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Former German Territories
The territories east of the Oder-Neisse line, which had belonged to the territory of the German Reich on December 31, 1937, were effectively separated from Germany after the end of the Second World War in 1945, are referred to as the eastern territories of the German Reich or former German eastern territories and today belong to Poland and Russia. These areas made up about a quarter of the area, a seventh of the population and a significantly below-average share of industrial production in Germany.
The eastern territories of the German Reich in a broader sense also include areas that Germany had to cede after the First World War in 1920 due to the Versailles Treaty of 1919: the majority of the Prussian provinces of Posen and West Prussia, the former East Prussian Soldau region and the Upper Silesian region Industrial area (to Poland) and the Hultschiner Ländchen (to Czechoslovakia) and Memelland (to the Allied powers, annexed by Lithuania in 1923), as well as the city of Danzig as the Free City of Danzig.
The eastern territories of the German Reich in a broader sense also include areas that Germany had to cede after the First World War in 1920 due to the Versailles Treaty of 1919: the majority of the Prussian provinces of Posen and West Prussia, the former East Prussian Soldau region and the Upper Silesian region Industrial area (to Poland) and the Hultschiner Ländchen (to Czechoslovakia) and Memelland (to the Allied powers, annexed by Lithuania in 1923), as well as the city of Danzig as the Free City of Danzig.