The Control Council headquarters

The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in German as the Alliierter Kontrollrat, was a military occupation governing body of Germany after the end of World War II in Europe; the members were the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. France was later added with a vote but had no duties. The Allied Control Council was based in Berlin-Schöneberg. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... This article chronicles the end of the European Theatre of World War II. On April 25, 1945 United States and Soviet troops linked-up, cutting Germany in two. ... Schöneberg is a district of Berlin. ...

Creation

After the death of Adolf Hitler, Karl Dönitz became president of Germany in accordance with Hitler's last political testament. He authorised the signing, at Rheims, of the unconditional surrender of all German forces, which took effect on 8 May 1945, and tried to establish a government under Chancellor von Krosigk. This government was not recognised by the Allies, however, and Dönitz and the other members were arrested on 23 May by British forces. Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was the Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and chancellor) of Germany from 1933 to his death. ... Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. ... The Federal President (German: Bundespräsident, formerly Reichspräsident) is Germanys head of state. ... The last will and testament of Adolf Hitler were dictated by Hitler to his secretary in his Berlin Führerbunker on April 29, 1945 the day he and Eva Braun married. ... Reims (English traditionally Rheims) is a city of north-eastern France, 98 miles east-northeast of Paris. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The head of government in Germany has traditionally been called Kanzler (Chancellor). ... Count Johann Ludwig (Lutz) Schwerin von Krosigk, EK, (August 22, 1887–March 4, 1977) was a German politician. ... May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ...

The surrender document used by SHAEF at Rheims, was modelled on the one used a few days earlier to allow the German forces in Italy to surrender^[1]. They did not use the one which had been drafted for the surrender of Germany by the "European Advisory Commission" (EAC). This created a legal problem for the Allies, because although the German armed forces had surrendered unconditionally, the civilian German government had not been included in the surrender. This was considered a very important issue, given that Hitler had used the surrender of the civilian government, but not of the military, in 1918, to create the "stab in the back" argument^[2]. The Allies understandably did not want to give any future hostile German regime any kind of legal argument to resurrect an old quarrel. Eventually they decided not to recognise Dönitz, but to sign a four power document instead, creating the Allied Control Council. On 5 July 1945, in Berlin, the supreme commanders of the four occupying powers signed a common Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany (the so-called Berlin Declaration), which formally abolished any German governance over the nation: Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (abbreviated as SHAEF), was the command headquarters of the commander of Allied forces in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ...

The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, hereby assume supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German Government, the High Command and any state, municipal, or local government or authority. The assumption, for the purposes stated above, of the said authority and powers does not affect the annexation of Germany. [US Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series, No. 1520.]

In reality, of course, all German central civilian authority had ceased to exist with the death of Hitler and the fall of Berlin at the latest. These parts of the Berlin declaration, therefore, merely formalised the de facto status and placed the Allied military rule over Germany on a solid legal basis. De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without...

The actual exertion of power was carried out according to the model first laid out in the "Agreement on Control Machinery in Germany" that had been signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 25 November 1944 in London. Germany was divided into three zones of occupation, an American, a British, and a Soviet one, and each zone was ruled by the Commander-in-Chief of the respective occupational forces. (Later a French zone was added.) "Matters that affect Germany as a whole," however, would have to be decided jointly by all three Commanders-in-Chief, who for this purpose would form a single organ of control. This authority was called the Control Council. November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... St. ...

The purpose of the Allied Control Council was to deal with the German central administration, an idea that hardly materialised as that administration totally broke down with the end of the war, and to assure that the military administration was carried out with a certain uniformity throughout all of Germany. The Potsdam Agreement of 2 August 1945 further specified the tasks of the Control Council. The Potsdam Agreement was an agreement on policy for the occupation and reconstruction of Germany and other nations after fighting in the European Theatre of World War II had ended with the German surrender of May 8, 1945. ... August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Operation

On 30 August 1945 the Control Council constituted itself and issued its first proclamation, which informed the German people of the Council's existence and asserted that the commands and directives issued by the Commanders-in-Chief in their respective zones were not affected by the establishment of the Council. The initial members of the Control Council were as follows: Marshal Georgy Zhukov for the Soviet Union, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery for the United Kingdom, General Dwight Eisenhower for the United States, and General Jean Joseph-Marie Gabriel Lattre de Tassigny for France. August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgi Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков) (December 1, 1896 (N.S.); November 19, 1896 (O.S.)) - June 18, 1974), Soviet military commander and politician, considered by many as one of the most successful field commanders of World War II. // Prewar career Born into a peasant... Bernard Law Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (November 17, 1887 - March 24, 1976) was a British military officer during World War II often referred to as Monty. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890–March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army. ... Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (February 2, 1889 - January 11, 1952) was a French military hero of World War II. Born at Mouilleron-en-Pareds (during the time of Georges Clemenceau, who was also born there), he graduated from school in 1911, and fought in World War I. He specialized...

