Legal and political aspects of war reparations from Germany

Abstract

This article presents the issue of war reparations from Germany in political and legal terms. The settlement of property claims resulting from war between states is a problem in which political factors always play the most important role in addition to legal issues. The article discusses the conceptual difference between indemnisation of war and war reparations, the legal basis of the war reparations demanded by Poland from Germany for the consequences of World War II in a broad political context, including the development of Polish-German relations after 1945. Great emphasis is placed on the arrangements of the Potsdam Conference and the legal analysis of the question of the legality of the Polish People's Republic's renunciation of war reparations from Germany in 1953. Finally, the article briefly presents the contemporary efforts of the Polish authorities to obtain war reparations from Germany.