Should Germany be handed back the eastern territories?
959785
No way. Hitler stole that land and it did not belong to Germany in the first place.
886981
If this is really a locational and thus geographical question then Hungary, because it is landlocked. The fact that both Hungary and Poland are ex-communist countries is less of a locational question. After all, Austria is east of part of the Czech Republic and the former East Germany, yet it wasn't part of the "Eastern Bloc".
572228
Would be better to go to another place.  Germany has forgotten how to educate people.
761851
Yes we know this already. The Mexicans lost a war that they foolishly believed would win and they paid for what they lost both with blood and money.\n\nThe people who keep saying "the border crossed" them are idiots and/or sore losers. If they were German they'd complain about Alsace-Lorraine and western Poland not being Germany's cause of World War I and II.\n\nTo cufin01... The Germans were also made to surrender at gunpoint... Duh. All wars end with one side being FORCED to surrender something, or is your liberal utopia too pleasant to get out of? \n\nDo note that I dont agree 100% with how History turns out, but are you ready for another war then (which is the only way your "grieviances" will ever be redressed)?
125423
Short answer:  yes, it is very ironic.  Also very sad, in that it probably was necessary in order to defeat the Nazis.  But Germany paid for its sins in the Berlin Wall and the social, economic and ecological devastation of the eastern portion, and is only now recovering.  I wish Germany well: modern Germans are no more to blame for the Nazis than modern Russians are to blame for the Soviet Union.  In both cases, it was good people being forced to submit to bad leaders.
364828
How about they lost 26 million people which is why they were so harsh in dealing with Germany after the war.\n\nOne of the more interesting but little known facts about the war was how the Russians dealt with the insurgency problem that existed in East and West Germany after the war.  \n\nNewly elected Mayors were being assassinated in East Germany by what were called German wolf packs.  The Soviets response to the same problem we are facing in Iraq today was to gather 200 randomly picked citizens from each town which had had its mayor assassinated and publicly execute them.  \n\nTheir belief, which apparently was correct, was that an insurgency can not exist without the aid of at least a few locals who in turn must be known to others living in the area.  \n\nThe thought of you yourself or your wife or your kids being summarily executed motivated people to assist in the eradication of the insurgents\n\nWhile the practice sounds horrendously brutal, in actuality it saved thousands of lives because it worked almost immediately. \n\nBecause we chose then to be more "humane," the problem persisted in West Germany at the cost of many lives for several years and prevented them from having a stable government for 10 years.  No doubt it will have the same result in Iraq.
118251
Isreal use to be Palestine. It was given back to the Jewish people after WWII because the Allies felt they should do something for them since so many were killed by Germany.
595866
After the unification of Germany in 1871, Germans enjoyed some of the perks of stronger well establish counties such that of France and Britain. So more then likely it was based on the new abundance of land.
844131
As much as, I disagree with American policy they alone were responsible for the winning of WW II.  German had already whipped every Army in the European theater and if their generals had done what they wanted, England would have fallen at Dunkirk.  The British land forces affectively ended there as in North Africa if not for Americans opening a second front Erwin Rommel would have finished them.  The only contribution they made to the war effort was their bombings and providing a staging area.  Don’t misunderstand me their bravery and desire to provide contributions are unquestionable.  The Russians were effectively finished Stalin begged and DEMANDED we open a second front and without our material, they would be speaking German.  No for once, the American actually did what they say they did and they alone were more responsible for winning the war. \n\nGod Bless You and The Southern People
768627
There is no ethical reason for Israel to have their own state in the Middle East. Why should they have been allowed to just come in and take land away from the Palestinian people? If every race of people who have lost land in historical wars were allowed to just come back, then California does belong to Mexico; the American Indians own The U.S.; Northern France belongs to England; Greece owns Cyprus, southern Italy, and Bosnia... The difference with this situation is there was no war for land to be won. The Zionists just came in, with some minor support from Europe, and took the land. If the Ottoman Empire had chosen to be against Germany in World War I, Palestine would never have come under British control, and the Zionists could have never pressured Parliament to encourage a Jewish migration. Once the Holocaust happened during World War II, a complete and udder disgrace for all humankind, the Zionists had the upper hand, and with Europe domination in the Middle East, they had no problem setting up Israel as a State. Things could have been alright, but some of Israel's leaders wanted to create an Israeli State that controlled lands owned by Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and of course, Palestine. If they had just stayed within their borders, everything would be a lot less violent. Bottom line is, the land belonged to Palestine before Europe gave it to the Israelis.
654210
A unilateral agreement is accepted by the losing or the weaker party.  Therefore it is difficult for them to be happy with it.  Germany had to accept a unlateral agreement at the end of WWI (treaty of Versailles) and the conditions imposed by the allies were really harsh.  Many scholars agree that WWII is a direct consequence of the treaty of Verasailles on Germany.  One could argue that Desert Storm also imposed unilateral conditions on Saddam Hussein
611393
Two issues\n\nA) You can't bring them back - the countries that ruled them aren't strong enough to rule them now (which is how they lost them) and the countries that were ruled are stronger than they were, so ruling them would be even harder than then.\n\nB) The fact that you think bringing back European empires would improve world stability indicated how weak your understanding of European history is.  The period since WWII until is the longest time of peace that Western Europe has enjoyed in centuries.
1038884
Deutschland ist Weltmeister! Oh, yeah!\nDon't want to brag. I am not even German. But it's time the guys brought home the dough. It would almost be a shame to loose on homeground ;-).
125757
The Treaty of Veraille was veiwed by some as harsh, I think that this type of punishment, in this curcumstance wasn't practical because 1.) Germany didn't have sole responsibility for the war even if they agreed to take responsibility. 2.) there were those (in germany) who didnt intend to keep the agreement and 3.) no one was going to force them to comply. as far as harsh punishment, it would be in order if a country deliberatly stirs up trouble with other nations. but it depends on the circumstance whether its practical.(this is of course, my opinion)
456349
Definitely not. The country as a whole was not culpable for WWI, and for that matter, the leaders of Germany were not culpable. The whole thing could have been solved diplomatically, but as soon as Archduke Ferdinand was killed, Austria demanded certain things, Serbia refused, and there was a cascade of declarations of war. It's absurd to say that Germany was responsible for all of this. At the very least, Britain and France should have mediated the conflict between Austria and Serbia BEFORE it came to declarations of war.\n\nThere's also the fact that the reparations were not about keeping Germany from doing it again, they were about punishment. All they really needed to do after the war was establish monitoring systems to make sure Germany was not rebuilding a military, the one thing they didn't do.
543066
they should practically handover their entire GDP of a decade, the rest will be forgiven. japan was compensated and germany is still paying for their 2nd world war attrocities....queen elizabeth still wears stolen african gold she inherited!! american indians should be allowed to hold a referendum on whether to allow the uninvited to go or stay........so on
587133
haha lol. oh i'd give em till the quarters. blame the germans and tony blair! classic!