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138-490: Lebus is situated in the southeast of Märkisch-Oderland District, on a ridge at the left bank of the middle Oder river, which since the implementation of the Oder–Neisse line in 1945 marks the eastern German border with Poland. The town centre is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Frankfurt (Oder) . The municipal area comprises the localities of Lebus proper, Mallnow, Schönfließ, and Wulkow. Schönfließ Dorf station

276-524: A castellany built at the river to control it. Duke Bolesław allied with Emperor Otto III to fight against the Polabian Lutici tribes, sealed in the 1000 Congress of Gniezno . On the other hand, in 13th-century chronicles, Lebus was named "the key to the Kingdom of Poland" and as a Polish stronghold against German invasion. The Diocese of Lebus was founded in 1124-25 AD, during the reign of

414-703: A count of the Holy Roman Empire and granted him his duchy as a fief . Henry not only obtained the preeminence in Silesia but, with the help of the German party in Polonia Minor, also the duchy of Kraków and became duke of Poland. He initially wanted Wenceslaus to become his successor, but changed his plan on the deathbed and granted Wrocław to Henry III and Kraków to Przemysł II , whereas Kłodzko returned to Bohemia. As Przemysł II united Poland,

552-528: A goliard . The descent of the dynasty was also illustrated by the marriages of the dukes. The Silesian Piasts of the 13th and 14th century married into princely families especially from German families, but also other European royal lines, whereas later Piasts also married non-princely and even bourgeois women. With the adoption of the Protestant faith in Silesia, the Piasts again gained importance. Against

690-587: 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. At the Paris Peace Conference , Polish commission supervised by Jules Cambon and headed by Roman Dmowski proposed

828-519: 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

966-594: 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." 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

1104-647: A backwater locality. From 1701 onwards, Lebus was part of the Kingdom of Prussia . In 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars , it was administered within the newly established Prussian Province of Brandenburg . During the last stage of World War II , Lebus, including its medieval center, was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of the Seelow Heights . While the town itself remained part of East Germany ,

1242-544: A change would take place (as was read by Germans who hoped for support to regain the lost territories). The purpose of the speech and associated US diplomatic activities was as propaganda aimed at Germany by Western Powers, who could blame the Polish-German border and German expulsions on Moscow alone. In the late 1950s, by the time of Dwight D. Eisenhower 's Presidency, the United States had largely accepted

1380-587: A close alliance with his brother-in-law, Bohemian king Wenceslaus , he consolidated his position in Greater Poland against Barnim I of Pomerania and repelled an attack on castle Lubusz by the margrave of Brandenburg and the archbishop of Magdeburg . Following an old tradition of his dynasty , he placed himself under the protection of the Holy See , with which he also allied himself against Frederick II . In spite of all his German connections, Henry

1518-402: 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. In 1918, Bolesław Jakimiak advocated for

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1656-846: A line following the Oder-Bober-Queiss ( Odra - Bóbr - Kwisa ) rivers through Żagań (Sagan) and Lubań (Lauban), but even this small concession ultimately proved unnecessary, since on the next day Byrnes told the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that the Americans would reluctantly concede to the Western Neisse. Byrnes' concession undermined the British position, and although the British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin raised objections,

1794-591: A massive international backlash that threatened to derail the process for German reunification, Kohl hastily changed track, and said that a reunified Germany would accept the Oder–Neisse line after all, and that he would not seek to link recognizing the Oder–Neisse line to talks about compensation. In November 1990, after German reunification , the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland signed

1932-517: A moderation of Soviet demands for reparations from the Western occupation zones. An Eastern Neisse boundary would have left Germany with roughly half of Silesia – including the majority of Wrocław (Breslau), the former provincial capital and the largest city in the region. The Soviets insisted that the Poles would not accept this. The Polish representatives (and Stalin) were in fact willing to concede

2070-488: A policy, and that the current policy of opposing the Oder–Neisse line would have to continue. This caused considerable disappointment with Adenauer's Western allies, who had been applying strong pressure behind the scenes and would continue to apply such pressure for the rest of the 1950s for Bonn to recognize the Oder–Neisse line. This pressure become especially acute after the "Polish October" crisis of 1956 brought to power Władysław Gomułka as Poland's new leader. Gomułka

2208-579: A press conference in London that the Federal Republic's stance on the Oder–Neisse line was "somewhat problematic", and suggested that the Federal Republic should recognize the Oder–Neisse line in exchange for the Soviet Union allowing German reunification. Brentano's remark caused such an uproar with the expellee leaders arguing that he should resign, that Adenauer was forced to disallow his foreign minister, and Brentano only kept his job by claiming that he

2346-680: A short time, Lubusz Land was under the rule of Duke Mieszko , a younger son of Henry II, who died about one year later and was buried in the St. Peter's Church in Lubusz. In 1248/49 the Silesian duke Bolesław II Rogatka finally gave town and land in pledge to the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg and Archbishop Wilbrand of Magdeburg , whose forces had attacked Lubusz Land since the 1230s. The Brandenburg margraves eventually took over control and during

2484-612: A statement supporting the Oder–Neisse line, which created controversy in West Germany. The Oder–Neisse line was, however, never formally recognized by the United States until the revolutionary changes of 1989 and 1990. Those territories were known in Poland as the Regained or Recovered Territories , a term based on the claim that they were in the past the possession of the Piast dynasty of Polish kings, Polish fiefs or included in

