Allied - occupied Germany The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder – Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes . This was formally approved at the Potsdam Conference ( 17 July to 2 August 1945 ) . In autumn 1944 the three powers ( still without France ) had agreed upon the zonal make - up by the London Protocol . In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe , United States forces had pushed beyond the agreed boundaries for the future zones of occupation , in some places by as much as . The line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities was temporary . After two months in which they had held areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone , U . S . forces withdrew in the first days of July 1945 . Some have concluded that this was a crucial move that persuaded the Soviet Union to allow American , British , and French forces into their predesignated sectors in Berlin , which occurred at roughly the same time ( July 1945 ) , although the need for intelligence gathering ( see Operation Paperclip ) may also have been a factor . Territories annexed by Germany 1938 - 1945 . All territory annexed by Germany before the war from Austria and Czechoslovakia was returned to these countries . The Memelland annexed by Germany from Lithuania before the war was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and given to the Lithuanian SSR . All territories annexed by Germany during the war from Belgium , France , Luxembourg , Poland and Yugoslavia was returned to those countries . The Zones of Occupation . American Zone of Occupation . The American zone consisted of Bavaria and Hesse in Southern Germany , and the northern portions of the present - day German state of Baden - Württemberg . The ports of Bremen ( on the lower Weser River ) and Bremerhaven ( at the Weser estuary of the North Sea ) were also placed under American control because of the American request to have certain toeholds in Northern Germany . The headquarters of the American military government was the former IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main . Beginning in May 1945 , many of the American combat troops and airmen in and around Germany were sent back to the United States based on their Advanced Service Rating Score s . Some of the experienced officers and non - commissioned officer s were selected to be sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations for the proposed Invasion of Japan , but most of those men who had served the longest in combat were discharged from the U . S . Army , the Army Air Forces , and the U . S . Navy upon their returns home . Following the Surrender of the Japanese Empire in mid - August 1945 – by its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration – a higher percentage of soldiers , airmen , and sailors were granted their final discharges from service . The official signing of the surrender took place on September 2 , 1945 , but the hostilities had ended weeks earlier . British Zone of Occupation . The Canadian Army was tied down in surrounding the Netherlands until the Germans there surrendered on May 5 , 1945 – just two days before the final surrender of the Wehrmacht in Western Europe to General Eisenhower . After the liberation of the Netherlands and the conquest of northern Germany by the British Army , the bulk of the Canadian Army returned home , leaving northern Germany to be occupied by the British Army and ( around Bremen and Bremerhaven ) by the U . S . Army . Then in July 1945 , the British Army withdrew from small slices of Germany that had previously agreed to be occupied by the Soviet Army . The Control Commission for Germany - British Element ( CCG / BE ) ceded some slices of its area of occupation to the Soviet Union – specifically the Amt Neuhaus of Hanover and some exclaves and fringes of Brunswick , for example , the County of Blankenburg and exchanged some villages between British Holstein and Soviet Mecklenburg by the Barber - Lyashchenko Agreement . Within the British Zone of Occupation , the CCG / BE re - established the German state of Hamburg , but with borders that had been drawn by Nazi Germany in 1937 . The British also created the new German states of Schleswig - Holstein – emerging in 1946 from the Prussian Province of Schleswig - Holstein ; Lower Saxony – the merger of Brunswick , Oldenburg , and Schaumburg - Lippe with the state of Hanover in 1946 ; and North Rhine - Westphalia – the merger of Lippe with the Prussian provinces of the Rhineland ( norther part ) and Westphalia – during 1946 – 1947 . Also in 1947 , the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen became an exclave of the American Zone of Occupation located within the British Zone . Much of the British Zone of Occupation had once been part of the Kingdom of Hanover . This Kingdom was in a personal union with the United Kingdom ( formed in 1707 ) from 1714 through 1837 – with the same monarch , but otherwise completely separate . The first joint monarch was King George I . French Zone of Occupation . Despite its being one of the Allied Powers , the French Republic was not granted an occupation zone in Germany at first because of concerns over the great historical animosity between France and Germany . Also the French Army had carried out a minor role within the alliance , as compared with the armies , navies , and air forces of the United Kingdom , the only one fighting throughout all the war , the United States ( since 1941 ) , and the U . S . S . R . ( the Soviet Union , also since 1941 , before 1941 being allied with Nazi Germany ) . On the other