The line of division of territories between two neighboring states has more than once become the subject of hostilities, disputes and treaties. The current border between Russia and Poland was formed after the end of World War II. The westernmost outpost of the country "Normeln" is located there. The border is guarded by the Russian Border Service, which is part of the FSB.
Division of the Commonwe alth
The idea of dividing the state that arose in 1569 as a result of the unification of Lithuania and Poland appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. The king, elected by the nobility, depended on the decision of the aristocrats and was often powerless in his actions. Groupings of the Polish nobility were constantly at odds with each other. By the second half of the 18th century, the Commonwe alth had become a weak state, unable to resist stronger neighbors: Prussia, Austria and Russia. The end of the Seven Years' War contributed to the improvement of relations between Russia and Prussia. The allied treaty, concluded in 1764 in St. Petersburg, was the first step towards the division of the territory of Poland. In 1772, 1793 and 1793 Austria, Prussia and Russia produced three divisions of the Commonwe alth. Accordingly, the borders of the state were constantly changing. As a result, Poland lost its statehood; its territories until 1918 were part of the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria.
Riga peace with Poland
The offensive of the Polish troops April 25, 1920 began the war of Soviet Russia against Poland. A month later, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive and, after a series of successful actions, reached the approaches to Warsaw and Lvov. As a result of the retaliatory strike of the Polish troops, the Red Army was forced to withdraw from its positions. The catastrophic defeat forced the Soviet government to negotiate with "white" Poland. The war ended with the signing of a peace treaty in Riga (March 18, 1921).
Negotiations in progress
The proposal of the USSR to draw the Russian-Polish border along the Curzon line was perceived negatively by the leadership of Poland. Diplomats said that it reminded them of the shameful division of the Commonwe alth, carried out in 1795. Abandoning their original plans to push the eastern border to the borders of the Commonwe alth, that is, to the Western Dvina and Dnieper, the Poles decided to draw the border along a line coinciding with the line of the Russian-German front 1915-1917 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland said that such a division is the most beneficial, since there are engineering fortifications on the former front line. SupportersPeople's Democratic Poland took the position that it was not worth including in the country the territories inhabited by a population culturally and religiously alien to the Poles. These attitudes were shared by the heads of the Polish delegation J. Dombski. Partition along the former front line allowed Poland to acquire territories populated predominantly by Catholics.
Agreements reached
According to the results of the peace treaty, Poland ceded territories located east of the Curzon line with a predominantly non-Polish population: Western Ukraine (part of the Volyn province), Western Belarus (part of the Grodno province) and part of some former provinces of the Russian Empire.
Initial partition after World War II
The first decision on the passage of the land border separating the territories of neighboring states was made back in February 1945. It was planned to draw the border along the Pregel and Pissa rivers. The situation was complicated by the fact that the cities located on the coast of the rivers (regardless of which side they are located on) belonged to the Soviet Union. If the initial decision of the State Defense Committee was implemented, some of the cities of today's Kaliningrad region would become part of Poland.
At the Soviet-Polish negotiations that took place during the Potsdam Conference in August 1945, the decision was revised. The RSFSR additionally received a small piece of territory. The new border between Russia and Poland was drawn along the northernborders of the German territories. Immediately after the conclusion of the treaty, the transfer of civil power began. The leadership of that part of East Prussia, which departed Poland, was transferred to the Polish self-government.
Changing the border
Quite unexpectedly for the Polish side, already at the end of September-beginning of October 1945, changes began. Old-timers said that Soviet soldiers came to the settlement, which actually became Polish, and offered the elders to release it. In this way, part of the former German cities, already inhabited by the Polish population, passed to the Soviet Union.
In December, Moscow decides to move the border 40 km to the south, into Poland. In April 1946, through negotiations, the official, but not the last, establishment of the border between Russia and Poland took place. Over the next 10 years, until 1956, the shape changed 16 times.
Currently
Mostly Poland has a land border with Russia. The modern line is interesting in that it is not tied to geographical objects and runs approximately in a straight line. The entire border between Russia and Poland coincides with the border of the Kaliningrad region, the westernmost region of the country. The section on which the border is located is fenced off from the other part of the region by protective structures, and it is impossible to get there. There are no settlements there either. The total length of the border is 204 km; of which - a little less than 1 km pass through the lakes, the rest - land borders. In the south, the borderbegins at the point separating the territories of three states: Lithuania, Poland and Russia. The protection of the border, which is also the border with the European Union, is carried out by the Russian border service on the one hand and the Polish border service on the other.