2622-590: A strong Poland." 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". In February 1945, American and British officials met in Yalta and agreed on

2760-483: A swap of western for eastern territory, thus ensuring control over both countries. As with before the war, some fringe groups advocated restoring the old border between Poland and Germany. 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 's land area – were ceded to Poland and the Soviet Union under

2898-552: A treaty confirming the border between them, as requested by the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany . Earlier, Germany had amended its constitution and abolished Article 23 of West Germany's Basic Law (on which reunification was based), which could have been used to claim the former German eastern territories. Silesian Piasts The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of

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3036-762: Is a stop on the Eberswalde–Frankfurt (Oder) railway line served by the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn carrier. Settlement in the Lebus region has been traced as far back as 3,000 years. The ridges provided natural defense and led to fortifications being constructed upon them. The Germanic Lombards and Semnoni are believed to have lived in the area before the Common Era . After the Migration Period , since approximately 7th century AD,

3174-518: 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 ). In post-war Poland the government described the Oder–Neisse line as

3312-543: Is betrayal", but it was Brandt who eventually changed West Germany's attitude with his policy of Ostpolitik . In 1970 West Germany signed treaties with the Soviet Union ( Treaty of Moscow ) and Poland ( Treaty of Warsaw ) recognizing Poland's Western border at the Oder–Neisse line as current reality, and not to be changed by force. This had the effect of making family visits by the displaced eastern Germans to their lost homelands now more or less possible. Such visits were still very difficult, however, and permanent resettlement in

3450-596: The Catholic Habsburg dynasty , which ruled Silesia since 1526, the dukes sought political support by entering matrimonies with Protestant, imperial rulers like the Hohenzollern dynasty. Their last attempts of independent policies were the candidatures of Frederick II of Liegnitz for the Bohemian crown (1526) and of Henry XI (1573), Frederick IV (1576) and Christian (1668) for the Polish crown. During

3588-486: The Duchy of Głogów separated from Poland as well. The last independent Silesian Piast – Bolko II of Świdnica – died in 1368. His wife Agnes ruled the Świdnica duchy until her death in 1392. From that time on, all remaining Silesian Piasts were vassals of the Bohemian crown, although they maintained their sovereign rights. In 1335, John of Bohemia renounced his claim to the title of king of Poland in favour of Casimir

3726-577: The Duchy of Opole for his eldest son Jarosław . Mieszko Tanglefoot the smaller Duchy of Racibórz around Racibórz and Cieszyn . Their minor brother Konrad Spindleshanks received Żagań , Głogów and Krosno from the hands of Bolesław the Tall. As Konrad prepared himself for a clerical career at the Fulda monastery , his brother Bolesław administered his possessions until Konrad's early death, when he incorporated Konrad's part into his own duchy. Mieszko at

3864-687: The Germanisation of Silesia did not necessarily mean a desire to move apart from Poland. He suggests that it was more likely a way to satisfy the Silesian Piasts' ambitions inside Poland. The planned introduction of German settlers would strengthen Silesia, and also the Silesian Piast claims to the senioral throne in Kraków. Only when the Silesian Piasts' ambitions to rule in Kraków were thwarted did they decide to set their province on

4002-471: The revolutions of 1989 , newly reunified Germany and Poland accepted the line as their border in the 1990 German–Polish Border Treaty . The lower River Oder in Silesia was Piast Poland 's western border from the 10th until the 13th century. 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

4140-627: The "return" of territories up to the river Elbe . 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 . The proposal to establish the border along the Oder and Neisse was not seriously considered for a long time. After World War II the Polish Communists, lacking their own expertise regarding

4278-509: The 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, various branches of the Silesian Piasts became extinct. In 1532, the last Duke of Opole, John II the Good, died, leaving most of Upper Silesia under direct Bohemian rule. In 1675, the last legitimate Silesian Piast – George William, Duke of Liegnitz – died. The last male Silesian Piast was baron Ferdinand II Hohenstein , who died in 1706, the last female Piast, Charlotte , died in 1707. The Silesian Piasts formed

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4416-532: The 2019 local elections was 68.8%. Seats upon 2019 local elections: The coat of arms of Lebus depicts a wolf carrying a sheep in its mouth. The Heimatstube Lebus has information about the history and tourism sights of the town. Nearby hills and ridges have provided natural defenses to the town for over a thousand years. The Turmberg offers a view of the Oder river valley. Oder%E2%80%93Neisse line The Oder–Neisse line ( German : Oder-Neiße-Grenze , Polish : granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej )

4554-528: The Adenauer government, and believed the alliance with the Soviet Union was the only thing stopping the threat of a new German invasion. Gomułka told the 8th Plenum on 19 October 1956 that: "Poland needs friendship with the Soviet Union more than the Soviet Union needs friendship with Poland...Without the Soviet Union we cannot maintain our borders with the West". During his meetings with Nikita Khrushchev during

4692-516: 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." 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

4830-405: The Americans were not interested in discussing any border changes at that time, 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 due to elections at home he could not express his position publicly. British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden wrote in his diary that "A difficulty is that

4968-577: The Bohemian Crown 1373–1415 [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1415–1618 [REDACTED] Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1871 [REDACTED]   German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED]   Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED]   East Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany 1990–present The region

