West Germany - History

History

On February 4–11, 1945, leaders from the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union held the Yalta Conference where future arrangements as regards post-war Europe and strategy against Japan in the Pacific were negotiated. The conference agreed to split Germany into four occupation zones: a French Zone in the far west; a British Zone in the northwest; an American Zone in the south; and a Soviet Zone in the east. At the time, the intention was not to split Germany, only to designate zones of administration.

Former German areas east of the rivers Oder and Neisse were put under Polish administration. Millions of Germans were expelled and replaced by Poles. In similar fashion, the Soviet Union took over areas of eastern Poland and East Prussia. Between 1946 and 1949, three of the occupation zones began to merge. First, the British and American zones were combined into the quasi-state of Bizonia. Soon afterwards, the French zone was included into Trizonia. At the same time, new federal states (Länder) were formed in the Allied zones, replacing the pre-war states.

In 1949, with the continuation and aggravation of the Cold War (witness the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49), the two German states that were originated in the Western Allied and the Soviet Zones became known internationally as West Germany and East Germany. Commonly known in English as East Germany, the former Soviet Occupation Zone, eventually became the German Democratic Republic or GDR. From 3 October 1990, after the reformation of the GDR's Länder, the East German states joined the Federal Republic.