when did germany and the soviet union split poland
Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939. On that morning, 16 days after Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Subsequent military operations lasted for the following 20 days and ended on 6 October 1939 with the two-way division and annexation of the entire territory of the Second Polish Republic by both Germany and the Soviet Union.[7] The joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland was secretly agreed to following the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939.[8]
Germany–Poland relations In 1918, Poland regained its place on the map. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its territories in West Prussia, East Upper Silesia and Danzig (Gdansk) and transferred them all to Poland. It was seen as a great injustice in the Weimar Republic, in part leading to the Nazi takeover of power in 1933. On 1 September 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany, thus initiating World War II. The Third Reich established concentration camps in German-occupied Poland, the biggest located in Auschwitz. Poland suffered many casualties and huge damages during the war. After World War II, Germany lost its former eastern territories to Poland and the Soviet Union. In 1945-1950, a series of expulsions and fleeings happened, in which up to 16 million ethnic Germans were forced to leave their homes in Poland and resettle in post-war Germany. It was the largest forced movement of any population in history.