hand , throughout World War II in Europe , the leader of the Free French forces , Charles de Gaulle , persistently argued in favor of the role of France in post - war Europe . Finally , both the British government and the American government recognized the role of France during World War II in Europe ( but not in the Pacific Theater ) . These two powers of occupation in Germany agreed to give some western parts of their Zones of Occupation to the French Army . This agreement created a French Zone of Occupation in westmost Germany . This zone consisted of two barely - contiguous areas of Germany along the French border that met at just a single point along the Rhine River . The Saargebiet , at first a part of the French zone , was disentangled from the French zone on 16 February 1946 . By 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar area and allied occupied Germany . The French zone ceded several times further adjacent municipalities to the Saar ( mid - 1946 , early 1947 , early 1949 ) . Included in the French zone was the town of Büsingen am Hochrhein , a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory . The Swiss government agreed to allow limited numbers of French troops to pass through its territory in order to maintain law and order in Büsingen . Soviet Zone of Occupation . The Soviet occupation zone incorporated Thuringia , Saxony , Saxony - Anhalt , Brandenburg and Mecklenburg - Vorpommern . The Soviet Military Administration in Germany was headquartered in Berlin - Karlshorst . Minor zones . Belgian zone . The Belgian Zone formed part of the British Zone , forming a corridor from the Belgian - German border to the edge of the Soviet zone , and including the town of Cologne . It was initially under British command , but the Belgians were given autonomy from 1946 . The Belgian Forces in Germany ( FBA - BSD ) , was created from former soldiers of the Free Belgian " Brigade Piron " , and was commanded by Jean - Baptiste Piron . Luxembourgish zone . From November 1945 , the Luxembourgish army was allocated a zone within the French sector . The Luxembourgish 2nd infantry battalion was garrisoned in Bitburg and the 1st battalion was sent to Saarburg . The final Luxembourgish troops in Germany , in Bitburg , left in 1955 . Berlin . While located wholly within the Soviet zone , because of its symbolic importance as the nation ' s capital and seat of the former Nazi government , the city of Berlin was jointly occupied by the Allied powers and subdivided into four sectors . Berlin was not considered to be part of the Soviet zone . Other German territory . In 1945 Germany east of the Oder - Neisse line ( Farther Pomerania , the New March , Silesia and southerly East Prussia ) was attached to Poland and the northern portion of East Prussia became the newly formed Kaliningrad Oblast within the Soviet Union . Most German citizens residing in these areas were subsequently expropriated and expelled . Returning refugees , who had fled from war hostilities were denied return . The Saargebiet , an important area of Germany because of its large deposits of coal , was turned into the Saar protectorate . The Saar was disentangled from the French zone on 16 February 1946 . In the speech Restatement of Policy on Germany on 6 September 1946 the U . S . Secretary of State James F . Byrnes stated the U . S . ' motive in detaching the Saar from Germany as " The United States does not feel that it can deny to France , which has been invaded three times by Germany in 70 years , its claim to the Saar territory " . By 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar and Allied occupied Germany . Most German citizens residing in the Saar area were allowed to stay and keep their property . Returning refugees , who had fled from war hostilities were allowed to return . Especially refugees who had fled the Nazi dictatorship were invited and welcomed to return to the Saar . The protectorate was a state , nominally independent of Germany and France , but with its economy integrated into that of France . The Saar territory was enlarged on the expense of the French zone in mid - 1946 , early 1947 ( but also 61 municipalities returned to the French zone ) and in early 1949 . On 15 November 1947 the French currency became legal tender in the Saar Protectorate , followed by the full integration of the Saar into the French economy ( Customs union 23 March 1948 ) . In July the Saar population was stripped its German citizenship and became of Sarrois nationality . Governance and the emergence of two German states . The original Allied plan to govern Germany as a single unit through the Allied Control Council broke down in 1946 – 1947 due to growing tensions between the Allies , with Britain and the US wishing cooperation , France obstructing any collaboration in order to unwind Germany into many independent states , and the Soviet Union , unilaterally implementing from early on elements of its political - economic ( mass expropriations of land , nationalisation of businesses ) . Another dispute was the absorption of post - war expelles . While the UK , the US and the USSR had agreed to accept , house and feed maybe six million expelled German citizens from former eastern Germany , and 4 million expelled and denaturalised Czechoslovaks , Poles , Hungarians and Yugoslavs of German ethnicity in their zones , France generally had not agreed to the expulsions approved by the Potsdam agreement ( a decision made without input from France ) . Therefore France strictly refused to absorb war refugees who were denied return to their homes in seized eastern German territories