5106-545: The British eventually agreed to the American concession. In response to American and British statements that the Poles were claiming far too much German territory, Stanisław Mikołajczyk argued that "the western lands were needed as a reservoir to absorb the Polish population east of the Curzon Line , Poles who returned from the West, and Polish people who lived in the overcrowded central districts of Poland." The U.S. and

5244-523: The Curly also retained control of the most important Silesian cities such as Wrocław , Opole , Głogów , Racibórz and Legnica until 1166 when the Silesian dukes took control of these parts. Władysław's sons probably ruled Silesia together until 1172, when they divided their territory: Bolesław the Tall, eldest brother, received the large area from Legnica up the Oder River to Wroclaw and created

5382-570: The Curly was pressed by Frederick Barbarossa to return the hereditary Silesian province to Władysław's sons Bolesław the Tall , Konrad Spindleshanks and Mieszko Tanglefoot , though he retained the Seniorate Province and the Polish throne at Kraków. The Duchy of Silesia remained within the Polish seniorate constitution, but Władysław's sons were obliged to pay a yearly tribute to the Holy Roman Emperor . High Duke Bolesław

5520-681: 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. 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. The Oder-Neisse line as

5658-511: The German historian Hans Peter Schwarz has argued that Adenauer may have genuinely believed that Germany had the right to retake the land lost east of the Oder and Neisse rivers, despite all of the image problems this created for him in the United States and western Europe. By contrast, the Finnish historian Pertti Ahonen—citing numerous private statements made by Adenauer that Germany's eastern provinces were lost forever and expressing contempt for

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5796-501: 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). After

5934-628: The German population). Stettin was the traditional seaport of Berlin. It had a dominant German population and a small Polish minority that numbered 2,000 in the interwar period. The western Allies sought to place the border on the eastern Neisse at Breslau, but Stalin refused to budge. Suggestions of a border on the Bóbr (Bober) were also rejected by the Soviets. Nikita Khrushchev in his memoirs said: "I had only one desire – that Poland's borders were moved as far west as possible." Not satisfied with

6072-601: The German territories east of the Western Neisse. 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. 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." 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

6210-590: The Germans from using Eastern Pomerania and East Prussia as strategic assets against Poland. Only with the changing situation during the war were these territorial proposals modified. 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. While these territorial claims were regarded as "megalomaniac" by

6348-497: The Great , who in return renounced his claims to Silesia. This was formalized in the treaties of Trenčín and Visegrád , ratified in 1339. The division into small and smallest territories led to a decline of prestige and power. Many Silesian Piasts now merely had the status of squires with greater rights. Some Piasts entered foreign services as mercenary leaders, like John II of Glogau and Sagan. Henry IX traveled through Europe as

6486-763: The Late Middle Ages, Lebus served as an important stop on trade routes from the Baltic coast to Italy and from the Greater Polish residence in Poznań to Flanders . However, after the destruction of the town's cathedral by troops of Emperor Charles IV in 1373, during the struggle between the Imperial Houses of Wittelsbach and Luxembourg Luxemburg over the Brandenburg heritage, the seat of

6624-540: The Oder as a fief to the Silesian Piasts. German colonization of the region proceeded throughout the 13th century and the settlement became predominantly known as Lebus . The Silesian duke Henry the Bearded granted its citizens town privileges in 1226. After the death of Henry's son Duke Henry II the Pious in the 1241 Battle of Legnica , the Silesian Piasts were no longer able to maintain their dominant position. For

6762-592: The Oder-Neisse line, the Polish communists initially wanted to own the entire island of Usedom and push the border west to the Randow river ; however they were refused by Stalin. At Potsdam, Stalin argued for the Oder–Neisse line on the grounds that the Polish Government demanded this frontier and that there were no longer any Germans left east of this line. Several Polish Communist leaders appeared at

6900-416: The Oder–Neisse line as Germany's eastern frontier, and made it quite clear that if Germany ever reunified, the Federal Republic would lay claim to all of the land that had belonged to Germany as at 1 January 1937. Adenauer's rejection of the border adjustments resulting from the Potsdam agreement was viewed critically by some in Poland. Soon after the agreement was signed, both the US and Soviet Union accepted

7038-445: The Oder–Neisse line as final and did not support German demands regarding the border, while officially declaring a need for a final settlement in a peace treaty. In the mid-1960s the U.S. government accepted the Oder–Neisse line as binding and agreed that there would be no changes to it in the future. German revisionism regarding the border began to cost West Germany sympathies among its western allies. In 1959, France officially issued

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7176-460: The Oder–Neisse line was to create major image problems for him in the Western countries in the 1950s, where many regarded his revanchist views on where Germany's eastern borders ought to be with considerable distaste, and only the fact that East Germany was between the Federal Republic and Poland prevented this from becoming a major issue in relations with the West. On 1 May 1956, the West German Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano admitted during

7314-589: The Oder–Western Neisse line, and in his famous Iron Curtain speech declared that The Russian-dominated Polish Government has been encouraged to make enormous and wrongful inroads upon Germany, and mass expulsions of millions of Germans on a scale grievous and undreamed-of are now taking place. Not only were the German territorial changes of the Nazis reversed, but the border was moved westward, deep into territory which had been in 1937 part of Germany with an almost exclusively German population. The new line placed almost all of Silesia , more than half of Pomerania ,

