Danzig-West Prussia (on the territory of the occupied Second Polish Republic). In 1945, most ethnic Germans were expelled from these lands by the Soviet army. Resettlement was planned for the territory remaining to Germany under terms of the border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference, i.e. west of the Oder–Neisse line, or elsewhere in the world. Ethnic Germans from East Prussia and Lithuania are sometimes incorrectly considered Baltic Germans for reasons of cultural, linguistic, and historical affinities. Germans of East Prussia held Prussian, and after 1871, German citizenship, because the territory they lived in was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Ethnic composition Baltic Germans were not a purely German ethnic group. The early crusaders, tradesmen and craftsmen often married local women, as there were no German women available. Some noble families, such as the Lievens, claimed descent through such women from native chieftains. Many of the German Livonian-Order soldiers died during the Livonian War of 1558–1583. New German arrivals came to the area. During this time the Low German (Plattdeutsch) of the original settlers was gradually replaced by the High German (Hochdeutsch) of the new settlers. In the course of their 700-year history, Baltic German families had ethnic German roots, but also intermarried extensively with Estonians, Livonians and Latvians, as well as with other Northern or Central European peoples, such as Danes, Swedes, Irish, English, Scots, Poles, Hungarians and Dutch. In cases where intermarriage occurred, members of the other ethnic groups frequently assimilated into German culture, adopting German language, customs, and family names. They were then considered Germans, leading to the ethnogenesis of the Baltic Germans. The families of Barclay de Tolly and of George Armitstead (1847–1912), who had emigrated from the British Isles, married into and became part of the Baltic-German community. Territories Baltic German settlements in the Baltic area consisted of the following territories: Estland (; ), roughly the northern half of present-day Estonia; major towns: Reval (Tallinn), Narwa (Narva), Wesenberg (Rakvere), Weissenstein (Paide), Hapsal (Haapsalu). Livland (; ; ), roughly the southern half of present-day Estonia and the northern and eastern part of today's Latvia (Vidzeme); major towns: Riga, Wenden (Cēsis), Wolmar (Valmiera), Walk (Valga and Valka), Dorpat (Tartu), Pernau (Pärnu), Fellin (Viljandi). Kurland (; also ; ), roughly the western half of present-day Latvia (Kurzeme and Zemgale); major towns: Mitau (Jelgava), Windau (Ventspils), Libau (Liepāja). Ösel (the island of Saaremaa) belonging to present-day Estonia; major