ABSTRACT
Departing from this traditional position, the Federal Republic consented to the Oder-Neisse frontier in the Treaty of Warsaw not in its capacity as representative of all Germany, but merely as Federal Republic. Far more important than any agreement concluded by the Federal Republic or by the German Democratic Republic is the actual recognition or non-recognition of the Oder-Neisse frontier by those States which at the conclusion of the Second World War were legitimately entitled to decide the fate of Germany. Contrary to popular assumption, none of the Western Powers has made an act of formal recognition, neither individually nor collectively, although with the passing of time their public opposition to the Oder-Neisse frontier has considerably reduced in intensity. Officially, the United States, Great Britain and France maintain the legal position that according to the Potsdam Agreement the Oder-Neisse frontier is a provisional frontier subject to approval or revision in a final peace treaty with Germany.
