sentences:  The referendum and eventual division of Upper Silesia were accompanied by three Silesian Uprisings, the first of which (in 1919) was centered on Rybnik.Within the Second Polish Republic of the interwar period, Rybnik was part of the Silesian Voivodeship and enjoyed far-reaching political and financial autonomy.With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the border city Rybnik returned under the rule of Germany, directly incorporated into the German state.