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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
[[File:German Empire 1914.svg|thumb|300px|Germany, 1871–1920]]
{{Territorial evolution of Germany}}
The '''territorial evolution of Germany''' in this article includes all changes in the modern territory of [[Germany]] from its unification making it a country on 1 January 1871 to the present, although the history of both "Germany" as a territorial polity concept and the history of the [[ethnic Germans]] are much longer and much more complex. Modern Germany was formed when the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] [[Unification of Germany|unified most of the German states]], with the exception of multi-ethnic [[Cisleithania|Austria]] (which was ruled by the [[German language|German]]-speaking royal family of [[Habsburg]] and had significant German-speaking land), into the [[German Empire]].<ref name="BBC_Timeline">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1053880.stm Timeline: Germany – BBC News]</ref> As a result of its loss in the [[First World War]], the 1919 [[Treaty of Versailles]] stipulated that Germany cede about 13% of its territory to its neighbours; its [[German colonial empire|colonies]] were lost at the same time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Authaler |first1=Caroline |title=Das völkerrechtliche Ende des deutschen Kolonialreichs. Globale Neuordnung und transnationale Debatten in den 1920er Jahren und ihre Nachwirkungen |journal=Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte |date=2019 |volume=69 |issue=40–42 |pages=5&nbsp;f |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bpb.de+%E2%80%BA+files+%E2%80%BA+dokument_pdf+%E2%80%BA+APuZ_2019-40-42_online_0 |access-date=4 April 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404092916/https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bpb.de+%E2%80%BA+files+%E2%80%BA+dokument_pdf+%E2%80%BA+APuZ_2019-40-42_online_0 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Weimar Republic]] was formed two days before the end of fighting in WWI. This republic included territories to the east of [[Oder–Neisse line|today's German borders]].

The period of [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] rule from the early 1930s through the end of the [[Second World War]] brought significant territorial losses for the country. [[Nazi Germany]] initially expanded the country's territory dramatically and [[German-occupied Europe|conquered most of Europe]], though not all areas were added to Germany [[Reichskommissariat|officially]]. However, the Nazi plan for the near future was the establishment of a [[Greater Germanic Reich]]<ref>Cowie, Stuart (ndg) [https://www.academia.edu/11122135/To_what_extent_was_the_outbreak_of_World_War_Two_a_consequence_of_failures_in_British_Foreign_Policy "To what extent was the outbreak of World War Two, a consequence of failures in British Foreign Policy?"] ''Academia.edu''</ref><ref>Barry, Max (ndg) [https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=907170 "Großgermanisches Reich der Deutschen Nation"] ''NationStates''</ref> including most of Europe. The Nazi regime eventually collapsed, and the four [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] occupied Germany.

Nazi [[Areas annexed by Nazi Germany|annexations]] from the time of its annexation of Austria on 13 March 1938 were annulled while the [[former eastern territories of Germany]] before Nazi annexation of Austria were ceded to [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]] and the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Oder–Neisse line|Oder and Neisse Rivers]] became Germany's new eastern boundary. This territory became Poland's so-called "[[Recovered Territories]]", while approximately one-third of [[East Prussia]] became the [[Russian Federation]]'s [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]. In the west, the [[Saar Protectorate|Saar area]] (Saarland) formed one French-controlled protectorate with its own high autonomy.

The western part of Germany was unified as the [[Trizone]], becoming the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] on 23 May 1949 ("West Germany"). Western-occupied [[West Berlin]] declared its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 but was denied by the occupying powers. The Soviet zone of Germany in the east, including the [[Soviet sector of Berlin]], became the [[communist]] [[German Democratic Republic]] ("East Germany") on 7 October of the same year.<ref name="BBC_Timeline"/> on 1 January 1957, the Saar Protectorate (which was separated from Germany on 17 December 1947) became a part the Federal Republic of Germany,<ref name=CS>[http://countrystudies.us/germany/51.htm Rearmament and the European Defense Community] [[Library of Congress Country Studies]]</ref> as provided by its [[Grundgesetz]] (constitution) article no. 23 ("[[Saar Protectorate#Referendum and the little reunification with Germany|Little reunification]]"). East Germany, including East Berlin, became parts the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 – an event referred to as [[German reunification]].<ref name="BBC_Timeline"/>

==Background==
===German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe===
[[File:Image-Prussia ethnicity.JPG|thumb|320px|Following the conquest of [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]] by the [[Teutonic knights]] in the [[Prussian Crusade]], German settlers were brought in, displacing the indigenous [[Old Prussians]].]]
{{main|History of German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe|Ostsiedlung}}

Part of the motivation behind the territorial changes is based on historical events in the Eastern and Central Europe. Migrations to the East that took place over more than a millennium led to pockets of Germans living throughout Central and Eastern Europe as far east as Russia. The existence of these enclaves was sometimes used by German nationalists, such as the Nazis, to justify territorial claims.

===The rise of European nationalism===
{{main|Nationalism}}

The territorial changes of Germany after World War II can be interpreted in the context of the evolution of global nationalism and European nationalism.

The latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century saw the rise of [[nationalism]] in Europe. Previously, a country consisted largely of whatever peoples lived on the land that was under the dominion of a particular ruler. As principalities and kingdoms grew through conquest and marriage, a ruler could wind up with many different ethnicities under his dominion.