or destitute post - war expellees who had been expropriated there , into the French zone , let alone into the separated Saar protectorate . However , the native population , returning after Nazi - imposed removals ( e . g . , political and Jewish refugees ) and war - related relocations ( e . g . , evacuation from air raids ) , were allowed to return home in the areas under French control . The other Allies complained that they had to shoulder the burden to feed , house and clothe the expellees who had to leave their belongings to Poles and Soviets . In practice , each of the four occupying powers wielded government authority in their respective zones and carried out different policies toward the population and local and state governments there . A uniform administration of the western zones evolved , known first as the Bizone ( the American and British zones merged as of January 1 , 1947 ) and later the Trizone ( after inclusion of the French zone ) . The complete breakdown of east - west allied cooperation and joint administration in Germany became clear with the Soviet imposition of the Berlin Blockade that was enforced from June 1948 to May 1949 . The three western zones were merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949 , and the Soviets followed suit in October 1949 with the establishment of the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ) . In the west , the occupation officially continued until May 5 , 1955 , when the General Treaty ( ) entered into force . However , upon the creation of the Federal Republic in May 1949 , the military governors were replaced by civilian high commissioners , whose powers lay somewhere between those of a governor and those of an ambassador . When the " Deutschlandvertrag " became law , the occupation officially ended , the western occupation zones ceased to exist , and the high commissioners were replaced by normal ambassadors . West Germany was also allowed to build a military , and the Bundeswehr , or Federal Defense Force , was officially established on November 12 , 1955 . A similar situation occurred in East Germany . The GDR was founded on October 7 , 1949 . On October 10 , the Soviet Military Administration in Germany was replaced by the Soviet Control Commission , although limited sovereignty was not granted to the GDR government until November 11 , 1949 . After the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953 , the Soviet Control Commission was replaced with the office of the Soviet High Commissioner on May 28 , 1953 . This office was abolished ( and replaced by an ambassador ) and ( general ) sovereignty was granted to the GDR , when the Soviet Union concluded a state treaty " ( Staatsvertrag ) " with the GDR on September 20 , 1955 . On March 1 , 1956 , the GDR established a military , the National People ' s Army . Despite the grants of general sovereignty to both German states in 1955 , full and unrestricted sovereignty under international law was not enjoyed by any German government until after the reunification of Germany in October 1990 . Though West Germany was generally independent , the Allies maintained some responsibilities for West Germany . At the same time , East Germany was a satellite state of the Soviet Union . The provisions of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany , also known as the " Two - plus - Four Treaty , " granting full sovereign powers to Germany did not become law until March 15 , 1991 , after all of the participating nations had ratified the treaty . A 1956 plebiscite ended the French administration of the Saar protectorate , and it joined the Federal Republic as " Saarland " on January 1 , 1957 , being its the 10th state . Officially , the city of Berlin was not part of either state and continued to be under Allied occupation until the reunification of Germany in October 1990 . For administrative purposes , the three western sectors of Berlin were merged into the entity of West Berlin . The Soviet sector became known as East Berlin and while not recognized by the Western powers as a part of East Germany , GDR declared its capital " ( Hauptstadt der DDR ) " . Occupation policy . General Eisenhower ensured a strict non - fraternization policy was enforced throughout all commands of allied occupation troops in Germany . However , this policy was relaxed in stages . By June 1945 the prohibition on speaking with German children was made less strict . In July it became possible to speak to German adults in certain circumstances . In September the whole policy was completely dropped in Austria and Germany . Nevertheless due to the large numbers of Disarmed Enemy Forces being held in " Rheinwiesenlager s " throughout western Germany , the Americans and the British – not the Soviets – used armed units of " Feldgendarmerie " to maintain control and discipline in the camps . In June 1946 , these German military police units became the last " Wehrmacht " troops to surrender their arms to the western powers . By December 1945 over 100 , 000 German civilians were interned as security threats and for possible trial and sentencing as members of criminal organizations . The food situation in occupied Germany was initially very dire . By the spring of 1946 the official ration in the American zone was no more than 1275 calories per day , with some areas probably receiving as little as 700 . In the British zone the food situation was dire , as found during a visit by the British ( and Jewish ) publisher Victor Gollancz in October and November 1946 . In Düsseldorf the normal 28 - day allocation should have been 1 , 548 calories including 10 kg of bread , but as there was limited grain the bread ration was only 8 . 