On 2 August 1945 , the Potsdam Agreement , promulgated at the end of the Potsdam Conference , among other things agreed on the initial terms under which the Allies of World War II would govern Germany . A provisional German – Polish border known as the Oder – Neisse line awarded , in theory within the context of that " provisional border " , most of Germany 's eastern provinces to Poland and the Soviet Union . Those agreements reached were provisional and the agreement stipulated that the situation would be finalised by " a peace settlement for Germany to be accepted by the Government of Germany when a government adequate for the purpose is established " ( Potsdam Agreement 1.3.1 ) . Parts of those above-mentioned agreements were burdened with controversy from several sources e.g. , Churchill 's comment about " stuffing the Polish goose too full " ( of German lands ) . The overall " German Question " became one of the salient and crucial issues of the long-running Cold War , and until it ended in the late 1980s , little progress had been made in the establishment of a single government of Germany adequate for the purpose of agreeing to a final settlement . This meant that in some respects ( largely , but not only , technical ) , Germany did not have full national sovereignty
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany