Oder–Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line (German: Oder-Neiße-Grenze, Polish: granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej) is an unofficial term for the modern border between Germany and Poland. The line generally follows the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, meeting the Baltic Sea in the north. A small portion of Polish territory does fall west of the line, including the cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście (German: Stettin and Swinemünde).[1]
All prewar German territories east of the line and within the 1937 German boundaries – comprising nearly one quarter (23.8 percent) of the Weimar Republic – were ceded under the changes decided at the Potsdam Conference, with the majority ceded to Poland. The remainder, consisting of northern East Prussia including the German city of Königsberg (renamed Kaliningrad), was allocated to the Soviet Union, as the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian SFSR (today Russia). Much of the German population in these territories – estimated at around 12 million in autumn 1944 – had fled in the wake of the Soviet Red Army's advance.
The Oder–Neisse line marked the border between East Germany and Poland from 1950 to 1990. The two Communist governments agreed to the border in 1950, while West Germany, after a period of refusal, adhered to the border, with reservations, in 1972 (treaty signed in 1970).[2]
After the revolutions of 1989, newly reunified Germany and Poland accepted the line as their border in the 1990 German–Polish Border Treaty.
History[edit]
The lower River Oder in Silesia was Piast Poland's western border from the 10th until the 13th century.[3] From around the time of World War I, some proposed restoring this line, in the belief that it would provide protection against Germany. One of the first proposals was made in the Russian Empire. Later, when the Nazis gained power, the German territory to the east of the line was militarised by Germany with a view to a future war, and the Polish population faced Germanisation.[4] The policies of Nazi Germany also encouraged nationalism among the German minority in Poland.
While the process of Germanisation of lands east of the Limes Sorabicus line already took place between 12th and 14th century, there were many areas where German population hardly settled at all, making the process of Germanisation extend well into the 19th and 20th centuries.[5]
For example, on the Rugia Island, the local Slavic culture and language persisted into the 19th century; this was also the case for many areas between the Oder–Neisse and interwar Polish border. About half of what was Farther Pomerania remained plurality Kashubian or Polish until 18th and 19th century, with surviving majority Slavic pockets extending as far west as Dievenow.[5] In 1905, Arnošt Muka observed that "there remained in that land an old Slav national grouping with types and means of settlement, customs and habits unchanged through to this day in the character and outlook of the inhabitants”.[5] The situation was similar in the Western part of Silesia, where Polish and Silesian languages remained dominant by the end of 18th century in areas such as Ohlau, Groß Wartenberg and Namslau.[5]
Before World War II, Poland's western border with Germany had been fixed under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. It partially followed the historic border between the Holy Roman Empire and Greater Poland, but with certain adjustments that were intended to reasonably reflect the ethnic compositions of small areas near the traditional provincial borders. The fate of Upper Silesia was to be decided in a plebiscite, which produced 59.8% votes in favour of Germany. The plebiscite took place among severe ethnic tensions, as German authorities and Freikorps clashed and persecuted the local Polish population, and the Poles organised massive strikes and protests.[6] The plebiscite allowed both permanent inhabitants of the area but also people born in the region to vote, regardless of their current location or time spent living in Silesia.[7] Voters who participated in the plebiscite despite not living in Upper Silesia were called "migrants", and made up 192,408 (16 %) of the total electorate of 1,186,234. As these "migrants" voted overwhelmingly for Germany, the local Polish population considered the plebiscite to be fraudulent, resulting in three Silesian Uprisings.[7] Eventually, the region was divided roughly equally, with some majority Polish regions remaining in Germany, and some German provinces being ceded to Poland.
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the Polish delegation led by Roman Dmowski requested the inclusion of the city of Danzig in the Polish state, arguing that the city was "rightfully part of Poland" because it was Polish until 1793, and that Poland would not be economically viable without it.[8] During the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the inhabitants of Danzig fought fiercely for it to remain a part of Poland,[9] but as a result of the Germanisation process in the 19th century,[10] 90% of the people in Danzig were German by 1919, which made the Entente leaders at the Paris Peace Conference compromise by creating the Free City of Danzig, a city-state in which Poland had certain special rights.[11] The city of Danzig was 90% German and 10% Polish, yet the surrounding countryside around Danzig was overwhelmingly Polish, and the ethnically Polish rural areas included in the Free City of Danzig objected, arguing that they wanted to be part of Poland.[8]
The Oder-Neisse line as a concept of future Polish border appeared among Polish nationalist circles in late 19th century; Jan Ludwik Popławski is considered to be one of the first advocates for the return of "Piast Poland", although his writings mainly focused on Upper Silesia, Opolian Silesia and the southern part of East Prussia, as these regions remained majority Polish.[12] In 1918, Bolesław Jakimiak advocated for a Polish border along the rivers of Oder and Lusatian Neisse, possibly inspired by the proposals of Russian nationalists. He described the German expansion towards the formerly Slavic lands and considered it a "matter of historical justice" to have East Prussia, the entirety of Pomerania, East Brandenburg and both Lower and Upper Silesia become "integral parts" of the future Polish state.[12] At the Paris Peace Conference, Polish commission supervised by Jules Cambon and headed by Roman Dmowski proposed a Polish border that would encompass the entirety of Upper Silesia and most of Opolian Silesia, including cities of Ratibor, Neustadt, Falkenberg, Brieg, Oels and Militsch in Poland. The entirety of Greater Poland was also to be ceded to the Polish state, along with Danzig, Warmia and Masuria. While the postulate of the Polish delegation gained acceptance of the rest of the conference, it was met with vehement protest from David Lloyd George, whose opposition led to border changes in favour of Germany.[12]
Considerations during the war[edit]
Background[edit]
