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Originally, there were to be only three zones, with the French excluded. French General Charles de Gaulle, who by this point was the leader of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, was not invited to Yalta. Deeply offended by this snub, the French leader nevertheless worked tirelessly to restore his nation's honour in the aftermath of the German occupation. Key to this was ensuring a French occupation of substantial German territories – in de Gaulle's view, only a French occupation of Germany could restore the honour of France. He therefore vehemently demanded that a zone be allocated for French occupation.[1]
Despite the personal disdain each of the "Big Three" held for de Gaulle, they were not overly inclined to resist this particular demand. With relatively minor exceptions such as the Channel Islands, the Western Allies' own territories had not been invaded or occupied and thus they did not have the sort of considerations the French deeply felt with respect to matters such as national honour or pride. More importantly perhaps, as a civil and military matter a French occupation zone would relieve the other Allies of some of the burden of administering German territory – this was no small consideration especially in light of the fact the British and Americans still had the Japanese Empire to subdue after Germany's defeat. Stalin, who was still neutral in the Far Eastern conflict at this point, also agreed. However, the Soviet leader insisted on the condition that the French zone was to be formed out of the previously-agreed American and British zones.
Also 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 refused to consider annexing the town on the grounds that any transfer of territory could only be negotiated with a sovereign German government - something which had ceased to exist following the German surrender. However, the Swiss shared French concerns that the exclave might become a haven for Nazi war criminals, thus an agreement was quickly reached to allow limited numbers of French soldiers to cross Switzerland for the purpose of maintaining law and order in Büsingen.
In April and May, the French 1st Army had captured Karlsruhe and Stuttgart and conquered territory extending to Hitler's Eagle's Nest and western Austria. In July, the French ceded Stuttgart to the Americans in exchange for control of cities west of the Rhine (including Mainz and Koblenz).[2] This resulted in two barely-contiguous areas of Germany along the French border, which met at a point along the Rhine. After further negotiations, France was also granted an occupation zone in Austria. The French zone in west of that country bordered the French zone in Germany, thus creating a contiguous area of French-occupied territories (besides the aforementioned exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein) that bordered each other and/or France itself.
Within French-occupied Germany, three German states 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 in the American Zone. The French occupation zone initially included the Saar Protectorate, but this was separated on February 16, 1946. By December 18 of that year, customs controls were established between the Saar area and Allied-occupied Germany.
On February 9, 1945, the Berlin districts of Reinickendorf and Wedding were assigned to the French.[3][failed verification] By the end of October 1946, the French zone had a population of approximately five million:
Rheinland Pfalz: 2.7 million
Baden (South Baden): 1.2 million
Württemberg-Hohenzollern: 1.05 million
The Saar Protectorate had an additional 0.8 million people.[4] The French Education Directorate in Germany was created to educate the children of military and civilian families.
Zone commanders
After representing the French during the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender, which officially ended the conflict in the European theater, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny briefly served as commander-in-chief of the French Forces in Germany[5] before the role was assumed by Marie-Pierre Kœnig.[6]André François-Poncet, ambassador to Germany during the 1930s, was named French high commissioner to West Germany after the war. François-Poncet's position was later elevated to ambassador, and he served in that capacity until 1955.[7][8] Claude Hettier de Boislambert, Guillaume Widmer and Pierre Pène were governors of the Rhineland-Palatinate, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden, respectively.[9]
^ abc 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.
^ H. Pennein-Engels (1994). "The military presence in Germany from 1945 to 1993" (PDF). University of Metz – Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences. p. 29. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
^Reinisch, J. (2013). "Chapter 8: The Forgotten Zone: Public Health Work in the French Occupation Zone". The Perils of Peace: The Public Health Crisis in Occupied Germany. Oxford (UK): OUP Oxford.
^Richard Gilmore (1973). France's Postwar Cultural Policies and Activities in Germany. Balmar Reprographics. p. 41.
^Creswell, Michael; Trachtenberg, Marc. (PDF). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2004. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
^ Karin Graf (2003). Die Bodenreform in Württemberg-Hohenzollern nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Tectum Verlag DE. p. 19.
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.
