1747, during the French invasion of the Netherlands. It was part of the War of the Austrian Succession, Cumberland moved to defeat a detachment of the French army commanded by the Prince of Clermont that de Saxe had sent to bait the Pragmatic Allies into moving. Then Saxe force-marched the main French force to the ground he had chosen, once again, as at the Battle of Rocoux, the Austrians on the right refused to move against the open French left flank. The French made five assaults on Lauffeld and the villages changed hands several times, a large French column drove the 10,000 British and Hessian defenders out of the village of Lauffeld a final time. The French cavalry then pierced the allied center, now, a general French advance began to turn the Allied left flank, threatening the annihilation of the British infantry. General Ligonier, on his own initiative, then led the cavalry in charges that would save the army, the greatest cavalry engagement of the war ensued with over 15,000 horsemen charging and counter-charging. Seven regiments of the Irish Brigade in the French service lost over 1400 killed or wounded, the Duke of Cumberland, George IIs favourite son was nearly taken prisoner by the Irish, as in the confusion of battle he mistook the red-coated Irish Brigade for his own troops. Ligonier came up with a body of horse, enabling Cumberland to escape. It was a French victory that left the gateway to the Dutch Republic open to invasion, the allied retreat allowed Saxe to send a detachment of 30,000 troops under Count Lowendahl north across the Low Lands, capturing the city of Bergen-op-Zoom to finish that years campaigning season. At the opening of the campaigning season of 1748, the French invested Maastricht and, after a brief siege. The citys siege started negotiations in April, ending the war in October 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds. The Vinkhuijzen collection of uniforms, France, 1750-1757. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013, flags through the ages and across the world. History of England From the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, browning, Reed. The War of the Austrian Succession, St. Martins Press, New York, ISBN 0-312-12561-5 Chandler, David. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough, spellmount Limited, ISBN 0-946771-42-1 Skrine, Francis Henry. Fontenoy and Great Britains Share in the War of the Austrian Succession 1741-48, history of England, from The Revolution to the Death of George the Second, London,1848, Vol. II
6.
Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)
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Bergen op Zoom was defended by allies, consisting of the Dutch, Austrians, British, Hanoverians and Hessians, that supported the Pragmatic Sanction. After seven years of war, both sides in this conflict were suffering from weariness of the war. Although tentative peace initiatives had been put forward, neither side was yet willing to make meaningful concessions, the capture of Bergen op Zoom would be a signal defeat for the Dutch and would open the door for an invasion of the Dutch Netherlands. Saxe calculated that his numerically inferior opponents would not be able to defend two fortified cities at once. Bergen op Zoom was a town with a population of some 5,000 people. The circumference of the ramparts was about three miles with ten bastions covered by five hornworks. The intervals contain twenty one ravelins which are covered by stone lunettes, much of the surrounding country was marshland. Because of these lines and some lines to the west, Bergen op Zoom could not be completely invested. The fortress was the work of the great Dutch engineer. It was believed to be impregnable and was considered the strongest fortification in Dutch Brabant, Bergen op Zoom had withstood two previous sieges, the first in 1588 and a second in 1622. It could be supplied with munitions and provision by boats using two navigable canals each defended by its own fort, Bergen op Zoom was well-garrisoned and well-supplied, so the siege by French forces did not cause immediate alarm in the Netherlands. The fortress had access to the sea, and the Dutch navy supplied the fortress without serious interference by the French, the French, since they were the besieging force and controlled much of the surrounding area, were also well-supplied and reinforced. However, the allies had an army under Prince Waldeck nearby which posed a threat to French supply lines. The various bastions, ravelins and lunettes of the fortification were all named and would mount over 230 cannon, the principal effort of the French concentrated on the bastions Coehoorn and Pucelle. Facing the French trench lines, the sides of Coehoorn were flanked on its right by the ravelin Antwerpen, between the bastion and Antwerpen was the lunette Holland and between the bastion and Diden was the lunette Zealand. To the left of Diden was the lunette, Utrecht, and this area would witness the most continuous and fierce combat of the siege. On the night of the 14 July the French opened the trenches using 2,400 workers supported by 10 companies of grenadiers and 5 battalions of infantry. Lowendal used 12,000 of his troops to man the trench lines, the first parallel was laid overnight of the first day,400 paces out from the fortifications
7.