Between the wars, the concept of "Western thought" (myśl zachodnia) became popular among some Polish nationalists. The "Polish motherland territories" were defined by scholars, like Zygmunt Wojciechowski, as the areas included in Piast Poland in the 10th century.[13][14][15][16] Some Polish historians called for the "return" of territories up to the river Elbe.[16] The proponents of these ideas, in prewar Poland often described as a "group of fantasists", were organized in the National Party, which was also opposed to the government of Poland, the Sanacja.[17] The proposal to establish the border along the Oder and Neisse was not seriously considered for a long time.[4] After World War II the Polish Communists, lacking their own expertise regarding the Western border, adopted the National Democratic concept of western thought.[18]
After Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Poland, some Polish politicians started to see a need to alter the border with Germany.[4] A secure border[4] was seen as essential, especially in the light of Nazi atrocities. During the war, Nazi Germany committed genocide against Poland's population, especially Jews, whom they classified as Untermenschen ("sub-humans"). Alteration to the western border was seen as a punishment for the Germans for their atrocities and a compensation for Poland.[4][Note 1] The participation in the genocide by German minorities and their paramilitary organizations, such as the Selbstschutz ("self defense"), and support for Nazism among German society also connected the issue of border changes with the idea of population transfers intended to avoid such events in the future.[20]
Initially the Polish government in exile envisioned territorial changes after the war which would incorporate East Prussia, Danzig (Gdańsk) and the Oppeln (Opole) Silesian region into post-war Poland, along with a straightening of the Pomeranian border and minor acquisition in the Lauenburg (Lębork) area.[4] The border changes were to provide Poland with a safe border and to prevent the Germans from using Eastern Pomerania and East Prussia as strategic assets against Poland.[Note 2] Only with the changing situation during the war were these territorial proposals modified.[4] In October 1941 the exile newspaper Dziennik Polski postulated a postwar Polish western border that would include East Prussia, Silesia up to the Lausitzer Neisse and at least both banks of the Oder's mouth.[21] While these territorial claims were regarded as "megalomaniac" by the Soviet ambassador in London, in October 1941 Stalin announced the "return of East Prussia to Slavdom" after the war. On 16 December 1941 Stalin remarked in a meeting with the British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden, though inconsistent in detail, that Poland should receive all German territory up to the river Oder.[21] In May 1942 General Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, sent two memoranda to the US government, sketching a postwar Polish western border along the Oder and Neisse (inconsistent about the Eastern Glatzer Neisse and the Western Lausitzer Neisse). However, the proposal was dropped by the government-in-exile in late 1942.[22]
In post-war Poland the government described the Oder–Neisse line as the result of tough negotiations between Polish Communists and Stalin.[23]
However, according to the modern Institute of National Remembrance, Polish aspirations had no impact on the final outcome; rather the idea of a westward shift of the Polish border was adopted synthetically by Stalin, who was the final arbiter in the matter. Stalin's political goals as well as his desire to foment enmity between Poles and Germans influenced his idea of a swap of western for eastern territory, thus ensuring control over both countries.[4] As with before the war, some fringe groups advocated restoring the old border between Poland and Germany.[4][13][14][15][16][17]
Tehran Conference[edit]
At the Tehran Conference in late 1943, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin raised the subject of Poland's western frontier and its extension to the River Oder. While the Americans were not interested in discussing any border changes at that time,[24] Roosevelt agreed that in general the Polish border should be extended West to the Oder, while Polish eastern borders should be shifted westwards; he also admitted that it was due to elections at home he could not express his position publicly.[25] British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden wrote in his diary that "A difficulty is that the Americans are terrified of the subject which [Roosevelt advisor] Harry [Hopkins] called 'political dynamite' for their elections. But, as I told him, if we cannot get a solution, Polish-Soviet relations six months from now, with Soviet armies in Poland, will be infinitely worse and elections nearer."[26]
Winston Churchill compared the westward shift of Poland to soldiers taking two steps "left close" and declared in his memoirs: "If Poland trod on some German toes that could not be helped, but there must be a strong Poland."[27]
The British government formed a clear position on the issue and at the first meeting of the European Advisory Commission on 14 January 1944, recommended "that East Prussia and Danzig, and possibly other areas, will ultimately be given to Poland" as well as agreeing on a Polish "frontier on the Oder".[25][28]
Yalta Conference[edit]
In February 1945, American and British officials met in Yalta and agreed on the basics on Poland's future borders. In the east, the British agreed to the Curzon line but recognised that the US might push for Lwów to be included in post-war Poland. In the west, Poland should receive part of East Prussia, Danzig, the eastern tip of Pomerania and Upper Silesia. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that it would "make it easier for me at home" if Stalin were generous to Poland with respect to Poland's eastern frontiers.[29] Winston Churchill said a Soviet concession on that point would be admired as "a gesture of magnanimity" and declared that, with respect to Poland's post-war government, the British would "never be content with a solution which did not leave Poland a free and independent state."[30] With respect to Poland's western frontiers, Stalin noted that the Polish Prime Minister in exile, Stanisław Mikołajczyk, had been pleased when Stalin had told him Poland would be granted Stettin/Szczecin and the German territories east of the Western Neisse.[31] Yalta was the first time that the Soviets openly declared support for a German-Polish frontier on the Western as opposed to the Eastern Neisse.[32] Churchill objected to the Western Neisse frontier, saying that "it would be a pity to stuff the Polish goose so full of German food that it got indigestion."[33] He added that many Britons would be shocked if such large numbers of Germans were driven out of these areas, to which Stalin responded that "many Germans" had "already fled before the Red Army."[34] Poland's western frontier was ultimately left to be decided at the Potsdam Conference.