February 27, 2023
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Not to be confused with Occupation of the Rhineland This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French April 2020 Click show for important translation instructions Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 5 330 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at fr Zone d occupation francaise en Allemagne see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated fr Zone d occupation francaise en Allemagne to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation The French occupation zone in Germany German Franzosische Besatzungszone French Zone d occupation francaise en Allemagne was one of the Allied occupied areas in Germany after World War II French occupation zone in GermanyFranzosische Besatzungszone DeutschlandsMilitary occupation zone of the French part of Allied occupied Germany1945 1949Flag of FranceFrench occupation zone blue or only dark blue CapitalBaden BadenHistoryGovernment TypeMilitary Occupation member of Western Bloc Military governors 1945Jean de Lattre de Tassigny 1945 1949Marie Pierre KœnigHistorical eraPost World War II Cold War Surrender of Nazi GermanyMay 8 1945 Federal Republic of Germany establishedMay 23 1949 Bonn Paris conventionsMay 5 1955Preceded by Succeeded byNazi Germany West GermanyToday part ofGermanyFrench forces in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin May 1946 Forces Francaises a Berlin French Forces in Berlin insignia after 1949 Contents 1 Background 2 French zone 3 Zone commanders 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingBackground EditIn the aftermath of the Second World War Winston Churchill Franklin D Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta Conference to discuss Germany s post war occupation which included among other things coming to a final determination of the inter zonal borders Originally there were to be only three zones with the French excluded French General Charles de Gaulle who by this point was the leader of the Provisional Government of the French Republic was not invited to Yalta Deeply offended by this snub the French leader nevertheless worked tirelessly to restore his nation s honour in the aftermath of the German occupation Key to this was ensuring a French occupation of substantial German territories in de Gaulle s view only a French occupation of Germany could restore the honour of France He therefore vehemently demanded that a zone be allocated for French occupation 1 Despite the personal disdain each of the Big Three held for de Gaulle they were not overly inclined to resist this particular demand With relatively minor exceptions such as the Channel Islands the Western Allies own territories had not been invaded or occupied and thus they did not have the sort of considerations the French deeply felt with respect to matters such as national honour or pride More importantly perhaps as a civil and military matter a French occupation zone would relieve the other Allies of some of the burden of administering German territory this was no small consideration especially in light of the fact the British and Americans still had the Japanese Empire to subdue after Germany s defeat Stalin who was still neutral in the Far Eastern conflict at this point also agreed However the Soviet leader insisted on the condition that the French zone was to be formed out of the previously agreed American and British zones French zone EditFor obvious practical and logistical reasons it was soon agreed that the French would occupy those regions of Germany bordering their own country i e southwestern Germany To create the occupation zone the British ceded the Saarland the Palatinate and territories on the left bank of the Rhine to Remagen including Trier Koblenz and Montabaur The Americans ceded land south of Baden Baden land south of the Free People s State of Wurttemberg which became Wurttemberg Hohenzollern the Lindau region on Lake Constance and four regions in Hesse east of the Rhine 1 French Forces in Germany took possession of the area on July 26 1945 1 Also included in the French zone was the town of Busingen am Hochrhein a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory The Swiss government refused to consider annexing the town on the grounds that any transfer of territory could only be negotiated with a sovereign German government something which had ceased to exist following the German surrender However the Swiss shared French concerns that the exclave might become a haven for Nazi war criminals thus an agreement was quickly reached to allow limited numbers of French soldiers to cross Switzerland for the purpose of maintaining law and order in Busingen In April and May the French 1st Army had captured Karlsruhe and Stuttgart and conquered territory extending to Hitler s Eagle s Nest and western Austria In July the French ceded Stuttgart to the Americans in exchange for control of cities west of the Rhine including Mainz and Koblenz 2 This resulted in two barely contiguous areas of Germany along the French border which met at a point along the Rhine After further negotiations France was also granted an occupation zone in Austria The French zone in west of that country bordered the French zone in Germany thus creating a contiguous area of French occupied territories besides the aforementioned exclave of Busingen am Hochrhein that bordered each other and or France itself Within French occupied Germany three German states were established Rheinland Pfalz in the northwest Wurttemberg Hohenzollern in the southeast and South Baden in the southwest Wurttemberg Hohenzollern and South Baden later formed Baden Wurttemberg when they joined with Wurttemberg Baden in the American Zone The French occupation zone initially included the Saar Protectorate but this was separated on February 16 1946 By December 18 of that year customs controls were established between the Saar area and Allied occupied Germany On February 9 1945 the Berlin districts of Reinickendorf and Wedding were assigned to the French 3 failed verification By the end of October 1946 the French zone had a population of approximately five million Rheinland Pfalz 2 7 million Baden South Baden 1 2 million Wurttemberg Hohenzollern 1 05 millionThe Saar Protectorate had an additional 0 8 million people 4 The French Education Directorate in Germany was created to educate the children of military and civilian families Zone commanders EditAfter representing the French during the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender which officially ended the conflict in the European theater Jean de Lattre de Tassigny briefly served as commander in chief of the French Forces in Germany 5 before the role was assumed by Marie Pierre Kœnig 6 Andre Francois Poncet ambassador to Germany during the 1930s was named French high commissioner to West Germany after the war Francois Poncet s position was later elevated to ambassador and he served in that capacity until 1955 7 8 Claude Hettier de Boislambert Guillaume Widmer and Pierre Pene were governors of the Rhineland Palatinate Wurttemberg Hohenzollern and Baden respectively 9 See also EditAllied occupied AustriaReferences Edit 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 Memoires de Guerre Le Salut 1944 1946 Plon pp 170 207 French Military Government of Berlin PDF Retrieved July 9 2015 I Gebiet und Bevolkerung Statistisches Bundesamt Wiesbaden H Pennein Engels 1994 The military presence in Germany from 1945 to 1993 PDF University of Metz Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences p 29 Retrieved July 8 2015 Reinisch J 2013 Chapter 8 The Forgotten Zone Public Health Work in the French Occupation Zone The Perils of Peace The Public Health Crisis in Occupied Germany Oxford UK OUP Oxford Richard Gilmore 1973 France s Postwar Cultural Policies and Activities in Germany Balmar Reprographics p 41 Creswell Michael Trachtenberg Marc France and the German Question 1945 1955 PDF p 16 Archived from the original PDF on November 13 2004 Retrieved June 27 2020 Karin Graf 2003 Die Bodenreform in Wurttemberg Hohenzollern nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg Tectum Verlag DE p 19 Further reading EditCorine Defrance La Politique culturelle de la France sur la rive gauche du Rhin 1945 1955 Presses universitaires de Strasbourg 1994 Compte rendu du deuxieme Congres de l Organisation des fonctionnaires resistants en Allemagne Hollhof 1949 Hillel Marc L occupation francaise en Allemagne 1945 1949 Balland 1983 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title French occupation zone in Germany amp oldid 1139711405, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
