Former Eastern Territories of Germany - The Former Eastern Territories in 20th-century Politics

The Former Eastern Territories in 20th-century Politics

From 1919 till 1990 sovereignty over some or all of these territories was subject to much diplomatic activity. Between the two world wars, many in Germany claimed that the territories ceded by Germany in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles (most of which were taken in Partitions of Poland) should be returned to Germany. This claim was an important precursor to the Second World War. In 1939 after its invasion of Poland, Germany reoccupied and annexed these territories (as well as additional land in Poland that previously had never been part of the German Reich). Germany subsequently lost all territories east of the Oder-Neisse Line at the end of World War II in 1945, when international recognition of its right to jurisdiction over any of these territories was withdrawn. The Eastern German areas east of the Oder-Neisse Line, and within the 1937 German Border, with the exception of Soviet Administered Northern East Prussia, became known as the Recovered Territories in Poland following World War II.

After World War II, the so-called "German question" was an important factor of post-war German history and politics. The debate affected Cold War politics and diplomacy and played an important role in the negotiations leading up to the reunification of Germany in 1990. In 1990 Germany officially recognized its present eastern border at the time of its reunification, ending any residual claims to sovereignty that Germany may have had over any territory east of the Oder-Neisse line.