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The Oder-Neisse Line As Poland's Western Border

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The Oder-Neisse Line As Poland's Western Border Piotr Eberhardt Piotr Eberhardt 2015 88 1 77 http://dx.doi.org/10.7163/ GPol.0007 April 2014 September 2014 Geographia Polonica 2015, Volume 88, Issue 1, pp. 77-105 http://dx.doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0007 INSTITUTE OF GEOGRAPHY AND SPATIAL ORGANIZATION POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES www.igipz.pan.pl www.geographiapolonica.pl THE ODER-NEISSE LINE AS POLAND’S WESTERN BORDER: AS POSTULATED AND MADE A REALITY Piotr Eberhardt Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland e-mail: [email protected] Abstract This article presents the historical and political conditioning leading to the establishment of the contemporary Polish-German border along the ‘Oder-Neisse Line’ (formed by the rivers known in Poland as the Odra and Nysa Łużycka). It is recalled how – at the moment a Polish state first came into being in the 10th century – its western border also followed a course more or less coinciding with these same two rivers. In subsequent cen- turies, the political limits of the Polish and German spheres of influence shifted markedly to the east. However, as a result of the drastic reverse suffered by Nazi Germany, the western border of Poland was re-set at the Oder-Neisse Line. Consideration is given to both the causes and consequences of this far-reaching geopolitical decision taken at the Potsdam Conference by the victorious Three Powers of the USSR, UK and USA. Key words Oder-Neisse Line • western border of Poland • Potsdam Conference • international boundaries Introduction districts – one for each successor – brought the loss, at first periodically and then irrevo- At the end of the 10th century, the Western cably, of the whole of Silesia and of Western border of Poland coincided approximately Pomerania. with the line of the Oder (Odra) and the Lusa- Thus, when the Kingdom of Poland was tian Neisse (Nysa Łużycka) (Sułowski 1952). re-established in the 15th century, its western The small departures from this were of little border was by then shifted well to the east, significance, since the then political limits having an arc shape and ensuring the inclu- were somewhat labile and fuzzy. However, the sion inside it of Eastern Pomerania, Kuyavia era initiated by the death of Bolesław III the and Małopolska (Lesser Poland), as well as the Wrymouthed (Bolesław Krzywousty) in 1138, Wielkopolska region (Greater Poland) extend- which saw Poland divided up into small ing further to the west (Wojciechowski 1945; _GP2015-88-1.indb 77 2015-03-16 12:49:50 78 Piotr Eberhardt Waszkiewicz 1954). The configuration of the In contrast, much was written and spoken border existing at this time then went more about Polish civilisational achievements in the or less unmodified through to the fall of the east, and there was no doubt in the minds First Republic in 1795. of most that a whole huge area extending The territories lost in the meantime were to the River Dnieper did represent an inte- subject to a steady process of Germanisation, gral element of the Polish Lands. A similar with the whole area except for some parts approach was taken to the western border, to the east of the Oder near Opole/Oppeln which was to return to the line it followed becoming ethnically German. Likewise, the in 1772 (Wapiński 1994). Baltic coast became home to German settle- As time passed, the highly-entrenched ment everywhere up to the mouth of the River view in Polish society as to the territorial Neman, except on the western shore of Dan- shape of a future Poland reborn had per- zig Bay. Following the fall of the First Republic, force to change radically. This did not happen the political borderland shifted even further under the influence of external geopolitical to the east, such that the German-Russian conditioning, which was very much petrified border ran along the River Prosna, while East and did not favour Polish aspirations. Rath- Prussia ceased to be an exclave separated er it was a different process that enforced from Germany proper1. a review of ways of looking at the re-creation In the awareness of a 19th-century Polish of Poland within its historical boundaries. society partitioned into Russian, Prussian and Across Central and Eastern Europe, peasants Austro-Hungarian parts there was a well- had remained largely indifferent to issues rooted vision of Poland within its borders of nationality up to the mid-19th century, and from 1772. This meant that Volhynia, Podolia in many cases up to the very end thereof. The and Lithuania were regarded as Polish lands carriers of tradition and identity from one to a greater extent than, for example, Silesia generation to the next were thus the nobil- or Western Pomerania. While there was an ity and the intelligentsia. However, as time awareness that large