Recent Developments
Under previous governments, especially those led by the CDU, the West German government had shown more rhetorical support for German refugees and expellees. Although the Social Democrats showed strong support for the expellees especially under Kurt Schumacher and Erich Ollenhauer, social democrats in more recent decades have traditionally been less supportive — and it was under Willy Brandt that West Germany recognized the Oder-Neisse line as factual as part of his Ostpolitik.
In 1989-1990 the German government realized they had an opportunity to remove the division between the Federal Republic of Germany and Soviet created German Democratic Republic. However, it was believed that if this was to be realized it had to be done quickly. One of the potential complications were the claims to historical eastern Germany, since unless these were renounced, some foreign governments might not agree to German reunification. The Federal German government thus agreed to the 1990 Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany (Two Plus Four Agreement), which officially re-established both German states' sovereignty. A condition of this agreement was that Germany accept the post-World War II frontiers created by the victors. Upon reunification in 1990, the constitution was amended to state that Germany's territory had reached its full extent. Article 146 was amended so that Article 23 of the current constitution could be used for reunification. Once the five "reestablished federal states" in the east had been united with the west, the Basic Law was amended again to show that there were no other parts of Germany, which existed outside of the unified territory, that had not acceded.
Read more about this topic: Federation Of Expellees
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