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Abstract

With Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, and the detention of the last German Reich government in Schleswig-Holstein shortly thereafter, government power ceased to exist in Germany. In accordance with Allied resolutions in place since 1944, government power was taken over by the Commanders-in-Chief of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France. Although the country was divided into occupation zones, the idea of a unified Germany was preserved: decisions on “the chief questions affecting Germany as a whole” were to be made by the Allied Control Council, and these sorts of decisions needed to be unanimous.

The Establishment of the Allied Control Council (June 5, 1945)

Source

Statement by the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Provisional Government of the French Republic on Control Machinery in Germany (June 5, 1945)

(1) In the period when Germany is carrying out the basic requirements of unconditional surrender, supreme authority in Germany will be exercised, on instructions from their Governments, by the British, United States, Soviet and French Commanders-in-Chief, each in his own zone of occupation, and also jointly, in matters affecting Germany as a whole. The four Commanders-in-Chief will together constitute the Control Council. Each Commander-in-Chief will be assisted by a Political Adviser.

(2) The Control Council, whose decisions shall be unanimous, will ensure appropriate uniformity of action by the Commanders-in-Chief in their respective zones of occupation and will reach agreed decisions on the chief questions affecting Germany as a whole.

(3) Under the Control Council, there will be a permanent Coordinating Committee composed of one representative of each of the four Commanders-in-Chief, and a Control Staff organised in the following Divisions (which are subject to adjustment in the light of experience):

Military; Naval; Air; Transport; Political; Economic; Finance; Reparation, Deliveries and Restitution; Internal Affairs and Communications; Legal; Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons; Man-power.

There will be four heads of each Division, one designated by each Power. The staffs of the Division may include civilian as well as military personnel, and may also in special cases include nationals of other United Nations appointed in a personal capacity.

(4) The functions of the Coordinating Committee and of the Control Staff will be to advise the Control Council, to carry out the Council's decisions and to transmit them to the appropriate German organs, and to supervise and control the day-to-day activities of the latter.

[…]

(7) The administration of the “Greater Berlin” area will be directed by an Inter-Allied Governing Authority, which will operate under the general direction of the Control Council, and will consist of four Commandants, each of whom will serve in rotation as Chief Commandant. They will be assisted by a technical staff which will supervise and control the activities of the local German organs.

(8) The arrangements outlined above will operate during the period of occupation following German surrender, when Germany is carrying out the basic requirements of unconditional surrender. Arrangements for the subsequent period will be the subject of a separate agreement.

Source: Statement by the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Provisional Government of the French Republic on Control Machinery in Germany (June 5, 1945), in Selected Documents on Germany and the Question of Berlin, 1944–1961. London, HMSO, 1961, Cmnd. 1552, 43–44; reprinted in C.C. Schweitzer et al., eds., Politics and Government in Germany, 1944–1994. Basic Documents. Providence, RI, and Oxford, UK: Berghahn Books, 1995, pp. 8–9.