الأراضي الشرقية السابقة لألمانيا
التاريخ > اتفاق بوتسدام، 1945

فقدت ألمانيا فيما بعد أراضيها شرق خط أودر-نيس في نهاية الحرب في عام 1945، عندما تم سحب الاعتراف الدولي بحقها في الولاية القضائية على أي من هذه المناطق.
بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية، على النحو المتفق عليه في مؤتمر بوتسدام (الذي انعقد في الفترة من 17 يوليو حتى 2 أغسطس 1945)، جميع المناطق الواقعة شرق خط أودر - نيسي، سواء اعترف بها المجتمع الدولي كجزء من ألمانيا حتى عام 1939 أو احتلت من قبل ألمانيا خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية، وضعت تحت ولاية بلدان أخرى.
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The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government to the effect that pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement, the section of the western frontier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is adjacent to the Baltic Sea should pass from a point on the eastern shore of the Bay of Danzig to the east, north of Braunsberg-Goldap, to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania, the Polish Republic and East Prussia.
The Conference has agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet Government concerning the (ultimate) transfer to the Soviet Union of the City of Koenigsberg and the area adjacent to it as described above subject to expert examination of the actual frontier.
The President of the United States and the British Prime Minister have declared that they will support the proposal of the Conference at the forthcoming peace settlement.»
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The British and United States Governments have taken measures to protect the interest of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity as the recognized government of the Polish State in the property belonging to the Polish State located in their territories and under their control, whatever the form of this property may be.
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In conformity with the agreement on Poland reached at the مؤتمر يالطا the three Heads of Government have sought the opinion of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity in regard to the accession of territory in the north and west which Poland should receive. The President of the National Council of Poland and members of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity have been received at the Conference and have fully presented their views. The three Heads of Government reaffirm their opinion that the final تعيين حدودي of the western frontier of Poland should await the peace settlement.
The three Heads of Government agree that, pending the final determination of Poland's western frontier, the  east of a line running from the Baltic Sea immediately west of Swinamunde, and thence along the Oder River to the confluence of the western Neisse River and along the Western Neisse to the Czechoslovak frontier, including that portion of East Prussia not placed under the administration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in accordance with the understanding reached at this conference and including the area of the former free city of Danzig, shall be under the administration of the Polish State and for such purposes should not be considered as part of the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. ()»
وافق الحلفاء أيضًا على:
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The Three Governments [of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain], having considered the question in all its aspects, recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations, or elements thereof, remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and humane manner.»
لأنه على حد تعبير وينستون تشرشل
«Expulsion is the method which, in so far as we have been able to see, will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble. A clean sweep will be made.»
كانت مشكلة وضع هذه المناطق هي أن اتفاقية بوتسدام لم تكن معاهدة ملزمة قانونًا، بل كانت مذكرة بين الاتحاد السوفيتي والولايات المتحدة والمملكة المتحدة. نظمت مسألة الحدود الألمانية الشرقية، التي كان من المفترض أن تكون خط أودر - نايسه، ولكن المادة الأخيرة من المذكرة قالت إن القرارات النهائية المتعلقة بألمانيا تخضع لمعاهدة سلام منفصلة؛ حيث التزم الحلفاء الثلاثة الموقعين أنفسهم باحترام شروط المذكرة. وبالتالي، طالما بقيت قوى الحلفاء الأربعة ملتزمة ببروتوكولات بوتسدام، فبدون موافقة ألمانيا على حدود خط أودر - نايسه، لن تكون هناك معاهدة سلام ولا إعادة توحيد ألمانية. تم توقيع هذه المعاهدة في عام 1990 باعتبارها معاهدة التسوية النهائية فيما يتعلق بألمانيا.