7452-486: The Pious would, therefore, assuredly have maintained the independence and prestige of the kingdom if all his plan had not been annihilated by an unforeseen catastrophe. In 1241, he died as a Christian hero in the Battle of Legnica , in which he was attempting to arrest the Mongolian invasion. His death left the Silesian Piast dynasty deeply shaken. After Henry's death in 1241, his brother Bolesław II ruled on behalf of his underage brothers. Since all male members of

7590-422: The Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III of Poland . By Bolesław's testament , Władysław was granted Silesia as his hereditary province and also the Lesser Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków according to the principle of agnatic seniority . The history of the Silesian Piasts began with the feudal fragmentation of Poland in 1138 following

7728-399: The Polish Silesia province stretching up the Oder in the southeast. Lubusz Land became part of the Duchy of Silesia in 1138, after the death of duke Bolesław and the fragmentation of Poland. When in 1163 the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa campaigned Silesia to support the sons of Władysław II the Exile against their Piast cousins, he also granted Lubusz Land on both sides of

7866-434: The Polish October crisis, Gomułka stressed that though he wanted Poland to take a more independent line within the Soviet bloc, he would never break with Moscow because of his fears of future German aggression based on their statements rejecting the Oder–Neisse line. Because Gomułka's obsession with the Oder–Neisse line and his reputation as a Polish nationalist who spoke of a "Polish road to socialism" independent of Moscow, it

8004-436: The Polish crown. After the intervention of King Charles I of Hungary he left Polonia Minor , but on his way back he enforced his supremacy over the Upper Silesian Piasts. In February 1327, five principalities were carved out of Polish Upper Silesia and placed under Bohemian suzerenity: Duchy of Niemodlin , Duchy of Cieszyn , Duchy of Racibórz , Duchy of Koźle and Bytom and the Duchy of Oświęcim and Zator . In April

8142-409: The Polish duke Bolesław III Wrymouth to counter and convert the resistant tribes of the Liutizi federation. Dedicated to Saint Adalbert of Prague , it served as an important centre for Christian missionaries preaching in and developing the Oder region. Over the centuries, Lubusz Land turned out to be a battleground for neighbouring rulers. It was especially influenced by the Silesian Piasts , dukes in

8280-476: The Polish government were the transfer of the Silesian region of Oppeln and the Pomeranian regions of Danzig, Bütow and Lauenburg , and the straightening of the border somewhat in Western Pomerania. However, Stalin decided that he wanted Königsberg as a year-round warm water port for the Soviet Navy , and he argued that the Poles should receive Stettin instead. The prewar Polish government-in-exile had little to say in these decisions, but insisted on retaining

8418-401: The Polish nobility. When in 1146 he attempted to take control of the whole of Poland, he was excommunicated by Archbishop Jakub ze Żnina of Gniezno and his brothers finally drove him into exile. He was received by King Conrad III of Germany , his brother-in-law by Władysław's consort Agnes of Babenberg , at the imperial palace of Altenburg . Silesia and the Seniorate Province came under

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8556-424: 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. During the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the inhabitants of Danzig fought fiercely for it to remain a part of Poland, but as a result of the Germanisation process in the 19th century, 90% of the people in Danzig were German by 1919, which made

8694-431: The Potsdam meeting. The heads of government agreed that, pending the final determination of Poland's western frontier, Silesia and other eastern German areas should be under the administration of the Polish state and for such purposes should not be considered as a part of the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. However, as the Protocol of the Potsdam Conference makes clear, the heads of government did not agree to support at

8832-453: The Red Army." Poland's western frontier was ultimately left to be decided at the Potsdam Conference . Originally, Germany was to retain Stettin, while the Poles were to annex East Prussia with Königsberg (now Kaliningrad ). The Polish government had in fact demanded this since the start of World War II in 1939, because of East Prussia's strategic position that allegedly undermined the defense of Poland. Other territorial changes proposed by

8970-421: The Soviet Union to agree to a reunification of Germany (see Stalin Note ). The offer was rejected by the West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer . The West German definition of the "de jure" borders of Germany was based on the determinations of the Potsdam Agreement, which placed the German territories (as of 31 December 1937) east of the Oder–Neisse line " under the administration of the Polish State " while "

9108-449: The Soviet Union were the subject of a process called "repatriation" (settlement within the territory of post-war Poland). Not all of them were repatriated: some were imprisoned or deported to work camps in Siberia or Kazakhstan . The East German Socialist Unity Party (SED), founded 1946, originally rejected the Oder–Neisse line. Under Soviet occupation and heavy pressure by Moscow, the official phrase Friedensgrenze (border of peace)

9246-415: The Soviet Union, was mostly expelled and transferred to the newly acquired territories. Most Poles supported the new border, mostly out of fear of renewed German aggression and German irredentism . The border was also presented as a just consequence for the Nazi German state's initiation of World War II and the subsequent genocide against Poles and the attempt to destroy Polish statehood, as well as for

9384-435: 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. In May 1942 General Władysław Sikorski , Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, sent two memoranda to

9522-402: The U.K. were also negative towards the idea of giving Poland an occupation zone in Germany. However, on 29 July, President Truman handed Molotov a proposal for a temporary solution whereby the U.S. accepted Polish administration of land as far as the Oder and eastern Neisse until a final peace conference determined the boundary. In return for this large concession, the U.S. demanded that "each of

9660-414: 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. 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

9798-467: The Western border , adopted the National Democratic concept of western thought. After Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Poland, some Polish politicians started to see a need to alter the border with Germany. A secure border 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