Battle of Kesselsdorf
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The Prussians were led by Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, while the Austrians and Saxons were led by Field Marshal Rutowsky. The Prussians were victorious over the Royal Saxon Army and the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor. Two Prussian columns, one led by Frederick, the second by the Leopold the Old Dessauer were converging on Dresden, the capital of Saxony, interposed between Leopold and Dresden was Rutowsky with an army of Saxons. Rapidly marching towards Dresden and Rutowsky was prince Charles who hoped to be able to reinforce both, Leopold moved slowly and deliberately forward entering Saxon territory on 29 November and advanced on Rutowsky at Leipzig, whereupon Rutowsky retired towards Dresden. By 12 December, Leopold reached Meissen and joined with a corps under Lehwaldt, the Saxons deployed along a ridge that ran from Kesselsdorf to the river Elbe and that was fronted by a stream and marshy ground. The 7,000 Austrians under Grünne formed on the right near the Elbe, the line was long and there was a considerable gap in its center between the Saxons and the Austrians. On the fifteenth, Leopold finally came up, there was much snow and ice on the field. The Prussians were slightly outnumbered 35,000 to 32,000, additionally, the Saxons and Austrians had the advantage of the ground. The Saxons had the town defended with twenty-four heavy cannons, their engineers and carpenters enhancing its defensibility, a second, reinforced attack was made and this too failed with the Prussians fleeing in disorder. The Prussians had suffered some 1,500 casualties from the forces of 3,500. The shock of the charge sent the Saxons tumbling back and through their position in Kesselsdorf. At this same time, Leopolds son, Prince Moritz, personally led a regiment which broke through the Saxon center. The regiment, although isolated, held its ground while other Prussian regiments attempted but failed to link up with it due to the stubbornness of the Saxon defence. Eventually, Leopolds success in taking Kesselsdorf bore fruit and the Saxon flank was turned causing the Saxon line to collapse and their army to flee at nightfall. During the battle, the Austrians on the right never fired a shot, while Charles, the Saxons fled in a wild panic into Dresden. There, despite the presence of Charles and his army of 18,000, Leopold then linked up his forces with those of Frederick, who was so delighted by the victory that he embraced Leopold personally. The Saxons then abandoned Dresden, which Fredrick and Leopold occupied on the eighteenth after demanding its unconditional surrender, annals of the wars of the eighteenth century. Flags through the ages and across the world, the Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough
8.
Jacobite rising of 1745
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The Jacobite rising of 1745 was the attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession when most of the British Army was on the European continent, the march south began with an initial victory at Prestonpans near Edinburgh. The Jacobite army, now in bold spirits, marched onwards to Carlisle, the Battle of Culloden ended with the final defeat of the Jacobite cause, and with Charles Edward Stuart fleeing with a price on his head, before finally sailing to France. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 resulted in the Roman Catholic Stuart king, James II of England and VII of Scotland, James daughter and her husband, who was also Jamess nephew, ascended the British throne as joint sovereigns William and Mary. In 1690 Presbyterianism was established as the religion of Scotland. The Act of Settlement 1701 settled the succession of the English throne on the Protestant House of Hanover, the Scottish Act of Security 1704 required that Queen Annes successor be Protestant, and the Act of Union 1707 applied the Act of Settlement to Scotland. With the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the Elector of Hanover, George I, James IIs son, James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, attempted to gain the British throne in 1715 but failed to do so. The accession of George I ushered in the Whig supremacy, with the Tories deprived of all political power, George II succeeded his father in 1727. In February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole resigned as Prime Minister after nearly 21 years, thereafter, the Whig Henry Pelham was Prime Minister until 1754. In 1743 war broke out between Britain and France, as part of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and it was signed by the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Barrymore, Lord Orrery, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Sir John Hynde Cotton and Sir Robert Abdy. Amelot replied that the French government would need proof of English support for Jacobitism before it could act. The Tory leaders had requested 10,000 French soldiers and arms for 10,000 of the officers on half pay and unemployed soldiers. The French were to land in Maldon in Essex, a section of coast not patrolled by the Royal Navy, obviating a crossing of the River Thames and counting on support from Jacobite sentiment there. They advised that Maurice of Saxony should command the French army because he was known to most of them and was a Protestant. A parallel expeditionary force for a Scottish landing under the command of Lord Marischal was requested as well, James Butler, Louis XVs Master of Horse, toured England ostensibly for purchasing bloodstock but in reality to gauge the health of Jacobitism in England. Before he left for England the French king briefed him personally to assure the Tory leaders that all of their demands would be met and he reported back that they showed great zeal for a revolution. John Sample, a spy for Walpole, told the Duke of Newcastle that plans for a French invasion had been orchestrated by Wynn, Butler returned to France in October and had an audience with Louis XV, who said he was satisfied. The next month Amelot told Sempill officially that Louis XV was resolved to restore the House of Stuart, the Declaration of King James was signed by James Francis Edward Stuart on 23 December 1743 and was to be published in the event of a successful French landing
9.
