American Occupation of Germany

The American occupation of Germany began on 8 May 1945. On 5 June the Allies partitioned Germany into four occupation zones—American, British, French, and Russian. They also divided Berlin, which was located in the Soviet zone. General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the U. S. military governor in Germany and Allied troops helped rebuild its infrastructure and reestablish civilian government.

Although the American military gave up its authority on 21 September 1949, U. S. forces occupied Germany until 5 May 1955, when the Federal Republic of Germany assumed control over all of its own territory except for West Berlin. U. S. forces remained after 1955 as a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's defense force.

Bibliography

Gimbel, John. The American Occupation of Germany. Stanford, Cal. : Stanford University Press, 1968.

Merritt, Richard. Democracy Imposed: U. S. Occupation Policy and the German Public, 1945–1949 New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, 1995.

—James L. Collins Jr.