areas of both Silesia and passed national ideas began to trickle down East Prussia featured people using the Polish into the rural populace, along with less-subtle language, this was not of more major politi- slogans that were nationalist in tone. This was cal significance. Only Wielkopolska (Greater by no means a unifying process, as the old Poland), East Pomerania and perhaps Catho- eastern lands from the First Republic began lic Varmia/Ermland were treated as areas to diverge in terms of nationality, to the to which Poland retained some moral right. extent that Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Belarusian Other provinces on the eastern bank of the and Latvian national movements all began Oder and Neisse but now in the Kingdom to emerge. of Prussia were regarded as German land, In an analogous way (if with a more posi- and there was no fuller awareness of their tive result) the Polish-German borderland early Slav origin.2 began to nurture distinct activisms in Silesia, Pomerania, Varmia (Ermland) and Masuria, albeit with a struggle against Germanisation 1 During the previous millennium the western bor- in each case encouraging identification with der of Poland did undergo a geographical shift. This was the Polish-language tradition from history associated with the political situation in Europe, and first (Kętrzyński 1882; Bełza 1902). and foremost the position of the German Power. Never- theless, the ultimate return was to the situation that had The circles formed from Polish pro-inde- existed in the early Middle Ages (Labuda 1974). pendence activists and academics (above 2 Scant awareness of the early-Polish nature of the all geographers) were thus faced with an whole of Silesia had survived. But it had been noted by the exceptionally complex research dilemma that Polish chroniclers (such as Długosz), as well as by Polish travellers spending time in Silesia in the late 18th and had consequences extending far beyond the early 19th centuries (e.g. Niemcewicz and Plater). academic. It was now necessary to square Geographia Polonica 2015, 88, 1, pp. 77-105 _GP2015-88-1.indb 78 2015-03-16 12:49:51 The Oder-Neisse Line as Poland’s western border: As postulated and made a reality 79 up to a new demographic and ethnic reality was a Baltic coast extending from the Vistula that required a rethink of many views existing to the Neman/Niemen, as well as possession hitherto, with arguments appropriate in the of the whole of East Prussia, Greater Poland circumstances needing to be advanced, if the and Silesia. new standpoint on the extent and shape of the Popławski stuck by his conviction that the future Poland was to be presented properly. regaining of Upper Silesia, Opole-Silesia and East Prussia was a relatively feasible option, Precursors of Polish Western since considerable Polish populations had thinking persisted in all three regions. In this regard, he was aware that the postulate was maximal- A significant role in the development of west- ist in tone. Equally, he was prepared to accept ern-orientated Polish thinking was played that formerly Piast-ruled provinces like Lower by the country’s political activist Ludwik Silesia and Western Pomerania had by now Popławski. He was fully aware that new politi- become German lands, to which Poland had cal, ethnic and geographical conditions were permanently lost any rights or claims it might appearing, but was less concerned about sys- once have had. Popławski was thus consist- temic and social issues (which he saw as sec- ent in not writing about any revindication ondary), and more interested in the key mat- in respect of areas along the middle or lower ter of assuring optimal political borders for Oder, and all the more so did he eschew indi- a future Poland, in line with the fact that the cating the Oder-Neisse Line as a potential fate of country and nation alike might well border (Popławski 1910). depend on them. He was not therefore inter- Popławski’s geopolitical works in fact ested in claims of a maximal nature. Indeed, played a key role in shaping views of the well- he demonstrated considerable caution and known Polish politician Roman Dmowski, who wisdom, minded only by the desire to achieve saw him as an ideal instructor. In Dmowski’s cohesion and strength for the re-emerging 1907 book Niemcy, Rosja a kwestia polska state. It was for these reasons that he saw (Germany, Russia and the Polish Question), the issue of the western border as overriding it is easy to make out the creative inspi- all others. ration supplied by his great predecessor. It was clear that Poland’s future would have In turn, looking from the perspective of today to be linked with access to the Baltic Sea, and at Popławski’s territorial concepts, it is easy with the regaining of Silesia, the Wielkopolska to suggest that he was effective in antici- region (Greater Poland), Pomerania and East pating a steady shift westwards for Poland Prussia.
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