Prussia
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Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
10.
Silesia
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Silesia is a region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is about 40,000 km2, and its population about 8,000,000, Silesia is located along the Oder River. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia, the region is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesias largest city and historical capital is Wrocław, the biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava fall within the borders of Silesia, Silesias borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The first known states to hold there were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, in the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. Most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia in 1742, later becoming part of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the varied history with changing aristocratic possessions resulted in an abundance of castles in Silesia, especially in the Jelenia Góra valley. The remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were partitioned to Czechoslovakia, in 1945, after World War II, the bulk of Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement of the victorious Allied Powers and became part of Poland. The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder-Neisse line, which had belonged to Silesia since 1815 and its centres are Görlitz and Bautzen. Most inhabitants of Silesia today speak the languages of their respective countries. The population of Upper Silesia is native, while Lower Silesia was settled by a German-speaking population before 1945, an ongoing debate exists whether Silesian speech should be considered a dialect of Polish or a separate language. Also, a Lower Silesian German dialect is used, although today it is almost extinct and it is used by expellees within Germany, as well as Germans who were left behind. The names all relate to the name of a river and mountain in mid-southern Silesia, the mountain served as a cultic place. Ślęża is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region, according to some Polish Slavists, the name Ślęża or Ślęż is directly related to the Old Slavic words ślęg or śląg, which means dampness, moisture, or humidity. They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name Śląsk from the name of the Silings tribe, in the fourth century BC, Celts entered Silesia, settling around Mount Ślęża near modern Wrocław, Oława, and Strzelin. Germanic Lugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century, Slavic peoples arrived in the region around the 7th century, and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local Slavs started to erect boundary structures like the Silesian Przesieka, the eastern border of Silesian settlement was situated to the west of the Bytom, and east from Racibórz and Cieszyn
11.
Saxony
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Its capital is Dresden, and its largest city is Leipzig. Saxony is the tenth largest of Germanys sixteen states, with an area of 18,413 square kilometres, located in the middle of a large, formerly all German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, the area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony is divided into 10 districts,1. After a reform in 2008, these regions - with some alterations of their respective areas - were called Direktionsbezirke, in 2012, the authorities of these regions were merged into one central authority, the Landesdirektion Sachsen. The Erzgebirgskreis district includes the Ore Mountains, and the Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district includes Saxon Switzerland, the largest cities in Saxony according to the 31 December 2015 estimate. To this can be added that Leipzig forms a metropolitan region with Halle. The latter city is located just across the border to Saxony-Anhalt, Leipzig shares for instance an S-train system and an airport with Halle. Saxony has, after Saxony Anhalt, the most vibrant economy of the states of the former East Germany and its economy grew by 1. 9% in 2010. Nonetheless, unemployment remains above the German average, the eastern part of Germany, excluding Berlin, qualifies as an Objective 1 development-region within the European Union, and is eligible to receive investment subsidies of up to 30% until 2013. FutureSAX, a business competition and entrepreneurial support organisation, has been in operation since 2002. Microchip makers near Dresden have given the region the nickname Silicon Saxony, the publishing and porcelain industries of the region are well known, although their contributions to the regional economy are no longer significant. Today the automobile industry, machinery production and services contribute to the development of the region. Saxony is also one of the most renowned tourist destinations in Germany - especially the cities of Leipzig and Dresden, new tourist destinations are developing, notably in the lake district of Lausitz. Saxony reported an unemployment of 8. 8% in 2014. By comparison the average in the former GDR was 9. 8% and 6. 7% for Germany overall, the unemployment rate reached 8. 2% in May 2015. The Leipzig area, which recently was among the regions with the highest unemployment rate, could benefit greatly from investments by Porsche. With the VW Phaeton factory in Dresden, and many part suppliers, zwickau is another major Volkswagen location
Prussia
Austria
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