Questions on: Occupation Zones and the Division of Germany (1945–1949)

The division of Germany into occupation zones was prepared at international conferences of the Allies, including at Yalta and Potsdam.

The occupying powers administered their zones independently but were supposed to act together on important questions. This cooperation became more and more difficult once the Cold War began.

The Federal Republic is a federal country in which the Federation and the federal states (Länder) share their tasks under the Basic Law (Grundgesetz). This principle is one of the foundations of the German constitutional order.

After the war, each part of Germany came under one of the victorious powers, which built up its own administrations there. These developed different rules for the economy, schools and the judicial system.

The German Democratic Republic (GDR; in German: DDR) was a socialist state. It was led by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and was part of the eastern sphere of power in Europe.

The occupation zones were set by agreements between the Allies; the occupying powers jointly governed Germany through the Allied Control Council (Alliierter Kontrollrat). At first, Germany was to be treated as a single economic unit.

The occupation zones had different administrations, which drifted further apart after the founding of two German states. Their borders later formed the inner-German border.

After the Second World War, many large German cities were badly destroyed, and rebuilding went on for many years.

After the war, tensions arose between the victorious powers over the future of Germany and Berlin. They shaped the following years of the Cold War.