page_title: Former eastern territories of Germany
section_title: Treaty of Versailles, 1919
hierarchical_section_title: Former eastern territories of Germany / History / Treaty of Versailles, 1919
caption_attribution_description: English: Border changes in history of Poland. Uploaded to en Wiki on 14:02, June 10, 2007 by User:Krzysztoflew
context_page_description: The former eastern territories of Germany are those provinces or regions east of the current eastern border of Germany which were lost by Germany after World War I and then World War II; having been parts of the German Empire from 1871, and previously, of Prussia and Austria. They include provinces that historically had been considered 'German', and others that only became 'German' in 1871.
  The territories lost by Germany following World War I included areas with predominantly ethnically Polish population, especially the Province of Posen, most of the province of West Prussia, and East Upper Silesia reintegrated with Poland, following the country's independence, as well as the Lithuanian-populated Klaipėda Region, which became part of Lithuania. Further territories lost after World War II include East Prussia, Farther Pomerania, Neumark, West Upper Silesia, and almost all of Lower Silesia. The territories lost in both World Wars account for 33% of the pre-1914 German Empire, while land ceded by Germany after World War II constituted roughly 25% of its pre-war Weimar territory.
context_section_description: The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 that ended World War I restored the independence of Poland, known as the Second Polish Republic, and Germany was compelled to cede territories to it, most of which were taken by Prussia in the three Partitions of Poland, and had been part of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire for over 100 years. The territories ceded to Poland in 1919 were those with an apparent Polish majority, such as the Province of Posen, the east-southern part of Upper Silesia and the so-called Polish Corridor.
caption: Border changes in history of Poland
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