Treaty of Posen (See Paris and Die)

Although Germany was initially successful in Russia, the Soviet forces were continually able to regain lost territory. Rommel staged brilliant defensive strategies and inflicted heavy losses to the Soviets, but he was unable to regain the initiative. There were rumors that Germany was on the verge of developing a super weapon, but no such weapon materialized. Stalin often stated that the USSR would continue to march to Berlin. The world was therefore surprised when he accepted the terms offered in the Treaty of Posen.

The German-Russian border was established considerably north of where they had been in 1939. Germany gained Poland, Lithuania and Romania. Russia seemed to gain little but a cessation of fighting (the number of soldiers who would have been lost had the USSR forcibly pushed the Germans back to the lines drawn in the Treaty of Posen did not seem to be a factor in Stalin’s thinking). Later, however, it was apparent that a back room deal was also reached.

Shortly after the Treaty of Posen, German forces withdrew from Finland and Norway. When Soviet forces moved into those countries, Germany made no protests.



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