The concept of nationalism was based on the idea of a "people" who shared a common bond through race, religion, language and culture. Furthermore, nationalism asserted that each "people" had a right to its own state. Thus, much of European history in the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century can be understood as efforts to realign national boundaries with this concept of "one people, one state". Many interior conflicts were a result of more or less pressurising citizens of alternative ethnicities and/or other native languages to assimilate to the ethnicity dominant in the state. Switzerland was the exception, lacking a common native language.

Much conflict would arise when one nation asserted territorial rights to land outside its borders on the basis of an ethnic bond with the people living on the land. Another source of conflict arose when a group of people who constituted a minority in one nation would seek to secede from the nation either to form an independent nation or join another nation with whom they felt stronger ties. Yet another source of conflict was the desire of some nations to expel people from territory within its borders because people did not share a common bond with the majority of people of that nation.

==History==

===Formation of the German Empire===
{{main|Unification of Germany}}
[[File:Acprussiamap2.gif|320px|thumb|Growth of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]]. During the [[Partitions of Poland]] between 1772 and 1795, Prussia annexed large swaths of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].]]
[[File:Deutsches Reich (1871-1918)-en.png|thumb|320px|right|States of the German Empire 1871–1918 ([[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] shown in blue)]]

====Prussia====
In 1701, the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] was established, which then expanded at the expense of the weakening neighboring [[List of modern great powers|powers]]. During the [[Great Northern War]], in 1720, Prussia took a part of [[Swedish Pomerania]] with the city of [[Szczecin]] from [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Northern-War|title=Second Northern War|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=4 June 2024}}</ref> During the [[Silesian Wars]], Prussia annexed the bulk of [[Silesia]] from the [[Habsburg monarchy]] in 1742. During the [[Partitions of Poland]] between 1772 and 1795, Prussia seized {{convert|141,400|km2|sqmi}} of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]'s western territory, including the regions of [[Greater Poland]], [[Gdańsk Pomerania]], [[Kuyavia]], [[Warmia]], northern and western [[Mazovia]], and the [[Duchy of Siewierz]], including the Polish capital of [[Warsaw]]. Subsequently, renaming them as South Prussia, West Prussia, New East Prussia and New Silesia. After the annexation of the Polish territories, [[Frederick the Great]] immediately sent 57,475 German families to the newly conquered lands in order to solidify his new acquisitions,<ref>Ritter, Gerhard (1974). Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 179–180. {{ISBN|0-520-02775-2}}.</ref> and abolished the use of the Polish language.<ref>Andrzej Chwalba, Historia Polski 1795–1918, Wydawnictwo Literackie 2000, Kraków, pages 175–184, and 307–312. {{ISBN|830804140X}}.</ref> During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Prussia lost control of parts of the annexed Polish territories, which became the short-lived Polish [[Duchy of Warsaw]] in 1807.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia annexed several territories per the [[Congress of Vienna]], that is [[Rhineland]] and [[Saarlouis]] from France, the western part of the just dissolved Duchy of Warsaw with the [[Chełmno Land]] and most of Greater Poland and Kuyavia, [[Lower Lusatia]] from [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]], and the remainder of Swedish Pomerania with [[Stralsund]] from Sweden.

====North German Confederation====
The Prussian-led [[North German Confederation]], founded in 1866, was combined with the southern states of [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Baden]], [[Kingdom of Württemberg|Württemberg]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]] and [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Hesse]] and the formerly French newly merged [[Alsace–Lorraine]] to form the states and imperial territory of [[German Empire]] in 1871. In some areas of Prussia's eastern [[Provinces of Prussia|provinces]], such as the [[Province of Posen]], the majority of the population was Polish. Many Lorrainians were by native language French. Many Alsatians and Lorrainians of German language clung to France (see {{Interlanguage link multi|Député protestataire|fr|Député protestataire}}), despite their native languages.

====Heligoland====

[[British Empire|Britain]] ceded [[Heligoland]] to Germany in 1890 in accordance with the terms of the [[Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty]]. The Heligolanders, then still prevailingly fluent in their [[Heligolandic]] dialect of [[North Frisian language|North Frisian]], adopted German citizenship, like many other [[Frisians]] of Germany along the North Sea coast.

===World War I===
[[File:Germany future 1917.jpg|thumb|320px|right|World War I Allied propaganda poster showing German expansionist ambitions]]The only territory that Germany annexed during the [[First World War]] was the German-Belgian-Dutch [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]] [[Neutral Moresnet]]. Since 1914, Germany occupied the territory, and on 27 June 1915, it was annexed as part of Prussia. The annexation never received international recognition (is not known whether the other Central Powers recognized the annexation).

====Brest-Litovsk====
As part of the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], Russia's new [[Bolshevik]] ([[communist]]) government renounced all claims to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, [[Belarus]], and [[Ukraine]].

Most of these territories were in effect ceded to the German Empire, intended to become economically dependent on and politically closely tied to that empire under different German [[monarch|king]]s and [[duke]]s.

Regarding the ceded territories, the treaty stated that "Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these territories in agreement with their population" with few other effects than the appointment of German rulers to the new thrones of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and [[Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)|Poland]].

