III.

Territorial Changes

Germany recognized the unconditional sovereignty of Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and Austria, and denounced the treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest. In addition, it lost some 71,000 sq km (about 27,500 sq mi), or slightly more than 13 per cent of its European domain. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France, and the Saar basin placed under a League of Nations Commission for 15 years. Belgium received the small districts of Eupen-et-Malmédy and Moresnet. Under plebiscites held in 1920 to determine the status of northern and central Schleswig, the former, comprising 3,981 sq km (1,537 sq mi), was reunited with Denmark, but the latter remained with Germany. To Poland were ceded large parts of the provinces of Posen and West Prussia. Plebiscites in south-eastern Prussia and the Marienwerder district of West Prussia, held in 1920, produced substantial majorities for Germany. The plebiscite in Upper Silesia in 1921 gave a majority for Germany, but the Council of the League of Nations, having been invited to settle the controversy, awarded the richest part of the region to Poland. A portion of Upper Silesia (now in the Czech Republic) was ceded to Czechoslovakia in 1920. The port of Memel with adjacent territory was ceded to the Allies for ultimate transfer to Lithuania. The port of Danzig was ceded to the principal Allied and associated powers, which recognized Danzig (now Gdańsk) as a free city administered under the League of Nations but subject to Polish jurisdiction in regard to customs and foreign relations. Germany also lost its entire colonial empire.