9936-771: The area east of the Oder passed to the Republic of Poland in 1945 according to the Potsdam Agreement . The parish church of Lebus was restored in 1954. On 27 June 1977, a misdirected express train of the Reichsbahn and a freight train collided in the Lebus train collision . The accident left 29 dead and many wounded. Since the last administrative reform of Poland, one of the 16 Polish provinces has been named Lubusz Voivodeship or Province of Lebus. The town council of Lebus has 16 representatives. The voter turnout for

10074-924: The area was inhabited by the Slavic Leubuzzi tribes, part of the West Slavic Veleti federation which later were called Lutici in Saxon sources. They were considered to be transitional between the Polabian Slavs and Polans settling in the east. Their lands on both sides of the Oder river became known as Terra Lebusana ("Land of the Leubuzzi" in Latin , Polish: Ziemia Lubuska ). Duchy of Poland 960s–1025 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Poland 1025–1249 [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg ca. 1250–1373 [REDACTED] Lands of

10212-585: 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. Winston Churchill said

10350-472: The beginning of the thirteenth century he had not ceased to intervene in the disputes which were carried on between the descendants of Mieszko the Old . At last in 1234, a good half of that province was formally ceded to him. As a guardian of minor dukes, Henry moreover ruled over Opole and Sandomierz . But, he aimed higher. This Silesian prince not only intended to enlarge his possessions; he proposed to make them

10488-489: The bishopric was moved from Lebus to Fürstenwalde . The populace became Lutheran during the Protestant Reformation , and the bishopric was finally secularized in 1555 following the death of the last Catholic bishop, Georg von Blumenthal . After the 16th century fires and political changes weakened the fortifications; the castle was decisively damaged by a lightning strike in 1713. Lebus gradually became

10626-477: The border as the de facto border of Poland. United States Secretary James Byrnes accepted the Western Neisse as the provisional Polish border. While in his Stuttgart Speech he played around with an idea of modification of borders (in Poland's favor), giving fuel to speculation by German nationalists and revisionists, the State department confessed that the speech was simply intended to "smoke out Molotov's attitude on

10764-665: The changes decided at the Potsdam Conference . The majority of these territories, including Silesia , Pomerania, and the southern part of East Prussia, were 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

10902-457: The character and outlook of the inhabitants”. 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 . 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

11040-484: The city of Lwów (Lvov, Lemberg, now L'viv) in Galicia . Stalin refused to concede, and instead proposed that all of Lower Silesia including Breslau (Polish: Wrocław) be given to Poland. Many Poles from Lwów would later be moved to populate the city. The eventual border was not the most far-reaching territorial change that was proposed. There were suggestions to include areas further west so that Poland could include

11178-492: The city was governed by a German communist-appointed mayor, under the surveillance of the Soviet occupiers, until 5 July 1945. James Byrnes – who had been appointed as U.S. Secretary of State earlier that month – later advised the Soviets that the U.S. was prepared to concede the area east of the Oder and the Eastern Neisse to Polish administration, and for it not to consider it part of the Soviet occupation zone, in return for

11316-583: The conference to advance arguments for an Oder–Western Neisse frontier. The port of Stettin was demanded for Eastern European exports. If Stettin was Polish, then "in view of the fact that the supply of water is found between the Oder and the Lausitzer Neisse, if the Oder's tributaries were controlled by someone else the river could be blocked." Soviet forces had initially expelled Polish administrators who tried to seize control of Stettin in May and June, and

11454-482: The conference." Finally on 2 August 1945, the Potsdam Agreement of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, in anticipation of the final peace treaty , placed the German territories east of the Oder–Neisse line formally under Polish administrative control. It was also decided that all Germans remaining in the new and old Polish territory should be expelled. One reason for this version of

11592-427: The continuous involvement of the Silesian Piasts in Polish affairs. He remarks that the dukes of Silesia did not break their connections with their relatives in the rest of Poland. The most visible evidence of this is said to be the fact that in the 13th century three Silesian Dukes – Henry I, Henry II and Henry IV – took control of Kraków and therefore of the senior throne of the whole of Poland. In Davies' opinion,

11730-468: The control of second-born Bolesław IV the Curly , Duke of Masovia. In the same year King Conrad III attempted to regain power for Władysław, but failed. Not until 1157 Duke Bolesław IV the Curly was defeated in a campaign by Konrads successor Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , however, the "Silesian issue" was not mentioned in the treaty concluded by the rulers, and so Władysław remained in exile. He died in 1159 without returning to Poland. In 1163, Bolesław

11868-597: The death of the Polish duke Bolesław III Wrymouth. While the Silesian province and the Kraków seniorate were assigned to Władysław II the Exile, his three younger half-brothers Bolesław IV the Curly , Mieszko III the Old , and Henry of Sandomierz received Masovia , Greater Poland and Sandomierz , respectively, according to the Testament of Boleslaw III . Władysław soon entered into fierce conflicts with his brothers and

12006-574: The dukes of Opole and Wrocław also became the tributaries of king John. In 1329, Władysław I the Elbow-high started a war with the Teutonic Order . The Order was supported by John of Bohemia who managed to enforce his supremacy over the dukes of Masovia and Lower Silesia . In April–May 1329, following Lower Silesian duchies became subjects of the Bohemian crown: Ścinawa , Oleśnica , Żagań , Legnica - Brzeg and Jawor . In 1331