===Territorial changes after World War I===

====Treaty of Versailles====
{{main|Treaty of Versailles}}
{{further|Schleswig Plebiscite |East Prussian plebiscite|Upper Silesia plebiscite|Saar status referendum, 1935}}
[[File:German losses after WWI.svg|thumb|320px|Germany after Versailles
----
{{legend|#d2eac6|Administered by the [[League of Nations]]}}
{{legend|#ffffcf|Annexed or transferred to neighbouring countries by the treaty, or later via plebiscite and League of Nations action}}
{{legend|#f6d3a9|[[Weimar Germany]]}}]]
The provisions of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] at the end of World War I obliged Germany to cede some territory to other countries. Besides the loss of the [[German colonial empire]], the territories Germany lost were:
* [[Alsace–Lorraine]], which became a part of the German Empire following the [[Treaty of Frankfurt (1871)|Treaty of Frankfurt]] on 10 May 1871, returned to French sovereignty without a [[plebiscite]] as a precondition to armistice (i.e. and therefore not as a clause of the Treaty of Versailles) with effect from the date of the armistice (11 November 1918), ({{cvt|14522|km2|disp=or}}, 1,815,000 inhabitants (1905)).
* [[South Jutland County|Northern Schleswig]] (including the German-dominated towns of [[Tondern]], [[Apenrade]], and [[Sonderburg]]) was given to [[Denmark]] after the [[Schleswig Plebiscite]] ({{cvt|3984|km2|disp=or}}, 163,600 inhabitants (1920)).
* Most of the [[Provinces of Prussia|Prussian provinces]] of Posen and [[West Prussia]], which [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] had annexed during the [[Partitions of Poland]] (1772–1795), were restored to the reborn country of [[Second Republic of Poland|Poland]]. Most of this territory had already been liberated by the local Polish population during the [[Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919)|Greater Poland Uprising]] of 1918–1919 ({{cvt|53800|km2|disp=or}}, 4,224,000 inhabitants (1931), including {{cvt|510|km2|disp=or}} and 26,000 inhabitants from Upper Silesia). The remaining areas of both provinces were combined to become the new Prussian province of [[Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia]]. A sizeable German population still remained in the areas ceded to Poland, however.
* The [[Hlučín Region]] of [[Upper Silesia]] to [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovakia]] (316 or 333&nbsp;km², 49,000 inhabitants).
* [[East Upper Silesia]] to Poland ({{cvt|3214|km2|disp=or}} out of {{cvt|10950|km2|disp=or}} – around 30% with 965,000 inhabitants), after the [[Upper Silesia plebiscite]] in which 60% had voted in favor of remaining German and 40% wanted all of Upper Silesia to become Polish. The vote was designed to provide guidance on how to divide the area, and most of the areas voting for Poland were separated from Germany.
* The area of [[Eupen-Malmedy]] to [[Belgium]], along with the [[Vennbahn]] railway line (which created six German enclaves within Belgian territory).
* The northern part of East Prussia as ''[[Klaipėda Region|Memelland]]'' under the control of [[French Third Republic|France]], [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italy]], [[Japan]], and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], later transferred to [[Lithuania]] without a vote.
* The area of [[Działdowo]] (a railway station on the [[Warsaw]]-[[Danzig]] route) in [[East Prussia]] to Poland ({{cvt|492|km2|disp=or}}).
* An area from the eastern part of West Prussia and the southern part of East Prussia [[Warmia]] and [[Masuria]], to Poland (see [[East Prussian plebiscite]]); the majority of the Slavic [[Masurians]] voted to remain part of Germany.
* The [[Saar (League of Nations)|Saar area]] was to be under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years, after which a vote between France and Germany would be held to decide which country it would belong to. During this time, the region's coal was given to France.
* The port of [[Danzig]] (now [[Gdańsk]], Poland) along the delta of the [[Vistula]] became the ''[[Free City of Danzig]]'' under the League of Nations. ({{cvt|1893|km2|disp=or}}, 408,000 inhabitants (1929)), 90% Germans.
In Article 80 of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany acknowledged and promised to respect the independence of [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]].

====Sudetenland====
The Sudeten Germans had attempted to prevent the German language border areas of former [[Austria-Hungary]] from becoming part of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Once part of [[Bohemia]], they had proclaimed the German-Austrian province of Sudetenland in October 1918, voting instead to join the newly declared Republic of [[German Austria]] in November 1918. However, this had been forbidden by the victorious allied powers of the First World War (the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain]]) and by the Czechoslovak government, partly with force of arms in 1919. Many Sudeten Germans rejected an affiliation to Czechoslovakia, since they had been refused the right to [[self-determination]] promised by US president [[Woodrow Wilson]] in his [[Fourteen Points]] of January 1918.

====Silesian uprisings====
{{main|Silesian uprisings}}

The [[Silesian Uprisings]] ({{langx|pl|Powstania śląskie}}) were a series of three armed [[uprisings]] (1919–1921) of [[Polish people|Poles]] in the [[Upper Silesia]] region against [[Weimar Republic]] in order to separate the region (where in some parts Poles constituted a majority) from Germany and join it with the [[Second Polish Republic]].

===Interbellum===
====Territorial claims of German nationalists====
By World War I, there were isolated groups of Germans or so-called [[Schwaben]] as far southeast as the [[Bosphorus]] ([[Turkey]]), [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], and [[Azerbaijan]]. After the war, Germany's and Austria-Hungary's loss of territory and the rise of communism in the Soviet Union meant that more Germans than ever constituted sizable minorities in various countries.{{Clarify|date=July 2011}}<!--The rise of communism meant more Germans were minorities? Needs clarification.-->

German nationalists used the existence of large German minorities in other countries as a basis for territorial claims. Many of the [[propaganda]] themes of the Nazi regime against Czechoslovakia and Poland claimed that the ethnic Germans (''[[Volksdeutsche]]'') in those territories were persecuted.

