Despite central government involvement in the conflict, Polish historiography renders the events as uprisings reflecting the will of ordinary Upper Silesians rather than a war.

[3] Much of Silesia had belonged to the Crown of Polish Kingdom in medieval times, but it passed to the Kings of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century.

[8] After World War I, during the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles, the German government claimed that, without Upper Silesia, it would not be able to fulfill its obligations with regard to reparations to the Allies.

[4] While still under German control, various Poles identified as Silesians would write, publish, distribute pamphlets, newsletters and other written material, promoting the idea of a Polish-Silesian Identity.

One such publisher was Ignacy Bulla (later changed to Buła in celebration), who would spread information related to these principles at risk to his own life and freedom.

[11] The German military administrators distrusted the Poles, taking the viewpoint that as Slavs, they were naturally sympathetic towards the Russians, and governed Upper Silesia in a very high-handed and harsh manner.

[11] The First World War was a period in Upper Silesia of collapsing living standards as wages failed to keep up with inflation; almost everyone suffered from shortages of food and working hours were increased in the mines and factories.

[12] The nationalist climate produced by the Spirit of 1914, with its sense that all Germans should rally behind the Kaiser in the war effort, led members of Germany's Polish minority to feel more excluded and marginalized than before 1914.

[4] The requirement for a referendum in Upper Silesia in the Treaty of Versailles was a compromise to resolve the Anglo-French dispute at the Paris peace conference.

[citation needed] The majority of the men serving in the para-military forces on both sides were veterans of the First World War and were experienced soldiers, accustomed to fighting and killing.

On 15 August 1919, German border guards (Grenzschutz) massacred ten Silesian civilians in a labour dispute at the Mysłowice mine (Myslowitzer Grube).

[4] About 21,000 German soldiers of the Weimar Republic's Provisional National Army (Vorläufige Reichsheer), with about 40,000 troops held in reserve, quickly put down the uprising.

[4] In August 1920, a German newspaper in Upper Silesia printed what later turned out to be a false announcement of the fall of Warsaw to the Red Army in the Polish–Soviet War.

[4][24] On 19 August, the violence eventually led to a Polish uprising which quickly resulted within the occupation of government offices in the districts of Kattowitz (Katowice), Pless (Pszczyna) and Beuthen (Bytom).

Between 20 and 25 August, the rebellion spread to Königshütte (Chorzów), Tarnowitz (Tarnowskie Góry), Rybnik, Lublinitz (Lubliniec) and Gross Strehlitz (Strzelce Opolskie).

The Allied Commission declared its intention to restore order, but internal differences kept anything from being done; British representatives held the French responsible for the easy spread of the uprising through the eastern region.

A particular concern was to prevent the recurrence of violent acts against Polish civilians by members of the Freikorps, demobilised Imperial German army units that had refused to disband.

[27] The Inter-Allied Commission, in which General Henri Le Rond was the most influential individual, waited rather long prior to taking any steps to end the violence.

[28] UK Prime Minister Lloyd George's speech in the British Parliament, strongly disapproving of the insurrection, aroused the hopes of some Germans, but the Entente appeared to have no troops ready and available for dispatch.

They proved that they could mobilize large amounts of local support, while the German forces based outside Silesia were barred from taking an active part in the conflict.

[37] One British Army officer wrote in 1921 "It is revolting the number of murders that took place, generally at night and in the woods, which no amount of patrolling could stop.

[37] Much of the grotesque violence was due to the fluidity of identities in Upper Silesia where many people saw themselves as neither German nor Polish, but rather Silesian, thus leading to nationalists to take extreme measures to polarize society into diametrically opposed blocs.

On 23 May 1921, the Freikorps defeated the Poles at the Battle of Annaberg, which in turn led to a French ultimatum demanding that the Reich cease at once its support of the German para-military forces.

[28] Simultaneously, with this advance, the Inter-Allied Commission pronounced a general amnesty for the illegal actions committed during the insurrection, with the exception of acts of revenge and cruelty.

[28] Arrangements between the Germans and Poles in Upper Silesia and appeals issued by both sides, as well as the dispatch of six battalions of Allied troops and the disbandment of the local guards, contributed markedly to the pacification of the district.

[4][28] The greatest excitement was caused all over Germany and in the German part of Upper Silesia by the intimation that the Council of the League of Nations had handed over the matter for closer investigation to a commission; this remained composed of four representatives, one each from Belgium, Brazil, Spain, and China.

[4] On the basis of the reports of this commission and those of its experts, in October 1921 the Council awarded the greater part of the Upper Silesian industrial district to Poland.

During his time in office, which lasted until 1939, Grażyński held rallies to honor the anniversary of the uprising of 1921 every May 3rd, as his regime was based on the support of Związek Powstańców Śląskich.

[46] During the Communist era, the government in Warsaw took an ultra-nationalist line to rebut the charge that it was under Soviet domination, and placed great emphasis on the "recovered western territories" as the centerpiece of its claim for legitimacy.

[47] Władysław Gomułka gave a speech at Góra Świętej Anny on 1 May 1946 to honor the Poles killed fighting in the battle in 1921 and presented a line of continuity between the uprising of 1921 and his government.