I ask because I was in the British Army on the Rhine in the 60s and I wondered if I could truthfully say I was in the army of an occupying power.
A couple of possible dates: 21st September 1949 when the Military Governors of the occupied zones were replaced by civilian High Commissioners, and 5th May 1955 when the HC responsibilities ended.
It was probably a process of de-occupying rather than a fixed date, although this State Department page says that the occupation officially ended in the mid-1950’s , so 5/5/55 I guess
The Army of Occupation Medal is awarded for service in Germany (except West Berlin) from 1945 to 1955, so I’d guess that’s the official answer.
I agree that’s probably the correct answer, but note that it wasn’t until 1990 that the Allied Powers (the USSR, UK, US and France) fully relinquished control over Germany, with the “Two Plus Four Agreement”.
That’s true in a formal sense, but by that time the powers of the Western Allies (USA, France, UK) were more of a technicality and existed only on paper. They extended to questions concerning “Germany as a whole”, which was reserved for later settlement after WWII (and was the reason why reunification, which concerned “Germany as a whole”, required the consent of the four Allies). The exception to that was West Berlin, which was legally not part of West Germany and where the reserved powers of the Allies were more extensive. For all practical purposes, West Germany had been running itself as an independent country since 1955, and the forces of the Western Allies in Germany were, as of that time, considered NATO forces rather than occupants.
Things were very different in East Germany, however. Formally it was an independent state, but the Soviet Union felt entitled to boss it around right until reunification.
I’d say that the Berlin Airlift was a watershed.
For West Germany, It was in 1955, when the General Treaty signed in 1952 came into effect and formally ended Germany’s status as an occupied country. While the countries that would eventually become NATO were working with Germany to rearm before that, the were still technically occupying forces. Allies end occupation of West Germany
Although there was no occupying power post '55, I got the impression that many Germans considered the American NATO soldiers to be occupying soldiers, up through the 70’s.??
Actually, it was awarded until 1990 for service in West Berlin (according to your own citation). And that’s a US decoration. There doesn’t seem to be an equivalent British campaign medal for the occupation; there only appear to be medals for service through war’s end.
East Germany: On Oct 9 1949; the USSR withdrew its direct control of E Germany and stood up the GDR as an independent country.
West Germany: The Paris-Bonn Convention of 1952 (came into force in 1955) transferred most authority to the German Government, but several important powers were reserved to the Allies.
The Whole of Germany: Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germay (1990). The 4 powers ended their rights on German soil and it allowed for East and West to unify and Berlin to become the capital.
The UN’s Enemy Clause.. Still in force. Any country may feel free to bomb Germany if they feel threatened. (this also applies to Italy and Japan).
The answer? There is no right answer.
OK, that’s just nuts - kind of an international ‘stand your ground’ law, aimed at three countries (or maybe two, the Wiki link implies that maybe Italy isn’t included for reasons I didn’t chase down).
Actually, it’s more than two. It includes any country which was at war with any of the signatory powers during World War II. So Germany, Italy, and Japan. And also Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Thailand.
And Iraq. The Iraqi government joined the Axis and declared war on the United Kingdom in 1941. It didn’t go well for them. The British overthrew the pro-Axis regime within two months and installed a new government. The pro-Axis group fled to Berlin and formed a government in exile. But Iraq definitely qualifies as an enemy state under the terms of the UN Charter. Maybe Bush should have invoked this argument.
(BUMPED)
Did the Soviets invoke the clause in 1956?
Because of the nature of my duties, I was not allowed into Berlin, even as a tourist until after the wall came down. So I went to Berlin. Even in 1992 ('93?), American soldiers could ride the buses and trains for free as Berlin, but not Germany was still under occupation. Or so I was told.
If you mean the riots in East Germany in June 1953 (not 1956, that was the year of the riots in Hungary) that were squashed by Soviets, then, no. The official party line in the Eastern bloc was to present that as a rebellion within East Germany, not an external threat from East Germany against other countries. Thje East German government remained, from the perspective of the Soviets, loyal.