I knew that the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact split Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
I knew that post-war Poland’s eastern borders moved west, the Soviet Union demanding the Curzon Line, first proposed after the Russo-Polish War, be implemented.
What I didn’t know is that the eastern borders of both were identical, that the territory acquired after Germany invaded Poland and the territory changes agreed upon at Tehran and Yalta were identical (or so claims this map).
Stalin also succeeded in moving Poland’s western border to the Oder River, a prevalent theory to push Germany further away from the Soviet Union to protect from a future German attack. However, I find it more interesting that Soviet Union benefited by being on both sides of the war (though benefit is not the best word as almost 27 million Soviets died during the war).
Image Credits
- Map from Courier From Warsaw by Jan Nowak, p15.