The Nazis negotiated a number of population transfers with Joseph Stalin and others with Benito Mussolini so that both Germany and the other country would increase their ethnic homogeneity. However, these population transfers were not sufficient to appease the demands of the Nazis. The ''[[Heim ins Reich]]'' rhetoric of the Nazis over the continued disjoint status of enclaves such as Danzig and East Prussia was an agitating factor in the politics leading up to World War II, and is considered by many to be among the major causes of Nazi aggressiveness and thus the war. [[Adolf Hitler]] used these issues as a pretext for waging wars of aggression against Czechoslovakia and Poland.

====Rhineland====
{{main|Remilitarization of the Rhineland}}

On 7 March 1936, Hitler sent a small expeditionary force into the demilitarized Rhineland. This was a clear violation of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which officially ended World War I. France and Britain were within their rights, via the Treaty, to oust the German forces. British public opinion blocked any use of military force, thus preventing French action, as they were internally divided and would not act without British support.

====Saar region====
{{main|Territory of the Saar Basin}}

In 1933, a considerable number of anti-[[Nazi]] [[Germans]] fled to the Saar, as it was the only part of Germany left outside the [[Third Reich]]'s control. As a result, anti-Nazi groups campaigned heavily for the Saarland to remain under control of [[League of Nations]] as long as Adolf Hitler ruled Germany. However, long-held sentiments against France remained entrenched, with very few sympathizing openly with France. When the 15-year-term was over, a [[plebiscite]] was held in the territory on 13 January 1935: 90.3% of those voting wished to join [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].

On 17 January 1935, the territory's re-union with Germany was approved by the [[League Council]]. On 1 March, Nazi Germany took over the region and appointed [[Josef Bürckel]] as ''[[Reichskommissar]] für die Rückgliederung des Saarlandes'', "Realm Commissioner for the re-union of [[Saar (League of Nations)|Saarland]]".

As the new [[Gau (German)|Gau]] was extended to the [[Rhine]], including the historic [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]], the region's name was changed again on 8 April 1940 to [[Gau Saarpfalz]] (Saar-Palatinate). After the [[Battle of France]], the French [[département]] of [[Moselle]] was incorporated in the [[Reichsgau]].

====Anschluss====
{{main|Anschluss}}
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:1anschluss.gif|thumb|right|German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938.]] -->
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:Wehrmacht Anschluss.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Wehrmacht]] troops encountered no resistance when entering Austrian territory. In this picture motorized units are shown, with a soldier smoking a cigarette.]] -->

The [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] were, on paper, committed to upholding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which specifically prohibited the union of Germany and post-war Austria (a German-speaking country). This notwithstanding, the Anschluss was among the first major steps in the Austrian-born Adolf Hitler's long-desired creation of an empire including German-speaking lands and territories Germany had lost after World War I.

The events of 12 March 1938, marked the culmination of historical cross-national pressures to unify the German populations of Austria and Germany under one nation. However, the 1938 Anschluss, regardless of its popularity, was enacted by Germany. Earlier, Hitler's Germany had provided support for the [[Austrian National Socialist Party]] (Austrian Nazi Party) in its bid to seize power from Austria's [[Austrofascist]] leadership. Fully devoted to remaining independent but amidst growing pressures, the chancellor of Austria, [[Kurt Schuschnigg]], tried to hold a [[plebiscite]].

Although Schuschnigg expected Austria to vote in favour of maintaining autonomy, a well-planned [[coup d'état]] by the Austrian Nazi Party of Austria's state institutions in [[Vienna]] took place on 11 March, prior to the vote. With power quickly transferred over to Germany, the [[Wehrmacht]] troops entered Austria to enforce the Anschluss. The Nazis held a [[plebiscite]] within the following month, where they received 99.73% of the vote. No fighting ever took place and the strongest voices against the annexation, particularly [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Fascist Italy]], [[Third French Republic|France]] and the United Kingdom (parties to the [[Stresa Front]]), were powerless or, in the case of Italy, appeased.

====Czechoslovakia====
{{main|German occupation of Czechoslovakia}}
[[File:Czechoslovakia 1939.SVG|300px|thumb|right|The partition of [[Czechoslovakia]] from 1938 through 1939. German gains in purple (dark: [[Sudetenland]], light: [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]])]]

=====Sudetenland=====
{{main|Munich Agreement}}

On 29 September 1938, Adolf Hitler, [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Benito Mussolini]] and [[Édouard Daladier]] signed the [[Munich Agreement]]. The Czechoslovak government capitulated on 30 September and reluctantly agreed to abide by the agreement. The settlement gave Germany the [[Sudetenland]] starting 10 October, and de facto control over the [[Second Czechoslovak Republic|rest of Czechoslovakia]] as long as Hitler promised to go no further.

Hitler and Chamberlain signed an additional resolution determining to resolve all future disputes between Germany and the United Kingdom through peaceful means. This is often confused with the Four-Power Munich Agreement itself, not least because most photographs of Chamberlain's return show him waving the paper containing the resolution, not the Munich Agreement itself.

