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Treaty of Warsaw (1970)

 

 
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Treaty of Warsaw (1970)
 
 
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The Treaty of Warsaw was a treaty between West Germany
West Germany

West Germany was the common English name for the Germany , from its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when East Germany was dissolved and its States of Germany became part of the Federal Republic, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany....
 (the Federal Republic of Germany - the FRG) and the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland or Polish People's Republic was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989 inclusively.Although the People's Republic of Poland was a sovereignty state as defined by international law, its leaders were at the very least approved by Soviet Union leaders....
. It was signed on 7 December 1970, and it was ratified by the German Bundestag
Bundestag

The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
 on 17 May 1972.

In the treaty, both sides committed themselves to nonviolence and accepted the existing border - the Oder-Neisse line
Oder-Neisse line

The Oder-Neisse line was drawn in the aftermath of World War II as the eastern border of Germany and the western border of Poland. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Swinoujscie ....
, imposed on Germany by the Allies following the end of World War Two. This was a quite sensitive topic at the time, since Poland was concerned that someday a German government would see to reclaim some of this traditionally Germany territory given to Poland after World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.






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The Treaty of Warsaw was a treaty between West Germany
West Germany

West Germany was the common English name for the Germany , from its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when East Germany was dissolved and its States of Germany became part of the Federal Republic, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany....
 (the Federal Republic of Germany - the FRG) and the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland or Polish People's Republic was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989 inclusively.Although the People's Republic of Poland was a sovereignty state as defined by international law, its leaders were at the very least approved by Soviet Union leaders....
. It was signed on 7 December 1970, and it was ratified by the German Bundestag
Bundestag

The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
 on 17 May 1972.

In the treaty, both sides committed themselves to nonviolence and accepted the existing border - the Oder-Neisse line
Oder-Neisse line

The Oder-Neisse line was drawn in the aftermath of World War II as the eastern border of Germany and the western border of Poland. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Swinoujscie ....
, imposed on Germany by the Allies following the end of World War Two. This was a quite sensitive topic at the time, since Poland was concerned that someday a German government would see to reclaim some of this traditionally Germany territory given to Poland after World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. The transfer of that territory was considered by the Poles to be generous compensation by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 for the annexation of Polish territory east of the Curzon Line
Curzon Line

The Curzon Line was a demarcation line between the Second Polish Republic and Bolshevik Russia, first proposed on December 8, 1919 at the Allied Supreme Council declaration....
 that had been gained by Poland during the Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War

The Polish-Soviet War was an armed conflict of Russian SFSR and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the Second Polish Republic and the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic, four states in post-World War I Europe....
 of 1919-21. Over two million German civilians died during the ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is a euphemism referring to the persecution through imprisonment, expulsion, or killing of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity in majority-controlled territory....
 of this area during 1945-1949.

The German Chancellor Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt

Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a Germany politician, Chancellor of Germany of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
 was heavily criticized by his conservative CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a christian democracy and conservatism political party in Germany.Along with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, the CDU forms the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag....
/CSU
Christian Social Union

Christian Social Union may refer to:*Christian Social Union of Bavaria, a political party in Bavaria, Germany*Christian Social Union , a nineteenth and early twentieth-century organization within the Church of England...
 opposition in the Bundestag
Bundestag

The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
. Claims persist that the ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is a euphemism referring to the persecution through imprisonment, expulsion, or killing of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity in majority-controlled territory....
 that occurred was both illegal and immoral and needs to be addressed and the land returned to Germany. Several groups, notably the Federation of Expellees
Federation of Expellees

The Federation of Expellees or Bund der Vertriebenen is a non-profit organization formed to represent the interests of Germans who either fled their homes in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, or were Expulsion of Germans after World War II following World War II....
 continue to advocate for a final resolution to the issue and reparations to the victims.

The Oder-Neisse line was later reaffirmed by a deeply Bundestag
Bundestag

The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
 in the German-Polish Border Treaty, signed on 14 November 1990 by the FRG and Poland. Controversy continues to exist as to whether the treaty affirmation could speak for the German victims of National Socialism
National Socialism

National Socialism typically refers to Nazism, which was the ideology of the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler.National Socialism typically promotes uniting the working class of a specific ethnic, national, or racial group into a proletarian nation while socialism the industry, providing an extensive welfare state and opposing capitalism, com...
.

In the FRG at the time, this treaty signed it was not seen as the last word on the Polish border, because Article IV of this treaty stated that previous treaties like the Potsdam Agreement were not superseded by this latest agreement, so the provisions of this treaty could be changed by a final peace treaty between Germany and the Allies of World War II - as provided for in the Potsdam Agreement.

The Treaty of Warsaw was a strong element of the Ostpolitik
Ostpolitik

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F031406-0017, Erfurt, Treffen Willy Brandt mit Willi Stoph.jpgOstpolitik is a term for the "Change Through Rapprochement" policy — as verbalized by Egon Bahr in 1963 — the efforts of Willy Brandt, Chancellor of the West Germany , to normalise his country's relations with Eastern European nations ....
 put forward by Chancellor Brandt and supported by his ruling party in the Bundestag
Bundestag

The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
 of the Federal Republic of Germany. Also, since Germany (the FRG) and Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
 had never signed any treaty since the Second World War, this treaty functioned as a peace treaty
Peace treaty

A peace treaty is an agreement between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends an armed conflict. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to cease hostilities, or a surrender , in which an army agrees to give up arms....
 between the two countries and it continues to do so.

See also

  • Warschauer Kniefall
    Warschauer Kniefall

    Warschauer Kniefall refers to a gesture of humility and penance by Social Democratic Party of Germany Chancellor of Germany Willy Brandt towards the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising....


External links

  • (PDF file, )