Oder–Neisse line

Oder–Neisse line (German: Oder-Neiße-Grenze; Polish: granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej) is an unofficial term for the modern border between Germany and Poland. The line generally follows the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, meeting the Baltic Sea in the north. A small portion of Polish territory does fall west of the line, including the cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście (German: Stettin and Swinemünde).

In post-war Poland, the government described the Oder–Neisse line as the result of "tough negotiations" between Polish Communists and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union at the time. However, according to the modern Institute of National Remembrance, Polish aspirations had no impact on the outcome; rather the idea of a westward shift of the Polish border was adopted synthetically by Stalin, who was the final arbiter in the matter. Stalin's political goals influenced his idea of a swap of western for eastern territory, thus ensuring Soviet leverage over both countries. Historian Włodzimierz Suleja argues the settlement also reflected an intention to set Poles and Germans against each other by entrenching a territorial dispute. As with before the war, some fringe groups advocated restoring the old border between Poland and Germany.

All pre-war German territories east of the line and within the 1937 German boundaries – comprising nearly one quarter (23.8 percent) of the Weimar Republic's land area of 111,765 square kilometres (43,153 sq mi) – were ceded to Poland and the Soviet Union under the changes decided at the Potsdam Conference. The majority of these territories, including Silesia, Pomerania, and the southern part of East Prussia, were ceded to Poland.