Wrocław (Czech: Vratislav, German: Breslau) has long been the largest and culturally dominant city in Silesia, and is today the capital of Poland's Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The history of Wrocław starts at a crossroads in Lower Silesia. It was one of the centres of the Duchy and then Kingdom of Poland, and briefly, in the first half of the 13th century, the centre of half of the divided Kingdom of Poland. German settlers arrived in increasing numbers after the 1241 Mongol invasion, and Wrocław eventually became part of the Kingdom of Bohemia. After the War of Austrian Succession, the city and region were added to Prussia, and later part of the German Empire. After World War II, Wroclaw and most of Silesia were transferred to Poland.