Without [[Czechoslovak border fortifications|fortification]] which was built in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia was now defenseless. On 5 October, [[Edvard Beneš]] resigned as [[President of Czechoslovakia]], realising that the fall of Czechoslovakia was ''[[fait accompli]]''. Following the outbreak of [[World War II]], he would form a [[Czechoslovak government-in-exile]] in [[London]].

=====Invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia=====
{{main|Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|Slovak Republic (1939–1945)}}
[[File:Deutschesreich1939.png|thumb|Germany in 1939 before the start of World War II]]
On 13 March 1939, Nazi armies entered [[Prague]] and [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|proceeded to occupy]] the remainder of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]], which was transformed into a [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|protectorate of the Reich]]. The eastern half of the country, [[Slovakia]], became a separate pro-Nazi state, the [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak Republic]].

Prime Minister Chamberlain felt betrayed by the Nazi seizure of Czechoslovakia, realising his policy of [[appeasement]] towards Hitler had failed, and immediately began to mobilize the British Empire's armed forces on a war footing. France did the same. Though no immediate action followed, Hitler's [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|move on Poland]] in September started World War II in Europe.

====Memel Territory====
{{main|Klaipėda Region}}

By late 1938, Lithuania had lost control over the situation in the [[Klaipėda Region]]. In the early hours of 23 March 1939, after a political ultimatum had made a Lithuanian delegation travel to [[Berlin]], the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs [[Juozas Urbšys]] and his German counterpart [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] signed the ''Treaty of the Cession of the Memel Territory to Germany'' in exchange for a Lithuanian Free Zone in the port of Memel, using the facilities erected in previous years.

===World War II===
{{main|Areas annexed by Nazi Germany}}
{{see also|Nazi Germany}}
[[File:World War II in Europe, 1942.svg|thumb|300px|right|The Third Reich at its greatest extent (dark blue), 1942]]
[[File:Das Grossdeutsche Reich.jpeg|300px|thumb|Territorial expansion of Germany proper from 1933 to 1941 as explained to Wehrmacht soldiers, a Nazi era map in German]]

==== Poland ====
{{Main|Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany}}

After [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|invading Poland]] in 1939, Germany annexed the lands it was forced to give to a reformed [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] in 1919–1922 by the Treaty of Versailles, including the so-called "[[Polish Corridor]]", the former [[Province of Posen]], and [[East Upper Silesia]]. The [[Volkstag]] of the [[Free City of Danzig]] voted to become a part of Germany again, although [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Jews]] were deprived of their voting rights and all non-[[National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazi]] political parties were banned. Parts of Poland that had not been part of [[German Empire|Wilhelmine Germany]] were also incorporated into the [[Deutsches Reich|Reich]].
[[File:Greater German Reich NS Administration 1944 Variant.png|300px|thumb|Map of NS administrative division in 1944]]
Two decrees by Adolf Hitler (8 October and 12 October 1939) provided for the division of the annexed areas of Poland into the following administrative units:

* [[Reichsgau Wartheland]] (initially [[Reichsgau]] Posen), which included the entire [[Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]], most of the [[Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Łódź Voivodeship]], five counties of the [[Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Pomeranian Voivodeship]], and the [[Działdowo County]] of the [[Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Warsaw Voivodeship]];
*[[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]] (initially Reichsgau West Prussia), which consisted of the remaining area of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Free City of Danzig;
* [[Ciechanów]] District ([[Regierungsbezirk]] Zichenau), consisting of the five northern counties of Warsaw Voivodeship ([[Płock]], [[Płońsk]], [[Sierpc]], [[Ciechanów]], and [[Mława]]), which became a part of [[East Prussia]];
* [[Katowice]] District (Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz), or unofficially [[East Upper Silesia]] (Ost-Oberschlesien), which included [[Sosnowiec]], [[Będzin]], [[Chrzanów]], and [[Zawiercie]] Counties, and parts of [[Olkusz]] and [[Żywiec]] Counties.

These territories had an area of {{cvt|94000|km2}} and a population of 10,000,000 people. The remainder of the Polish territory was annexed by the [[Soviet Union]] (c. 52%; see [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]) or made into the German-controlled [[General Government]] occupation zone.

After the [[German attack on the Soviet Union]] in June 1941, the [[Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Białystok Voivodeship]], which included the [[Białystok]], [[Bielsk Podlaski]], [[Grajewo]], [[Łomża]], [[Sokółka]], [[Volkovysk]], and [[Grodno]] Counties, was "attached to" (not incorporated into) [[East Prussia]], while [[East Galicia]] was added to the [[General Government]].

====Alsace-Lorraine====
After the invasion of France in 1940, Germany annexed the [[Departments of France|départements]] of [[Bas-Rhin]], [[Haut-Rhin]], and [[Moselle (department)|Moselle]] ([[Alsace]]-[[Lorraine]]). The German government never negotiated or declared a formal annexation, however, in order to preserve the possibility of an agreement with the West.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}

====Eupen and Malmedy====
See [[Eupen-Malmedy]]

====Luxembourg====
[[Luxembourg]] was invaded and occupied by German Forces on 10 May 1940. It was formally annexed to Germany in August 1942.

====Parts of Yugoslavia====
From: [[History of Slovenia]] "After [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] fell, Germany, Italy, and Hungary each annexed parts of Slovenia, the largest part being [[Lower Styria]] which was annexed to the "Ostmark" (Nazi German Austria)."

