Treaty of Zgorzelec

Treaty of Zgorzelec

The Treaty of Zgorzelec (Full title The Agreement Concerning the Demarcation of the Established and the Existing Polish-German State Frontier, also known as the Treaty of Görlitz and Treaty of Zgorzelic) between the Republic of Poland and East Germany (GDR) was signed on 6 July 1950 in Polish Zgorzelec, until 1945 the eastern part of the divided city of Görlitz.

Grotewohl (l.) and Cyrankiewicz walking to the Zgorzelec community centre to sign the treaty

The agreement was signed under Soviet pressure by Otto Grotewohl, prime minister of the provisional government of the GDR (East Germany) and Polish premier Józef Cyrankiewicz. It recognized the Oder-Neisse line implemented by the 1945 Potsdam Agreement as the border between the two states.[1] The terms referred to the "defined and existing border" from the Baltic Sea west of Świnoujście - however without mentioning Szczecin - along the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers to the Czechoslovak border. Thereby the East German government also accepted the division of Küstrin, Frankfurt (Oder), Guben and Görlitz.

The treaty was worded as a declaration and was not recognised as a legitimate international treaty by West Germany insisting on its exclusive mandate and the members states of the NATO. Four years later when the Soviet Union granted East Germany independence,[2] the Soviet Union reserved rights over East Germany (similar to the rights reserved by the Western Allies over the West Germany under the Bonn–Paris conventions) pending a final peace treaty with Germany - the later Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany. So although the treaty was binding on the two states it was not seen by many western members of the international community as a definitive.[1] The West German government stressed the status of the territories east of the Oder-Neisse-line being "under Polish and Soviet administration" until in 1970 Chancellor Willy Brandt by signing the Treaty of Warsaw de facto acknowledged the border.

The community centre in which the treaty was signed is one of Zgorzelec's main sights and is found in a park beside the road bridge border crossing.

Links

References and notes

  1. ^ a b Johnson, Edward Elwyn. International law aspects of the German refunification alternative answers to the German question Page 13
  2. ^ Declaration of the Government of the U.S.S.R. Concerning the Granting of Sovereignty to the German Democratic Republic, 25 March, 1954

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Zgorzelec — Infobox Settlement name = Zgorzelec image caption = Footbridge over the Neisse between Görlitz and Zgorzelec image shield = POL Zgorzelec COA.svg pushpin pushpin label position = bottom subdivision type = Country subdivision name = POL… …   Wikipedia

  • German-Polish Border Treaty (1990) — The Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland on the confirmation of the frontier between them was signed on November 14, 1990 and entered into force with the exchange of the instruments of ratification on 16… …   Wikipedia

  • Oder–Neisse line — The Oder Neisse line The Oder Neisse line at Usedom …   Wikipedia

  • Former eastern territories of Germany — v · d …   Wikipedia

  • Polish Corridor — The Polish Corridor in 1923 1939 …   Wikipedia

  • Yalta Conference — The Big Three at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. Behind them stand, from the left, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, General of the Army… …   Wikipedia

  • Oder-Neisse line — The Oder Neisse line ( pl. Granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej, de. Oder Neiße Grenze) 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 rivers Oder… …   Wikipedia

  • Recovered Territories — Recovered or Regained Territories ( pl. Ziemie Odzyskane) was the official term used by the Polish post war authorities to denote those territories which were transferred from Germany to Poland after the Second World War.An explanation note in… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of Polish history — Dates and most important events in Polish history from prehistoric times up to the present day.Before the 10th century; 5500 BC : Arrival of the first farmers; 740 BC : Biskupin fortified settlement built; 450 500 AD : First Slavic settlements;… …   Wikipedia

  • Curzon Line — For other uses, see Curzon. v · …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”