Základ českého slezanství, patrného po celé 20. století, tvoří konglomerát silného, historickým vývojem podmíněného zemského až místního patriotismu, který se rozvíjel na národnostně smíšeném území českého Slezska. Po druhé světové válce se tento fenomén začal rychle revitalizovat, narozdíl od předválečného období však v jednoznačně česky nacionální podobě, zatímco teritoriální moment ustoupil do pozadí. Za touto aktivitou a novou interpretací stály intelektuální kruhy a instituce v Opavě, některé osobnosti z Ostravy a Slezský kulturní ústav v Praze. Kromě kulturněosvětové činnosti se jejich úsilí soustředilo na prosazování českého historického nároku na některé příhraniční oblasti polského a německého Slezska a také na zajištění svébytného územněsprávního postavení Slezska v rámci Československa, jehož zárodek viděli v ostravské expozituře Zemského národního výboru v Brně. Za komunistického režimu podle autorů projevovaly vedoucí orgány programový nezájem o problémy Slezska jako takového při řešení souvisejících hospodářských a jiných otázek, což má za následek „mlčení oficiálních pramenů“ o Slezsku. „Slezanství“ bylo v padesátých letech zavrhováno jako forma takzvaného buržoazního nacionalismu a ztotožňováno s obdobím česko-polských národnostních třenic v oblasti. Ze správního hlediska bylo Slezsko rozpuštěno v Ostravském, později Severomoravském kraji a připomínalo se prakticky jen kulturními projevy „antikvovaného slezanství“, jako byl folklor nebo muzeální expozice. Slezské organizace a spolky byly až na výjimky zrušeny nebo přejmenovány, nově zřízený Slezský studijní ústav v Opavě musel svůj historický výzkum prioritně zaměřit na dělnické hnutí. Určitý problém kvůli rozpornému zobrazení slezské identity představovalo dílo básníka Petra Bezruče a jeho sbírka Slezské písně, o jejíž ucelené vydání propukly v kulturní politice spory. V polovině padesátých let začal vycházet ostravský kulturně-politický časopis Červený květ, na jehož stránkách se opatrně diskutovaly otázky regionalismu. Koncem desetiletí ovšem komunistická strana podnikla tažení proti „lokálpatriotismu“, což se projevilo i v odsouzení publikace usilující o rehabilitaci básnického a myšlenkového odkazu Óndry Łysohorského, propagujícího za války teorii „lašského národa“. Během šedesátých let místní orgány a osobnosti v Opavě opět začaly zdůrazňovat úlohu tohoto města jako regionálního centra. V měsících pražského jara 1968 se pak objevilo volání po obnově slezské samosprávy, které však zůstalo víceméně omezeno na oblast Opavska, takže větší význam měly některé „slezské“ kulturní, iniciativy z téže doby., Czech Silesianness, obvious throughout the twentieth century, was based on a mixture of strong regional, even local, patriotism, which was determined by historical developments. This patriotism developed on the ethnically mixed territory of Czech Silesia (formerly Austrian Silesia). After the Second World War this phenomenon was quickly revived, bit unlike the pre-war period, it took a clearly Czech national form. The territorial factor, by contrast, receded into the background. Behind this activity and new interpretation stood intellectual circles and institutions in Opava, some leading figures from Ostrava, and the Silesian Cultural Institute in Prague. In addition to cultural-educational activity, their efforts were concentrated on claiming some border areas of Polish and German Silesia as being historically Czech, and also on ensuring the distinctive administrative status of the territory of Silesia in Czechoslovakia, the seed of which they saw in the Ostrava branch of the Moravian National Committee (Zemský národní výbor) in Brno. During the Communist régime, according to the authors, the top state authorities showed an intentional lack of interest in the problems of Silesia when solving related economic and other questions. A consequence of this was a ‘silencing of the official sources’ about Silesia. In the 1950s, ‘Silesianness’ was condemned as a form of ‘bourgeois nationalism’ and was identified with the period of Czech-Polish national friction in the region. From the administrative point of view Silesia was dissolved in the Ostrava area, later in the North Moravian Region, and was recalled practically only by artistic expressions of an ‘antiquated Silesianness’, such as folklore and museum exhibitions. Silesian organizations and societies were, with few exceptions, dissolved or renamed and the newly