Debra J. Allen - The Oder-Neisse Line: The United States, Poland, and Germany in the Cold War (Contributions to the Study of World History)

Cover

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THE ODER-NEISSE LINE

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The United States, Poland, and Germany in the Cold War

Debra J.Allen

Contributions to the Study of World History, Number 103

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Allen, Debra J., 1957

The Oder-Neisse line: the United States, Poland, and Germany in the Cold War / Debra
J. Allen.
p. cm.(Contributions to the study of world history, ISSN 08859159 ; no. 103)
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-313-32359-3 (alk. paper)

1. Oder-Neisse Line (Germany and Poland). 2. United StatesForeign
relationsPoland. 3. PolandForeign relationsUnited States. 4. United StatesForeign
relations19451989. 5. Cold War. I. Title. II. Series.
DK4600.O3385 A44 2003
327.73043809045dc21
2002028758

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright 2003 by Debra J.Allen

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002028758

ISBN: 0-313-32359-3

ISSN: 0885-9159

First published in 2003
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881

An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

www.praeger.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.481984).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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This book is dedicated to the memory of my sister who kept me focused on this project.

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Polands geographic and political situation in 1939 allowed the German and Soviet armies a relatively easy victory over the twenty-year-old Polish Republic, which emerged from the war suffering tremendous destruction of land and people. The Poland of 1945 had shorter, more defensible borders that had been shifted approximately 150 miles westward as a result of decisions made at wartime conferences. The eastern border with the Soviet Union had been agreed upon at the Yalta Conference and approximated the same line established in the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact prior to the invasion. The western border lay along a line following the Oder and Neisse Rivers that was instituted by Allied agreement at the Potsdam Conference in July and August 1945. Varying interpretations of this agreement regarding Polands western border soon surfaced, however. The Potsdam Accord stated that Polands administration of the area was provisional and that Germanys borders would be finalized at a peace conference, leaving open the possibility that Polands western border could be changed in Germanys favor. The Accord, however, also acknowledged the transfer of Germans from the area that would total in the millions, thereby suggesting that Polish control of the land east of the Oder-Neisse would be permanent. These apparent contradictions served to heighten the growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union as the Polish government came under the control of Soviet-trained communists, and the United States tried to formulate policies to deal with the situation. As East and West drew further apart in the decades following World War II, hope for a mutually satisfactory settlement of the border issue seemed to evaporate. Although the Polish and German governments signed a treaty in 1970 acknowledging the border, the United States withheld formal recognition of the Oder-Neisse until the revolutionary changes of 1989 and 1990, when the World War II Allies formally approved a peace treaty with Germany within its existing