12144-434: The eastern portion of Brandenburg , a small area of Saxony , the former Free City of Danzig and the southern two-thirds of East Prussia ( Masuria and Warmia ) within Poland (see Former eastern territories of Germany ). The northeastern third of East Prussia was directly annexed by the Soviet Union . These territorial changes were followed by large-scale population transfers, involving 14 million people all together from

12282-471: The end of World War II when it was part of the Communist indoctrination of the Polish settlers in those territories. The final agreements in effect compensated Poland with 112,000 km (43,000 sq mi) of former German territory in exchange for 187,000 km (72,000 sq mi) of land lying east of the Curzon Line – Polish areas occupied by the Soviet Union. Poles and Polish Jews from

12420-619: The eve of elections in Germany". The Adenauer government went to the Constitutional Court to receive a ruling that declared that legally speaking the frontiers of the Federal Republic were those of Germany as at 1 January 1937, that the Potsdam Declaration of 1945 which announced that the Oder–Neisse line was Germany's "provisional" eastern border was invalid, and that as such the Federal Republic considered all of

12558-490: The expellee leaders as delusional in believing that they were actually going to return one day to their former homes—has argued that Adenauer had no interest in really challenging the Oder–Neisse line. Ahonen wrote that Adenauer "saw his life's work in anchoring the Federal Republic irrevocably to the anti-Communist West and no burning interest in East European problems—or even German reunification." Adenauer's stance on

12696-615: The expulsion committed during the aftermath of World War II. The new order was in Stalin's interests, because it enabled the Soviet Communists to present themselves as the primary maintainer of Poland's new western border. It also provided the Soviet Union with territorial gains from part of East Prussia and the eastern part of the Second Republic of Poland. United States Secretary of State James F. Byrnes outlined

12834-426: The extent of the area to be ceded to Poland must be determined when the final settlement is agreed upon. The speech was met with shock in Poland and Deputy Prime Minister Mikołajczyk immediately issued a response declaring that retention of Polish territories based on the Oder–Neisse line was matter of life and death. Byrnes, who accepted Western Neisse as provisional Polish border, in fact did not state that such

12972-429: The fall of Bolesław II , was destined by him for his eldest son, whom he associated with his rule towards the end of his life. This Henry II the Pious , who succeeded his father in 1238, was, in fact, entirely worthy of the heritage of the first Piasts. Pursuing the very able policy of Henry the Bearded, his son was moreover able to obtain the support of the clergy, with whom his father had had frequent disagreements. In

13110-448: The family were eligible to rule, a principle critical for the coming years, a hereditary division was put into practice in 1248/51. Bolesław established the duchy of Legnica , Konrad I Glogow , Henry III kept Wroclaw together with Ladislaus , who would become archbishop of Salzburg . Soon the next generation divided the territory again. Jawor and Lwówek Śląski split off from Legnica, Duchy of Żagań and Ścinawa from Głogów. In

13248-474: The fear that one day the Germans would invade Poland again, which would mean a return to the horrors of the German occupation. Gomułka feared the Germans more than he disliked the Russians, and thus he argued in both public and in private that it was necessary to keep Soviet troops in Poland to guard against any future German revanchism. Gomułka felt sincerely threatened by the revanchist statements put out by

13386-534: The final delimitation of the western frontier of Poland should await the peace settlement ". The recognition of the Oder-Neisse Line as permanent was thus only reserved to a final peace settlement with reunited Germany. In West Germany, where the majority of the displaced refugees found refuge, recognition of the Oder-Neisse Line as permanent was long regarded as unacceptable. Right from the beginning of his Chancellorship in 1949, Adenauer refused to accept

13524-437: The frontier of 1937, by force if necessary. Kohl further added that in a statement of 1 March 1990 that he would only recognize the Oder–Neisse line if Poland promised to pay compensation to the Germans expelled after 1945 and if Poland promised not to seek reparations for the sufferings of Polish slave labourers in Germany and reparations for the damage done by German forces to Poland during World War II. After Kohl's note caused

13662-575: The future. 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. The border changes were to provide Poland with a safe border and to prevent

13800-419: The government did not champion all of the demands of the expellee lobby. In addition, Adenauer's rejection of the Oder–Neisse line was intended to be a deal-breaker if negotiations ever began to reunite Germany on terms that Adenauer considered unfavorable such as the neutralization of Germany as Adenauer knew well that the Soviets would never consider revising the Oder–Neisse line. Finally Adenauer's biographer,

13938-521: 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

14076-490: The homeland, now Poland, remained impossible. In 1989, another treaty was signed between Poland and East Germany, the sea border was defined, and a dispute from 1985 was settled. In March 1990, the West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl caused a storm, when he suggested that a reunified Germany would not accept the Oder–Neisse line, and implied that the Federal Republic might wish to restore

14214-429: The land east of the Oder–Neisse line to be "illegally" occupied by Poland and the Soviet Union. The American historian Gerhard Weinberg pointed out that in claiming the frontiers of 1937, West Germany was in fact claiming the frontiers established by the Treaty of Versailles , which the entire interwar German leadership had claimed to be totally unacceptable from 1919 to 1939, and which perhaps indicated that Versailles

14352-450: The large American concessions. The Polish delegation decided to accept a boundary of the administration zone at "somewhere between the western Neisse and the Kwisa ". Later that day the Poles changed their mind: "Bierut, accompanied by Rola-Zymierski , returned to Stalin and argued against any compromise with the Americans. Stalin told his Polish protégés that he would defend their position at