established Silesian Research Institute in Opava had to orient its historical research chiefly to the labour movement. The works of the poet Petr Bezruč (born Vladimír Vašek, 1867–1958) and his collection of verse, Slezské písně (Silesian Songs), presented a problem because of their questionable depiction of Silesian identity, and the publication of the complete collection led to disputes in cultural policy. The Ostrava-based arts and politics periodical Červený květ (Red Flower), which repeatedly included debates about regionalism, began to be published in the mid-1950s. At the end of the decade, however, the Communist Party launched a campaign against parochialism (lokálpatriotismus), which was reflected also in the condemnation of publications, and seeking to exonerate the poems and ideas of Óndra Łysohorsky (born Ervín Goj, 1905–1989), who during the war promoted the theory of a ‘Lach nation’. In the 1960s the local authorities and figures of Opava again began to emphasize the role of their town as a regional centre. During the Prague Spring of 1968 there were calls for the restoration of Silesian self-government, but that remained more or less limited to the Opava region, and consequently some ‘Silesian’ cultural initiatives from this period were of greater importance.
The Czech ''Silesian identity'', obvious throughout the twentieth century, was based on a mixture of strong regional, even local, patriotism, which was determined by historical developments. This patriotism developed on the ethnically mixed territory of Czech Silesia (formerly Austrian Silesia). After the Second World War, this phenomenon was quickly revived, but unlike in the pre-war period, it took a clearly Czech national form. The territorial factor, by contrast, receded into the background. Behind this activity and new interpretation stood intellectual circles and institutions in Opava, some leading fi gures from Ostrava, and the Silesian Cultural Institute in Prague. In addition to cultural-educational activity, their efforts were concentratedon claiming some border areas of Polish and German Silesia as being historically Czech, and also on ensuring the distinctive administrative status of the territory of Silesia in Czechoslovakia, the seed of which they saw in the Ostrava branch of the Moravian National Committee (Zemský národní výbor) in Brno. During the Communist regime, according to the authors, the top state authorities showed an intentional lack of interest in the problems of Silesia when solving related economic and other questions. A consequence of this was a ''silencing of the offi cial sources'' about Silesia. In the 1950s, the ''Silesian-ness'' was condemned as a form of ''bourgeois nationalism'' and was identifi ed with the period of Czech-Polish national friction in the region. From the administrative point of view, Silesia was dissolved in the Ostrava area, later in the North Moravian Region, and was recalled practically only by artistic expressions of an ''Old Silesian-ness'', such as folklore and museum exhibitions. Silesian organizations and societies were, with few exceptions, dissolved or renamed and the newly established Silesian Research Institute in Opava had to orient its historical research chiefl y to the labour movement. The works of the poet Petr Bezruč (born Vladimír Vašek, 1867-1958) and his collection of verses, Slezské písně (Silesian Songs), presented a problem because of their questionable depiction of Silesian identity, and the publication of the complete collection led to disputes in cultural policy. The Ostrava-based arts and politics periodical Červený květ (Red Flower), which repeatedly included debates about regionalism, began to be published in the mid-1950s. At the end of the decade, however, the Communist Party launched a campaign against parochialism (lokálpatriotismus), which was refl ected also in the condemnation of publications seeking to exonerate the poems and ideas of Óndra Łysohorsky (born Ervín Goj, 1905-1989), who during the war promoted the theory of a ''Lach nation.'' In the 1960s, the local authorities and fi gures of Opava again began to emphasize the role of their town as a regional centre. During the Prague Spring of 1968, there were calls for the restoration of Silesian self-government, but that remained more or less limited to the Opava region, and consequently some ''Silesian'' cultural initiatives from this period were of greater importance.