Germany Is Split Into Occupation Zones, Then Two States
The wartime Allies divide defeated Germany, and Cold War rivalry hardens the division into two separate countries
Quick facts
- Germany's surrender
- May 1945
- West Germany founded
- May 1949 (Federal Republic of Germany)
- East Germany founded
- October 1949 (German Democratic Republic)
- Occupying powers
- United States, Britain, France, Soviet Union
What happened
Following Germany's unconditional surrender in May 1945, the victorious Allies, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, divided the defeated country into four occupation zones, with Berlin similarly divided despite sitting entirely within the Soviet zone. Escalating disagreements among the wartime Allies over Germany's political and economic future, sharpened by the onset of the Cold War, led the three Western zones to merge and form the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in May 1949, followed by the Soviet zone's transformation into the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) that October. The two states developed along opposite lines: a market-economy parliamentary democracy in the west, a Soviet-aligned single-party state in the east.
Why it matters
The division turned Germany, and Berlin specifically, into the most visible front line of the Cold War in Europe for the next four decades, a split this site's dedicated Cold War timeline covers in full, including the Berlin Airlift, the two states' diverging Cold War alliances, and the standoffs that played out on German soil.
How we know
The occupation zone arrangements and the two states' founding are documented in Allied wartime and postwar agreements, including the Potsdam Conference records, and in the founding constitutions of both the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic.
Sources
- Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. Milestones: 1953-1960 - Berlin Crises · Reputable sourcehistory.state.gov · The domain "history.state.gov" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. The Berlin Wall Falls and USSR Dissolves · Reputable sourcehistory.state.gov · The domain "history.state.gov" is on our Reputable source registry.
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Related timelines
- The Cold War → · The full Cold War story, including the Berlin Airlift, the two Germanys' opposing alliances, and the standoffs fought out on German soil