14490-410: The local Polish population considered the plebiscite to be fraudulent, resulting in three Silesian Uprisings . 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

14628-549: The local Polish population, and the Poles organised massive strikes and protests. 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. 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,

14766-655: The new border was that it was the shortest possible border between Poland and Germany. It is only 472 km (293 miles) long, from one of the northernmost points of the Czech Republic to one of the southernmost points of the Baltic Sea at the Oder estuary. Winston Churchill was not present at the end of the Conference, since the results of the British elections had made it clear that he had been defeated. Churchill later claimed that he would never have agreed to

14904-485: The next generation Brzeg was detached from Wrocław, Świdnica and Duchy of Ziębice from Lwówek Śląski-Jawor and Oleśnica from Głogów . The Duchy of Opole , which was established by Mieszko I and called after its residence Opole, wasn't spared from the divisions, they only began one generation later. The four sons of Wladyslaw I of Opole, a grandson of Mieszko, split the duchy into Opole, Koźle - Bytom , Racibórz and Teschen . These duchies were also split again in

15042-518: The next generation. Opole was divided into Opole, Niemodlin and Strzelce Opolskie , Koźle-Bytom in Koźle, Bytom and Toszek , Teschen in Teschen and Oświęcim . These divisions often were the result of fierce and militant conflicts, in which not only the Silesian parties but also their partisans from other parts of Poland and neighboring Bohemia were involved. Whereas the connections to Poland diminished

15180-509: The nucleus of a restored Kingdom of Poland . He became duke of Kraków ( Polonia Minor ) in 1232, which gave him the title of the Senior Duke of Poland (see Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty ). Henry expanded his realm also outside Poland ruling over Barnim , Teltow (owned temporarily) as well as parts of Lower Lusatia . Unfortunately, despite his efforts, he never gained the Polish crown. The royal crown, almost forgotten since

15318-546: The occupation powers take its share of reparations from its own [Occupation] Zone and provide for admission of Italy into the United Nations." The Soviets stated that they were not pleased "because it denied Polish administration of the area between the two Neisse rivers." On 29 July Stalin asked Bolesław Bierut , the head of the Soviet-controlled Polish government , to accept in consideration of

15456-528: The official position of the U.S. government regarding the Oder–Neisse line in his Stuttgart Speech of 6 September 1946: At Potsdam specific areas which were part of Germany were provisionally assigned to the Soviet Union and to Poland, subject to the final decisions of the Peace Conference. [...] With regard to Silesia and other eastern German areas, the assignment of this territory to Poland by Russia for administrative purposes had taken place before

15594-416: The oldest branch of the first Polish royal dynasty. This was the reason that even after the fragmentation of Poland their interest in Polish matters was still strong. Norman Davies stated that the dynastic loyalty of all Piast dukes as well as a single ecclesiastic organisation still secured the unity of the divided Kingdom of Poland. In his opinion the alleged "will" to separate from Poland is contradicted by

15732-540: The parts lost to Prussia during the Partitions of Poland . The term was widely exploited by Propaganda in the People's Republic of Poland . The creation of a picture of the new territories as an "integral part of historical Poland" in the post-war era had the aim of forging Polish settlers and repatriates arriving there into a coherent community loyal to the new Communist regime. The term was in use immediately following

15870-480: The peace settlement the cession of this particular area. The Soviets and the Poles suffered greatly at the hands of Hitler's invading armies. As a result of the agreement at Yalta, Poland ceded to the Soviet Union territory east of the Curzon Line. Because of this, Poland asked for revision of her northern and western frontiers. The United States will support revision of these frontiers in Poland's favor. However,

16008-463: The political ties with Bohemia became increasingly stronger. In their exile in Germany, the Piasts had witnessed the inner colonizations along the Elbe river and strived to develop sparsely populated Silesia by calling in Germans from the west, slowly increasing Silesia's German population which came to dominate the region over the next centuries. The reign of duke Henry IV Probus was exemplary for

16146-469: The position of Silesias duchies in the area of tension between Poland and Bohemia. After the death of his father Henry III, he was raised in Prague at the court of Bohemian king Ottokar II , who also became his guardian. After Ottokar's death, he did not, as expected, became viceregent of Bohemia for underage Wenceslaus II but was compensated with Kłodzko by Rudolf of Habsburg , who also ennobled Henry to

16284-704: The process of Germanisation extend well into the 19th and 20th centuries. 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 . 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

16422-444: The result of tough negotiations between Polish Communists and Stalin. 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

16560-409: The right to control the Federal Republic's policy towards Eastern Europe by vetoing policy changes they disliked. Brentano's press conference was meant by Adenauer to be a trial balloon to see if the Federal Republic could have a more flexible policy towards Eastern Europe. The furious protests set off by Brentano's press conference convinced Adenauer that he did not have the domestic support for such

16698-564: The same time was able to expand his duchy with the former Lesser Polish territories of Bytom and Oświęcim , given to him by High Duke Casimir II the Just , and also with the Duchy of Opole, which he received after the death of Duke Jarosław and his father Bolesław in 1201. One year later, Bolesław's heir, Duke Henry I the Bearded , and his uncle Mieszko moreover specified to rule out the right of succession among their branches, an arrangement which

