Why Poland changed from USSR lands in 1951

History 11/01/20 LIFEЗачем Poland has changed with the Soviet Union lands in 1951

After the Second World war borders of Eastern Europe were subjected to logical review. There were additional exchange of territories and populations. The largest beneficiary of post-war demarcation was Poland.

Increment with the use of

No sooner the recent battles on the fields of World war II, stationed in London the government in exile of the Polish Republic, demanded of the winners to return the Eastern border of Poland to the state in which she remained until September 1939. In other words, Poland was to include almost all of Western Ukraine and a significant part of Belarus. However, the allies had a slightly different opinion on the matter.

the territorial division of Europe agreed at Yalta and Potsdam conferences, has allowed Poland to increase its area at the expense of lands of the former Nazi Germany approximately 100 thousand sq. km. With about 4 million ethnic Germans caught in the incremental Polish territories were deported to their homeland.

Territorial increase in Poland was palpable. If before the war the country had a 70-kilometer-long coastal strip facing the Baltic sea, after the war, its length increased to 536 km. Subsequently, the German economists estimate that only from the exploitation of minerals in the region in the postwar period Poland has a fortune of about $ 130 billion, which is twice the amount paid by Germany to Poland as reparations.

the Great migration

it Should be noted that the Soviet government has begun to address territorial-ethnic issues with Poland long before the war ended. So, on 9 September 1944 between the Polish Committee of national liberation and representatives of the USSR signed the document “On the evacuation of Ukrainian population from Poland and Polish citizens from the territory of the USSR.”

in addition, in the autumn of 1944, discussed the issue of repatriation of poles from Belarus and Lithuania. The agreement came only in July 1945, when Moscow and Warsaw signed a document entitled release from Soviet citizenship of persons of Polish and Jewish nationality with a further relocation to Poland. The same right of persons of Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Ruthenian and Lithuanian nationalities living on the territory of Poland.

To October 31, 1946 from Poland to the USSR were relocated approximately 518 thousand people, in the opposite direction proceeded in the order of 1 million 90 thousand people. Truth in the works of S. Maksudova and V. Kabuzan is called even more impressive number of poles moved from the USSR to Poland – more than 1 million 500 thousand people.

would like better

the Process of resettlement to the territory of the Soviet Union was not easy. Yes, the government could have provided the new arrivals land in need were given grain, cattle, clothes, shoes, people could count on a one-time financial assistance. However, all allocated resources are not enough. Another problem was the indiscriminate sending of IDPs in collective accustomed to agriculture even tried those who were working or engineering specialty.

a Mixed reaction to the Polish-Soviet agreement caused in Belarus. In early August 1944, the inhabitants of Bielsk learned that their city was going to transfer to Poland. Already started to rebuild the war-ravaged city’s residents EN masse, left the jobs, stating that they do not want to work for the benefit of the poles. At the same time, ethnic poles living in the border regions of Grodno region, expressed a desire to relate their towns to Poland. On this soil between Belarusians and poles broke out more than once inter-ethnic conflicts.

August 16, 1945, entered into force the Treaty between the USSR and Poland on the state border, according to which Poland passed 3 districts of Brest and 17 districts of Belostok oblast of the Byelorussian SSR, mostly inhabited by Polish population. Instead, the Polish government undertook to supply the Soviet Union the coal at a special bargain price.

According to the document, the person napolski nationalities were resettled from Poland given to areas without property. Everything necessary had to be provided by the authorities in the new place. Unfortunately, issues could not be avoided. As noted by the head of Department of the CPC BSSR Ivan Barkov, many settlers regarded his present position as a reference, they were unhappy that the authorities had not fulfilled the promise to give them housing equivalent to that which they had left the poles.

Strange exchange

In 1946 he returned to Poland the regions of Sanok and przemyśl, entered into the USSR in 1939, according to a secret Protocol attached to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. But the most resonant agreement between the governments of the Soviet Union and the Polish people’s Republic took place on 15 February 1951, when the two countries exchanged equal to the area of the territories on the principle of “km”. The transaction Warsaw received the land in the Drohobych region (belonging to the USSR) with a total area of 480 km2, Moscow withdrew a similar area of land in the Lublin Voivodeship. This deal was one of the major revisions of borders in Europe’s postwar history.

the Exchange was to be not only territory but also their population. The poles generally went into the territory of the Republic of Poland and partially received from the Union plot of land, Ukrainians settled in Odessa, Stalin (Donetsk), Nikolaev and Kherson areas. The authorities of both countries agreed that the resettled citizens could take with them only movable property and equipment, real property was transferred to them gratuitously and in good condition. The whole process was given six months.

Officially, the initiator of the exchange was made by Poland. Here is what was said in the message of the Polish rulertion: “the Government of the Polish Republic, recently addressed the Soviet Government with a request to exchange a small border area of Poland is equal to the edge portion of the territory of the USSR due to the economic gravity of these areas to adjacent areas of the USSR and Poland. The Soviet government agreed with the proposal of the Government of the Polish Republic”.

Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Poland Aleksander Zawadzki, commenting on the Soviet-Polish agreement stated that all this was started by the government, with the views of ordinary citizens was interesting to nobody. Warsaw, according to Zavadsky, were motivated by the desire to have large reserves of oil and natural gas that were on the transferred lands. Moscow from the operation of the acquired territory could count on a more convenient rail service, said Zavadsky.

However, the Soviet Union was another motive to get a plot of land in the Lublin Voivodeship – extensive Lviv-Volyn coal Deposit. In October 1948 the Soviet drillers on the outskirts of the village of Buzhanka discovered coal seam and two years later marked the area of building five mines, the coal reserves which, according to preliminary estimates, amounted to 1.75 billion tons. However, exploration has shown that a promising coal Deposit extends far to the South in the direction belonging to Poland Kristinopol.

it Should also pay attention to one point. When in September 1944 the Treaty “On the evacuation of Ukrainian population from Poland and Polish citizens from the territory of the USSR” was signed between the representatives of Poland and Ukraine, in 1951, an agreement ratified by Poland and the Soviet Union. Historians tend to think that in the first case, was declared the inviolability of borders between Poland and Ukraine and the Kremlin, forwarding all the powers of the government of the USSR was removed from responsibility for the possible complications in the future Polish-Ukrainian relations.

Taras Repin

Source:
© Russian Seven

see also: editor’s choice, “Russian Seven”Why are the Russians in Afghanistan, did not take the spooks captured daggerwing Rommel: what became the best commander Gitlerom “frost” has entered the list of 100 worst movies storiesone Eclipse Jan 10: than it is dangerous Recommended article Share: Comments Comments on the article “Why Poland changed from USSR lands in 1951” Please log in to leave a comment! br>
Share on Tumblr