1848 - Publication of "Tygodnik Cieszyński" – the beginning of the Polish national movement

The revolutionary events in Europe in the years 1848-1849 meant that the lower social classes – the peasantry and the emerging working class – gained standing. Similar movements occurred also in Cieszyn Silesia, where Paweł Stalmach and Andrzej Cinciała became peasant leaders. In 1848, on the initiative of Stalmach, Cinciała and Ludwik Klucki, the first newspaper in Polish, Tygodnik Cieszyński (The Cieszyn Weekly), was published in Cieszyn Silesia, which in a short time adopted goals consistent with the Polish raison d'etat. Tygodnik voiced the demands of peasants and their leaders concerning the right for the Polish language to be used in offices and courts. However, in the following year the authorities in Vienna tightened the policy and led to the liquidation of the paper and other Polish organizations. In 1851, a new magazine appeared, Gwiazdka Cieszyńska (The Cieszyn Star), which did not publish political content during this period. The activity of the Polish national movement brought first successes in the 1860s.