====South Tyrol====
[[South Tyrol]] was [[History of South Tyrol#Annexation by Nazi Germany|''de facto'' annexed]] by Nazi Germany; it was part of the [[Italian Social Republic]], a German [[puppet state]] at the time.

==== Recognition ====
The fact there were the areas that had been incorporated into [[Nazi Germany]] since the [[Anschluss]] were repudiated in the Berlin Declaration of 5 June 1945 by the four victorious Allies who also officially abolished Nazi Germany and started to represent post-war Germany with the Declaration, new Nazi areas since the Anschluss were already considered the "annexations" by the Allies before in the war and were therefore non-issues in the post-war Germany.

===Territorial changes after the German defeat in World War II===
With the Allied Berlin Declaration of 6 June 1945 and Potsdam Agreement of 2 August 1945, German annexations which began with the German annexation of Austria were annulled and Germany also lost the traditionally ethnic German eastern region<ref>see for example [http://de.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761596072/Deutsche_Ostgebiete.html msn encarta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526145850/http://de.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761596072/Deutsche_Ostgebiete.html |date=26 May 2011 }}: "diejenigen Gebiete des Deutschen Reiches innerhalb der deutschen Grenzen von 1937", [http://lexikon.meyers.de/wissen/deutsche+Ostgebiete Meyers Lexikon online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126092752/http://lexikon.meyers.de/wissen/deutsche+Ostgebiete |date=26 January 2009 }}: "die Teile des ehemaligen deutschen Reichsgebietes zwischen der Oder-Neiße-Linie im Westen und der Reichsgrenze von 1937 im Osten".</ref> prior to the German annexation of Austria. Saarland separated from Allied occupied Germany to become a country under French protection on 17 December 1947, in 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and later the German Democratic Republic (GDR) were born, leading to Germany being split into two countries; present-day German territories were formed when the Saarland became part of the FRG on 1 January 1957 and the territories of the GDR became part of the FRG on 3 October 1990 (German borders also had other changes but tiny).

[[File:Map-Germany-1945.svg|thumb|250px|[[Allies of World War II|Allied]] occupation zones in Germany, 17 December 1947]]

As it became evident that the Allies were going to defeat Nazi Germany decisively, the question arose as to how to redraw the borders of Central and Eastern European countries after the war. In the context of those decisions, the problem arose of what to do about ethnic minorities within the redrawn borders. The territorial changes at the end of World War II were part of negotiated agreements between the victorious Allies to redraw national borders and arrange for deportation of all Germans that were east of the Oder–Neisse line. The Allies occupied Germany, but the Western allies and Soviet Union formed separate governments covering specific parts of Germany ([[West Germany]] and [[East Germany]]). The two Germanies reunified in 1990.

====The Yalta Conference====
{{main|Yalta Conference}}
The final decision to move Poland's boundary westward was made by the [[US]], Britain and the Soviets at the [[Yalta Conference]], shortly before the end of the war. The precise location of the border was left open; the western Allies also accepted in general the principle of the Oder River as the future western border of Poland and of population transfer as the way to prevent future border disputes. The open question was whether the border should follow the eastern or western Neisse rivers, and whether [[Stettin]], the traditional seaport of Berlin, should remain German or be included in Poland.

Originally, Germany was to retain Stettin while the Poles were to annex [[East Prussia]] with [[Königsberg]].<ref name="ipn">https://web.archive.org/web/20060325032902/http://www.ipn.gov.pl/biuletyn9-10_56-57.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref> Eventually, however, Stalin decided that he wanted Königsberg as a year-round [[warm water port]] for the Soviet Navy and argued that the Poles should receive Stettin instead. The wartime [[Polish government-in-exile]] had little to say in these decisions.<ref name=ipn/>

Key points of the meeting that are relevant to the territorial changes of Germany are as follows:
*There was an agreement that the priority would be the [[unconditional surrender]] of Nazi Germany. After the war, Germany would be split into four occupied zones, with a quadripartite occupation of Berlin as well, prior to unification of Germany.
*Stalin agreed to let France have the fourth occupation zone in Germany and Austria, carved out from the British and American zones. France would also be granted a seat in the [[Allied Control Council]].
*Germany would undergo [[demilitarization]] and [[denazification]].
*The status of Poland was discussed, but was complicated by the fact that Poland was at this time under the control of the [[Red Army]]. It was agreed to reorganize the [[Provisionary Polish Government]] that had been set up by the Red Army through the inclusion of other groups such as the [[Polish Provisional Government of National Unity]] and to have democratic elections. This effectively excluded the [[Polish government-in-exile]] that had evacuated in 1939.
*The Polish eastern border would follow the [[Curzon Line]], and Poland would receive substantial territorial compensation in the west from Germany, although the exact border was to be determined at a later time.
*A "Committee on Dismemberment of Germany" was to be set up. The purpose was to decide whether Germany was to be divided into several nations, and if so, what borders and inter-relationships the new German states were to have.

