On 7 December 1970, at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, the Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Polish People's Republic concerning the basis for normalizing their mutual relations was signed. Signatories: Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel for the German side, Józef Cyrankiewicz and Stefan Jędrychowski for the Polish side. Authentic texts: German and Polish, in two originals. It is not the 1955 Warsaw Pact and not the Moscow Treaty of August 1970.

The preamble notes that more than 25 years have passed since the end of the Second World War, of which Poland was the first victim and which brought heavy suffering upon the peoples of Europe. It recalls that a new generation has grown up in both countries, for whom a peaceful future is to be secured, and that the inviolability of frontiers and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all States in Europe within their then existing borders are a basic condition for peace.

Article I: both Parties jointly state that the existing frontier line, whose course is laid down in Chapter IX of the decisions of the Potsdam Conference of 2 August 1945, from the Baltic Sea immediately west of Świnoujście, then along the Oder to the confluence of the Lusatian Neisse and along the Lusatian Neisse to the frontier with Czechoslovakia, constitutes the western State frontier of the Polish People's Republic. They reaffirm the inviolability of their existing frontiers now and in the future and undertake to respect territorial integrity unreservedly. They declare that they have no territorial claims against each other and will not raise such claims in the future.

Article II: in their mutual relations and in questions of European and world security, the Parties shall be guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter, they shall settle all their disputes exclusively by peaceful means and refrain from the threat or use of force.

Article III: the Parties shall take further steps towards the full normalization and comprehensive development of their mutual relations, of which this Treaty forms the firm basis. They agree that an expansion of cooperation in economic, scientific, scientific-technical, cultural and other fields is in their mutual interest.

Article IV: this Treaty does not affect bilateral or multilateral international agreements previously concluded by the Parties or concerning them. Article V: the Treaty requires ratification and enters into force on the day of the exchange of the instruments of ratification, which is to take place in Bonn, hence on 3 June 1972.

It is not the 1990 Two Plus Four Treaty and not the German-Polish Border Treaty of 14 November 1990, which later confirmed the line without a peace-treaty reservation.

Image: Presidential Palace, Warsaw; Rhododendrites, 12 August 2024; CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Treaty of Warsaw (1970). Treaty text: Treaty concerning the basis for normalizing mutual relations, Warsaw, 7 December 1970.