5 kg . However as there was only sufficient bread for about 50 % of this “ called up ” ration , the total deficiency was about 50 % , not 15 % as stated in a ministerial reply in the British Parliament on December 11 . So only about 770 calories would have been supplied , and he said the German winter ration would be 1 , 000 calories as the recent increase was “ largely mythical ” . His book includes photos taken on the visit and critical letters and newspaper articles by him published in several British newspapers ; " The Times , The Daily Herald , The Manchester Guardian " etc . Some occupation soldiers took advantage of the desperate food situation by exploiting their ample supply of food and cigarettes ( the currency of the black market ) as what became known as " frau bait " ( " The New York Times " , June 25 , 1945 ) . Some soldiers still felt the girls were the enemy , but used them for sex nevertheless . The often destitute mothers of the resulting children usually received no child support . In the earliest stages of the occupation , U . S . soldiers were not allowed to pay maintenance for a child they admitted having fathered , since to do so was considered " aiding the enemy " . Marriages between white U . S . soldiers and Austrian women were not permitted until January 1946 , and with German women until December 1946 . The children of black American soldiers , commonly called " Negermischlinge " ( " Negro half - breeds " ) , comprising about three percent of the total number of children fathered by GIs , were particularly disadvantaged because of their inability to conceal the foreign identity of their father . Black soldiers were reluctant to admit to fathering such children since this would invite reprisals , and even in the cases where a soldier was willing to take responsibility , until 1948 the U . S . Army prohibited interracial marriage s . The mothers of the children would often face particularly harsh ostracization . Between 1950 and 1955 the Allied High Commission for Germany prohibited " proceedings to establish paternity or liability for maintenance of children . " Even after the lifting of the ban West German courts had little power over American soldiers . In general , the British authorities were less strict than the Americans about fraternization , and the French and Soviets more . While Allied servicemen were ordered to obey local laws while in Germany , soldiers could not be prosecuted by German courts for crimes committed against German citizens except as authorized by the occupation authorities . Invariably , when a soldier was accused of criminal behavior the occupation authorities preferred to handle the matter within the military justice system . This sometimes led to harsher punishments than would have been available under German law – in particular , U . S . servicemen could be executed if court - martialed and convicted of rape . See United States v . Private First Class John A . Bennett , 7 C . M . A . 97 , 21 C . M . R . 223 ( 1956 ) . Insurgency . Rumors of Nazi plans for insurgency , related to the Nazi Werwolf plan , and successful Nazi deception about plans to withdraw forces to what turned out to be its fictional " Alpenfestung " redoubt and to use the redoubt as a base from which to conduct guerrilla warfare , affected the last Allied war advances into Germany and influenced Allied occupation plans . It has been estimated that no Allied deaths can be reliably attributed to any Nazi insurgency . Expulsion policy . The Potsdam conference , where the victorious Allies drew up plans for the future of Germany , noted in article XIII of the Potsdam Agreement on August 1 , 1945 that " the transfer to Germany of German populations ( . . . ) in Poland , Czechoslovakia and Hungary will have to be undertaken " ; " wild expulsion " was already going on . Hungary , which had been allied with Germany and where no expulsions had as yet taken place and in addition population was opposed to an expulsion of the German minority , tried to resist this , but in the end had to yield to the pressure exerted mainly by the Soviet Union but also by the Allied Control Council . Of the millions expelled from former eastern territories of Germany , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Hungary and elsewhere , when they were not used for forced labor , over a period of years they were sent to the occupation zones of UK , USA , and USSR , who agreed in the Potsdam Agreement to absorb the post - war expellees into their zones , where many remained in refugee camps for a long time . France was not invited to the Potsdam Conference . As a result , it took its own liberties to approve some decisions of the Potsdam Agreements and to dismiss others . As to the question of the post - war expellees , France maintained the position that it did not approve post - war expulsions and that therefore it was not responsible to accommodate and nourish the destitute expellees in its zone . While the few war - related refugees who had reached the area to become the French zone before July 1945 were taken care of , the French military government for Germany refused to absorb post - war expellees deported from the East into its zone . In December 1946 , the French military government for Germany absorbed into its zone German refugees from Denmark , where 250 , 000 Germans had found a refuge from the Soviets by sea vessels between February and May 1945 . These clearly were war - related refugees from the eastern parts of Germany however , and not post - war expellees .