The historic context for Article 116 was the eviction , following World War II , of an estimated 9 million foreign ethnic Germans from other countries in Central and Eastern Europe . Another 9 million German nationals in the former eastern German territories , over which Joseph Stalin and eastern neighbour states extended military hegemony in 1945 , were expelled as well . These expellees and refugees , known as '' Heimatvertriebene '' , were given refugee status and documents , and &mdash; as to foreign ethnic Germans &mdash; also the German citizenship ( in 1949 ) , and resettled in Germany . The Discussion of possible compensation continues ; this , however , has been countered by possible claims for war compensation from Germany 's eastern neighbours , pertaining to both Germany 's unconditional surrender and the series of population transfers carried out under the instruments of Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
Right of return