16836-468: The small minority population of ethnic Slavic Sorbs who lived near Cottbus and Bautzen . The precise location of the western border was left open. The western Allies accepted in general that the Oder would be the future western border of Poland. Still in doubt was whether the border should follow the eastern or western Neisse, and whether Stettin, now Szczecin, which lay west of the Oder, should remain German or be placed in Poland (with an expulsion of

16974-554: The territorial losses of eastern Poland to the Soviet Union, mainly western Ukraine and Belarus . It has been asserted that resentment towards the expelled German population on the part of the Poles was based on the fact that the majority of that population was loyal to the Nazis during the invasion and occupation, and the active role some of them played in the persecution and mass murder of Poles and Jews . These circumstances allegedly have impeded sensitivity among Poles with respect to

17112-626: The war, forming a powerful political force . As a result, the CDU, the CSU, the FDP and the SPD all issued statements opposing the Oder–Neisse line and supporting Heimatrecht ("right to one's homeland", i.e. that the expellees be allowed to return to their former homes). Adenauer greatly feared the power of the expellee lobby, and told his cabinet in 1950 that he was afraid of "unbearable economic and political unrest" if

17250-444: The weak and divided Silesian dukes needed a strong partner who could provide cover. They were now separated from the Polish state and subjected to the Bohemian crown. After the death of Wenceslaus III , king of Bohemia and Poland, the right to the Polish crown was disputed, being claimed by various Piast dukes as well as the successors of Wenceslaus III on the Bohemian throne. In 1327, John of Bohemia invaded Poland in order to gain

17388-470: The western border was seen as a punishment for the Germans for their atrocities and a compensation for Poland. 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

17526-412: The whole of Eastern Europe, including many people already shifted during the war. Nearly all remaining Germans from the territory annexed by Poland were expelled, while Polish persons who had been displaced into Germany, usually as slave laborers, returned to settle in the area. In addition to this, the Polish population originating from the eastern half of the former Second Polish Republic , now annexed by

17664-468: Was a Communist, but also a Polish nationalist, and it was believed possible in Washington that a split could be encouraged between Moscow and Warsaw if only Bonn would recognize the Oder–Neisse line. Because the Federal Republic's refusal to recognize the Oder–Neisse line together with the presence of such Nazi-tainted individuals like Theodor Oberländer in Adenauer's cabinet, Gomułka was obsessed with

17802-464: Was believed possible by the Americans at the time that Gomułka might follow Tito's example in 1948 if only Adenauer could be persuaded to accept the Oder–Neisse line. One scholar wrote in 1962 that most Poles deeply disliked Communism, but were willing to accept Gomułka's regime as the lesser evil because they believed Gomułka's warnings that if without the Red Army, the Germans would invade again. Such

17940-416: Was founded in West Germany which published maps with the borders of 1914. To Hans Peter Schwarz, Adenauer's refusal to accept the Oder–Neisse line was in large part motivated by domestic politics, especially his desire to win the votes of the domestic lobby of those Germans who had been expelled from areas east of the Oder–Neisse line. 16% of the electorate in 1950 were people who fled or were expelled after

18078-514: Was largely responsible for the special position of what would become Upper Silesia . In the same year, Poland abolished the seniorate and the Silesian duchies became independent entities. Henry I the Bearded actively took part in the inner-Polish conflicts and expanded his dominion with determination. Henry, before securing in 1229 the sovereignty in Kraków , had made no less persevering efforts to bring Greater Poland also under his dominion. From

18216-758: 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 . 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

18354-490: Was met with vehement protest from David Lloyd George , whose opposition led to border changes in favour of Germany. 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. Some Polish historians called for

18492-549: Was misquoted by the British press. In private, Brentano was willing to accept the Oder–Neisse line as the price of reunification, and was not misquoted in London as he claimed afterwards. Away from the public limelight in a conversation with the Canadian ambassador Charles Ritchie in June 1956, Brentano called the leaders of the expellee groups "unteachable nationalists" who had learned nothing from World War II, and who did not have

18630-434: Was nowhere near as harsh as claimed, especially when compared with the far greater territorial losses imposed by the Oder–Neisse line. Not all in Adenauer's government supported this; politicians like minister Seebohm criticized limiting German territorial demands to the borders of 1937, alluding to pre-Versailles borders, as did the organisation of German expelled BdV . In 1962 a virulent anti-Polish organization called AKON

18768-618: Was promulgated in March–April 1947 at the Moscow Foreign Ministers Conference. The German Democratic Republic and Poland's Communist government signed the Treaty of Zgorzelec in 1950 recognizing the Oder–Neisse line, officially designated by the Communists as the "Border of Peace and Friendship". In 1952 Stalin made recognition of the Oder–Neisse line as a permanent boundary one of the conditions for

18906-582: Was the extent of Polish fears about German revanchism that as late as February 1990 the Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki stated in a speech that Red Army might have to stay in Poland until Germany had promised to firmly recognize the Oder–Neisse line as the final frontier between Germany and Poland. In 1963 the German Social Democratic opposition leader Willy Brandt said that "abnegation

19044-504: Was under Polish control by 966 under the rule of the Piast duke Mieszko I and his son Bolesław I the Brave . The settlement itself was mentioned as a town Liubusua and Libusua urbs in the annals of Thietmari merseburgiensis episcopi chronicon written in the years 1012 - 1018 (under the rule of Bolesław) by the Saxon bishop and chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg . The Polish rulers had

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