What is the history of German-Polish relations?

Answer 1

From 1918 onwards relations between Germany and Poland were extremely bad. In the areas of Germany given to Poland at the end of World War 1 the nationalities weren't neatly divided into Germans and Poles. The Polish government made various attempts to forbid the use of German as a medium of instruction, Germans were put under a lot of pressure to adopt Polish names - and so on. Some left and relocated to Germany. The Treaty of Versailles required plebiscites to be held in Upper Silesia to decide which area was to be transferred from Germany to Poland. In 1921, before the plebiscites took place, Polish irregulars acting with the support of the Polish government (and with French backing), tried to seize the whole area. The attempt failed, thanks partly to the fact that Britain sent troops to the area. In 1922 Germany concluded the Treaty of Rappallo with the Soviet Union. Relations with the USSR remained till 1933. Much to everyone's surprise, in 1934 Nazi Germany made attempts to improve relations with Poland. Hitler admired the Polish leader, Marshal Pilsudski, for his successes against the Soviets in 1921.