In the following time, the Allied Control Council issued a substantial number of laws, directives, orders, and proclamations. They dealt with the abolishment of Nazi laws and organisations, demilitarisation, denazification, but also with such comparatively pedestrian matters as telephone tariffs or the combat of venereal diseases. However, relations between the Western Allies (especially the United States and the United Kingdom) and the Soviet Union quickly deteriorated, and so did their cooperation in the administration of occupied Germany. Against Soviet protests, the two Anglo-Saxon powers pushed for a heightened economic collaboration between the different zones, and on 1 January 1947 the British and American zones merged to form the Bizone. Over the course of 1947 and early 1948, they began to prepare the currency reform that would introduce the Deutschmark, and ultimately the creation of an independent West German state. When the Soviets learnt about this, they claimed that such plans were in violation of the Postdam Agreement, that obviously the Western powers were not interested in regular four-power control of Germany anymore, and that under such circumstances the Control Council had no purpose anymore. On 20 March 1948, Marshal Sokolovsky, the Soviet representative, walked out of the meeting of the Council, never to attend one again. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... In military terms, a demilitarized zone (DMZ) is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more groups, where military activity is not permitted, usually by treaty or other agreement. ... Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Bizone was the combination of the American and the British occupation zones during the occupation of Germany after World War II. In 1946, the USSR stopped delivering agricultural products from their sector (East Germany) to the more industrial western sectors and zones. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... A 10 Deutsche Mark banknote from Germany 1993 showing Carl Friedrich Gauss (http://www. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

As the Control Council could only act with the agreement of all four members, this move basically shut down the institution, while the Cold War reached an early high point during the Soviet blockade of Berlin. The Allied Control Council was not formally dissolved, but ceased all activity except the operation of the Spandau Prison where persons convicted at the Nuremberg Trials were held until 1987. For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ... The Soviet Union blocked Western rail and road access to West Berlin from June 24, 1948 - May 11, 1949. ... Spandau Prison was a purpose-built prison situated in the borough of Spandau in western Berlin, constructed in 1876. ... The Nuremberg Trials is the general name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in World War II and the Holocaust. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Germany remained under nominal military occupation until 12 September 1990, when the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany, the final peace treaty, was signed by the four powers and the two German governments, restoring German sovereignty. This meant the official end of the Allied Control Council, insofar as it still existed at all. September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany is the final peace treaty negotiated between the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Four Powers which occupied Germany at the end of World War II in Europe - France, the United Kingdom, the United States and... A peace treaty is an agreement (a peace treaty) between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a war or armed conflict. ...

The building

During its short active life, the Allied Control Council was housed in and operated from the former building of the Kammergericht, the supreme court of the state of Prussia, which is situated in Berlin's Schöneberg borough in the American sector. The building itself had suffered some battle damage, losing a central tower, but had remained mostly usable. After the cessation of most Council activity in 1948, all occupying powers quickly withdrew from the building to their respective sectors of the city, leaving the facility cold, empty and dark. The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen or Preussen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of... Schöneberg is a district of Berlin. ...

Only one four-power organisation, the Berlin Air Safety Center (BASC), remained in the building from 1945 until the fall of the wall in 1989. As a symbol of the BASC's continued presence, the four national flags of the occupying powers still flew over the large front doors every day. The only other signs of occupancy were the few, sparse office lights that emanated from a small corner room of the building — the BASC Operations Room — in the evenings. Of the 550 rooms in the building, the BASC office complex and guards' quarters occupied fewer than forty. Following the fall of Nazism in 1945, Germany was divided up between four major authorities; United States, Britain, France, Soviet Union. ... The Berlin Air Safety Center (BASC) came into existence immediately after the close of World War II and was one of only two Cold War, four-power organizations to ever exist. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Because of the BASC's presence, the building remained closely guarded by United States Embassy guards, with access granted only to select members of the four powers. This led to mysterious legends and ghost stories about the eerie, dark facility with its grand, granite statuary overlooking the beautiful park. A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ...

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, and after the Soviet troops left Berlin in 1994, the building was returned to the German government. In 1997, its erstwhile occupant, the Kammergericht, moved in. It now functions as the supreme court of the state of Berlin. Berlin Wall on November 16, 1989 The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ...

See also

• History of Germany
• Military rule

While the German people were not fully unified into a single political unit until the late 19th century, they exerted a tremendous influence upon Western civilization from its very beginnings. ... US General Douglas MacArthur (left), military ruler of Japan 1945-1952, next to Japans defeated Emperor Military rule may mean several things in modern terms: When a country or area is conquered after invasion and placed under Belligerent occupation, also known as Military occupation (see list of military occupations). ...

Bibliography

• "The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946"; by Earl F. Ziemke. Center of Military History United States Army Washington, D. C., 1990; Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-619027; First Printed 1975-CMH Pub 30-6

Notes

1. ^  "The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946" See Bibliography page 256
2. ^  "The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946" See Bibliography page 109

Bibliography is the study of books. ... Bibliography is the study of books. ...

External links

• Photos from the 1970-71 Four Power negotiations on the Status of Berlin.