====The Potsdam Conference====
{{main|Potsdam Agreement}}
{{further|Oder–Neisse line|Former eastern territories of Germany|1944–50 flight and expulsion of Germans}}

At the [[Potsdam Conference]] the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union placed the German territories within the 1937 Nazi Germany borders east of the [[Oder–Neisse line]] (before [[Anschluss|Austria became part of Nazi Germany]] ie an "[[annexation]]" on 13 March 1938) like in the [[Berlin Declaration (1945)|Berlin Declaration]] of 5 June 1945 officially abolishing Nazi Germany before, and with the exception of parts of East Prussia, as formally under Polish administrative control. These were referred to by the Polish communist government as the "Western Territories" or "[[Regained Territories]]", as all these territories were under Polish rule in the past. It was anticipated that a final [[peace treaty]] would follow shortly and either confirm this border or determine whatever alterations might be agreed upon. Northern East Prussia and Memelland were placed under Soviet administrative control. The 1919 Versailles Treaty created Free City of Danzig was also placed under Polish administration. The [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|German population east of the Oder–Neisse line disappeared from their traditional territories when they fled due to war then they were forcibly expelled]].

At the end of the conference, the Three Heads of Government agreed on the following actions:

[[File:Oder-neisse.gif|right|thumb|300px|The [[Oder–Neisse line]]]]

* Issuance of a statement of aims of the occupation of Germany by the Allies: [[demilitarization]], [[denazification]], [[democratization]] and [[decartelization]]. (''see also: [[The industrial plans for Germany]]'')
* Division of Germany and Austria respectively into four occupation zones (earlier agreed in principle at [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]]), and the similar division of each's capital, Berlin and Vienna, into four and five sectors (one quadripartite sector), respectively.
* Reversion of all German annexations in Europe after 1937, among these were [[Sudetenland]], Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|the westmost parts of Poland]], and others.
* Germany's eastern border was to be shifted westwards to the [[Oder–Neisse line]], effectively reducing Germany in size by approximately 25% compared to its 1937 borders. The territories east of the new border comprised [[East Prussia]], all of [[Silesia]] (except for its westernmost part around the city of [[Görlitz]]), the [[East Brandenburg|eastern part of Brandenburg]], and most of [[Pomerania]] (including former Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia). These areas included large urban centres such as [[Stettin]] (Szczecin), [[Breslau]] (Wrocław), [[Landsberg an der Warthe]] (Gorzów Wielkopolski) and so on.
* [[1944–50 flight and expulsion of Germans|Expulsion of the German populations]] remaining beyond the new eastern borders of Germany, and ethnically German denaturalised citizens of other states such [[Third Republic of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]], [[Republic of Hungary (1946–1949)|Hungary]], Poland, [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], and [[Yugoslavia]]. France, which had not participated in the Potsdam conference, took its liberties to dismiss this point and therefore refused to absorb any expellees in its zone of occupation.<ref>Cf. the report [http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/index.php?id=485&printView=1 "Vor 50 Jahren: Der 15. April 1950. Vertriebene finden eine neue Heimat in Rheinland-Pfalz"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731081922/http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/index.php?id=485&printView=1 |date=31 July 2013 }} of the Central Archive of the State of [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] on the first expellees arriving in that state in 1950 to be resettled from other German states.</ref>

=====Finalization of the Polish-German border=====
[[File:Deutschland Bundeslaender 1949.png|thumb|200px|right|Federal Republic of Germany (blue and yellow), German Democratic Republic (red), and the Saarland (purple), 7 October 1949]]
The problem with the status of these territories was that the [[Potsdam Agreement|concluding document]] of the [[Potsdam Conference]] in 1945 was not a legally binding [[treaty]], but a [[memorandum]] between the USSR, the US and the UK. It regulated the issue of the eastern German border, which was to be the Oder–Neisse line, but the final article of the memorandum said that the final decisions concerning Germany were to be subject to a separate peace treaty.

Based upon this interpretation of the Potsdam Agreement, the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|CDU]] controlled German government maintained that the [[Oder–Neisse line]] was completely unacceptable and subject to negotiation. Also the Social Democrats of the [[SPD]] initially refused to accept the Oder–Neisse line. Thus, the [[Oder–Neisse line#German recognition of the border|official German government position]] on the status of areas vacated by settled German communities east of the Oder–Neisse rivers was that the areas were "temporarily under Polish (or [Soviet]) administration."

Between 1970 and 1990, the West German political establishment gradually recognised the "[[facts on the ground]]" and accepted clauses in the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement]], whereby Germany renounced all claims to territory east of the Oder–Neisse line.
In the [[Treaty of Warsaw (1970)|Treaty of Warsaw]] (1970; ratified in 1972) [[West Germany]] recognized the Oder–Neisse line as Poland's western border and renounced any present and future territorial claims; this was reaffirmed by both German states in the 1990 [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany]] as a pre-condition for re-union. The treaty was ratified in 1991 by the united Germany. United Germany and Poland then finally settled the issue of the Oder–Neisse border by the [[German–Polish Border Treaty]] in November 1990. This ended the legal limbo which meant that for 45 years, people on both sides of the border could not be sure whether the status quo reached in 1945 might be changed at some future date.

