French occupation zone in Germany
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| French occupation zone of Germany Französische Besatzungszone Deutschlands | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military occupation zone of the French part of Allied-occupied Germany | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
 The French occupation zone in blue | |||||||||||
| Capital | Baden-Baden | ||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||
| • Type | Military Occupation | ||||||||||
| Military governors | |||||||||||
• 1945 | Jean de Lattre de Tassigny | ||||||||||
• 1945–1949 | Marie-Pierre Kœnig | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Post-World War II Cold War | ||||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||||
• Federal Republic of Germany established | 23 May 1949 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of |  Germany | ||||||||||
The French occupation zone (in German: Französische Besatzungszone) was one of the allied areas established in Germany after World War II.
Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, allied forces occupied a part of Germany until the 1920's and France administered the Territory of the Saar Basin until 1935.
During the calmest periods of this occupation, the strength of the occupying forces was 100,000. The maximum number of soldiers was reached in May 1921, with 250,000 soldiers, including 210,000 French during the first occupation of Ruhrort, Düsseldorf and Duisburg.[1]
History
At the ending of the Second World War, prior to the Yalta conference (4–11 February 1945), no occupation zone in Germany was allocated to France. At the insistence of Charles de Gaulle and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, Churchill obtained an occupation zone that was to be allocated to France from Roosevelt and Stalin, provided that it consisted of zones previously occupied by the Americans and the British:[2]
- Extract from the final press release, Article 4
IV. Occupation zone for France and control council in Germany
It was decided that an area of Germany would be allocated to France and occupied by French forces. This zone would be taken from the British and American zones and its borders would be fixed by the British and the Americans, in agreement with the French Provisional Government.
It was also decided that the French Provisional Government would be invited to be part of the Allied Control Commission in Germany.
To create the occupation zone, the British ceded the Saarland, the Palatinate and territories on the left bank of the Rhine up to Remagen (including Trier, Koblenz and Montabaur). The Americans ceded land south of Baden Baden (which became Land of Baden), land south of Free People's State of Württemberg (which became Land of Württemberg-Hohenzollern), Lindau circle on Lake Constance and four circles of Hesse east of the Rhine.[2]
French forces in Germany officially took possession of their area on July 26, 1945.[2]
In April and May of 1945, the French 1st Army had captured Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, and conquered a territory extending to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and the westernmost part of Austria. In July, the French relinquished Stuttgart to the Americans, and in exchange were given control over cities west of the Rhine such as Mainz and Koblenz.[3] This resulted in two barely contiguous areas of Germany along the French border, which met at just a single point along the River Rhine. Three German states (Land) were established: Rheinland Pfalz in the northwest, Württemberg-Hohenzollern in the southeast and South Baden in the southwest. Württemberg-Hohenzollern and South Baden later formed Baden-Württemberg when they joined with Württemberg-Baden of the American Zone.
The French Zone of Occupation included the Saar Protectorate, which was separated on 16 February 1946. By 18 December 1946, customs controls were established between the Saar area and Allied-occupied Germany. The French zone ceded further areas adjacent to the Saar in mid-1946, early 1947, and early 1949.[citation needed]
Included in the French zone was the town of Büsingen am Hochrhein, a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory. The Swiss government agreed to allow a limited number of French troops to pass through its territory in order to maintain law and order in Büsingen.[citation needed]
It was not until August 12, 1945, that two Berlin districts (Reinickendorf and Wedding District) were assigned to the French.[4]
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French forces in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, 1946 -
Forces Françaises à Berlin (French Forces in Berlin) insignia after 1949
By the end of October 1946, the French Zone had a population of approximately five million people (population breakdown below):
- Rheinland Pfalz: 2.7 million
- Baden (South Baden): 1.2 million
- Württemberg-Hohenzollern: 1.05 million
(The Saar Protectorate had a further 0.8 million.)[5]
A French Education Directorate in Germany was created immediately to allow schooling for children of military and civilian families.
See also
References
- ^ (in French) Occupy Germany after 1918, Historical review of the armies, 2009.
- ^ a b c H. Pennein-Engels (1994). "The military presence in Germany from 1945 to 1993" (Pdf). University of Metz - Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
- ^ de Gaulle, Charles (1959). Mémoires de Guerre: Le Salut 1944-1946. Plon. pp. 170, 207.
- ^ "French Military Government of Berlin" (Pdf). Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ^ "I. Gebiet und Bevölkerung". Statistisches Bundesamt. Wiesbaden.
Further reading
- Corine Defrance, La Politique culturelle de la France sur la rive gauche du Rhin, 1945–1955, Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, 1994.
- Compte rendu du deuxième Congrès de l'Organisation des fonctionnaires résistants en Allemagne, Höllhof, 1949
- Hillel, Marc, L'occupation française en Allemagne 1945-1949, Balland, 1983.