What if the Soviets allowed East Germany to keep the land lost to Poland excluding East Prussia? Consequently a Modern Germany would have it's Weimar boundaries minus East Prussia.
What if the Soviets allowed East Germany to keep the land lost to Poland excluding East Prussia? Consequently a Modern Germany would have it's Weimar boundaries minus East Prussia.
This is the sovjet union and Stalin we are talking about, I doubt they really cared that much about Poland. It was more of a way to decrease German power than reward/help/compensate Poland.Wouldn't that require Soviets return Eastern Poland? IIRC those lands were given to Poland as a compensation for lands lost in the east.
This is the sovjet union and Stalin we are talking about, I doubt they really cared that much about Poland. It was more of a way to decrease German power than reward/help/compensate Poland.
Or maybe France (or Canada) are considered equal allies from the start and get their own occupation zone, instead of France getting some from the British and American zones and Canada getting none.
You understood me wrong. The Sovjet Union wouldn't give part of Soviet occupied Germany to France or Canada, but (free) France and Canada would have been part of the negotiations from the start and were given an equal share, like the rest of the negotiators, thus limiting the part the Soviet Union would get. Instead of 1/3, now the Sovjet union get 1/4, like all countries during the negotiations (or 1/5 if both France or Canada were present). For this to work I assume you would need France to continue fighting from the start, so no Vichi France.I do not believe Stalin would have agreed to give a part of Soviet-controlled territory to Canada or France. If they want their own occupation zone, they can get it from US and UK - USSR will not step back.
You understood me wrong. The Sovjet Union wouldn't give part of Soviet occupied Germany to France or Canada, but (free) France and Canada would have been part of the negotiations from the start and were given an equal share, like the rest of the negotiators, thus limiting the part the Soviet Union would get. Instead of 1/3, now the Sovjet union get 1/4, like all countries during the negotiations (or 1/5 if both France or Canada were present). For this to work I assume you would need France to continue fighting from the start, so no Vichi France.
That is exactly what I meant.AFAIK, the Soviets didn't give up any territory to France IOTL, but the Western allies ceded parts of their occupation zones to France. Taking the Canadians in wouldn't change that. To really get more and smaller occupation zones, you'd need to change negotiations early on, at a time where France would hardly be considered as equal - not to mention Canada.
What if the Soviets allowed East Germany to keep the land lost to Poland excluding East Prussia? Consequently a Modern Germany would have it's Weimar boundaries minus East Prussia.
Wouldn't that require Soviets return Eastern Poland? IIRC those lands were given to Poland as a compensation for lands lost in the east.
But let's say the Western Allies took more of Germany to create West Germany, say up to the Elbe (where they were occupying IOTL). At this point Stalin will make East Germany far bigger in an attempt to combat this more powerful West Germany, say 1939 borders.Correct. The USSR wasn't about to hand back the areas of eastern Poland they incorporated into the USSR. Moving Poland's western border to the west to compenase for this loss made the border adjustment palatable to the western allies, who might otherwise have raised more of a fuss. And who cares what Germans thought? In 1945, the allies could care less what this did to Germans after what they did to the rest of Europe.