==== Luxembourg ====
{{main|Luxembourg annexation plans after the Second World War}}

==== Belgium ====
{{main|Belgian annexation plans after the Second World War}}
The "Working Party on Provisional Adjustments to the Western Frontiers of Germany" approved in 1949 the provisional transfer of {{cvt|20|km2}} containing 500 inhabitants to Belgium:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030923215512/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/limitsinseas/IBS007.pdf International Boundary Study Office of the Geographer Bureau of Intelligence and Research]</ref>
#[[Bildchen]] (returned in 1956)
#[[Lichtenbusch]] (returned in 1956)
#[[Fringshaus]] — roads between [[Roetgen]] and Fringshaus, Fringshaus and [[Lammersdorf]], Fringshaus and [[Konzen]] (first two returned in 1956)
#[[Leykoul]] (eastern part returned in 1956)
#[[Elsenborn]]
#[[Losheim]] (only the village returned in 1956)
#[[Hemmeres]] (returned in 1956)

As part of the 1956 treaty, in exchange for the territory ceded by Germany, Belgium ceded to Germany its territory north of the Fringshaus roads and bounded by the [[Vennbahn]]. The detached territory, in 1956 containing 704 inhabitants including refugees, was, prior to its 1956 dissolution and partition between West Germany and Belgium, ruled as an independent territory by Belgian Army Major General [[Paul Bolle]], who enjoyed dictatorial powers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090227173731/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824416-1,00.html Autocrat's Adieu] [[Time Magazine]], 8 October 1956.</ref>

==== Netherlands ====
{{main|Dutch annexation of German territory after the Second World War}}

Despite the more extensive annexation proposals of the [[Bakker-Schut Plan]], only a few border modifications were implemented. On 23 April 1949, Dutch troops occupied an area of {{cvt|69|km2}}, the largest parts of which were [[Elten]] (near [[Emmerich am Rhein]]) and [[Selfkant]]. Many other small border changes were executed, mostly in the vicinity of [[Arnhem]] and [[Dinxperlo]]. At that time, these areas were inhabited by a total of almost 10,000 people.

Starting in March 1957, West Germany negotiated with the Netherlands for the return of these areas. The negotiations led to an agreement ({{langx|de|Vertrag vom 8. April 1960 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und dem Königreich der Niederlande zur Regelung von Grenzfragen und anderen zwischen beiden Ländern bestehenden Problemen}}; short: Ausgleichsvertrag, i.e. treaty of settlement<ref>Cf. Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette), part III, no. 181-1.</ref>) made in The Hague on 8 April 1960, in which Germany agreed to pay [[DEM]] 280 million for the return of Elten, Selfkant, and Suderwick, as ''[[Wiedergutmachung]]''.

The territory was returned to Germany on 1 August 1963, except for one small hill (about {{cvt|3|km2|disp=comma}}) near [[Wyler, North Rhine-Westphalia|Wyler]] village, called [[Duivelsberg/Wylerberg]] which was annexed by the Netherlands.

==== France ====
{{main|Monnet Plan}}
Starting on 16 February 1946 France ''de facto'' disentangled the Saar area and the separate [[Saar Protectorate]] of France was established when its constitution came into force on 17 December 1947, further attaching parts of the Prussian [[Rhine Province]] and the Bavarian [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]] ([[Saarpfalz]]). Like the [[former eastern territories of Germany]] the Saar area was out of the jurisdiction of the [[Allied Control Council|Allied Control Council for Germany]] and thus not part of [[Allied-occupied Germany]]. However, unlike the eastern territories, the domestic Saar population was not expelled by the controlling French. With the effect of 1 January 1957, the Saar Protectorate declared its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany, as provided by its [[Grundgesetz]] (constitution) art. 23 (Little Reunification), thus becoming the new federal state of [[Saarland]]. [[Kehl]] was directly annexed to France in 1945 and returned to Germany in 1953.

====Poland====
In 1949, there was modest exchange of territory between the Polish People's Republic and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). What is now the1 {{awrap|B 104/}}B 113 road junction at Linken, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to the immediate west of the Polish town of Lubieszyn was transferred from Poland to the GDR in return for a narrow strip of land lying directly on the west side of the road that connected the settlements of Linki and [[Buk, Police County|Buk]]. This move necessitated the creation of a new road linking Lubieszyn to Linki and Buk that mirrored the new shape of the border.<ref>Encyclopedia of Szczecin . T. Supplement 1. Szczecin: University of Szczecin , 2003, pp. 141–144–145. {{ISBN|83-7241-272-3}} (in Polish).</ref> In 1951, a small area of land on Usedom Island (Polish: Uznam) was ceded from the German Democratic Republic (Eastern Germany) to Poland. The water pumping station for [[Świnoujście]] lies on that land and was therefore handed over to Poland. In return, a similarly-sized area north of Mescherin, including the village of Staffelde (Polish: Staw), was transferred from Poland to the German Democratic Republic.<ref name="Museum of Polish Border Formation">{{cite web |year= 2020 |url = https://muzeumsg.strazgraniczna.pl/muz/sluzba/infrastruktura-graniczn/1945-1990/oznakowanie-granic/9883,Oznakowanie-granic-1945-1990.html|title = Marking of borders/Oznakowanie granic|publisher = Museum of Polish Border Formation/Muzeum Polskich Formacji Granicznych| access-date = 21 April 2020 }}</ref> In 1968, East Germany and Poland signed a treaty for the Baltic continental shelf delimitation. On 22 May 1989, East Germany and Poland completed the delimitation of their territorial waters in the Gulf of Szczecin.{{fact|date=January 2025}}

==See also==
*[[Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany]]
*[[Areas annexed by Nazi Germany]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonsinline}}

{{Territorial evolution of the world}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany}}
[[Category:Territorial evolution of Germany| ]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Germany]]
[[Category:German irredentism]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War I in Germany]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War II in Germany]]
[[Category:German diaspora in Europe]]