Territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II
After World War II, Poland's borders changed quite a bit. Think of Poland like a puzzle that got shuffled around a bit.
Before the war, Poland was quite big and even included some parts of what is now Ukraine and Belarus. But during the war, the Nazis invaded Poland and took over some of those areas.
So, after the war, the Allies (the countries that won the war) decided to redraw Poland's borders. They took some land away from Poland in the east and gave it back to Ukraine and Belarus. They also gave some land to the Soviet Union.
Poland did get some new land, though. The Allies gave them some areas that used to belong to Germany. This included a city called Breslau, which is now called Wrocław, and a port city called Gdańsk.
It's kind of like if you drew a picture and your friend took a crayon and scribbled on part of it. When you fixed the picture, you had to erase some of your drawing but your friend also had to give you a new crayon so you could add something different to the picture. That's kind of what happened to Poland after World War II.
Before the war, Poland was quite big and even included some parts of what is now Ukraine and Belarus. But during the war, the Nazis invaded Poland and took over some of those areas.
So, after the war, the Allies (the countries that won the war) decided to redraw Poland's borders. They took some land away from Poland in the east and gave it back to Ukraine and Belarus. They also gave some land to the Soviet Union.
Poland did get some new land, though. The Allies gave them some areas that used to belong to Germany. This included a city called Breslau, which is now called Wrocław, and a port city called Gdańsk.
It's kind of like if you drew a picture and your friend took a crayon and scribbled on part of it. When you fixed the picture, you had to erase some of your drawing but your friend also had to give you a new crayon so you could add something different to the picture. That's kind of what happened to Poland after World War II.