Occupation Statute

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The original occupation statute, a founding document of the Federal Republic, issued in the House of History in Bonn

The occupation statute for the delimitation of the powers and responsibilities between the future German government and the Allied Control Authority of April 10, 1949 regulated the relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the three occupying powers USA , Great Britain and France . It came into force on September 21, 1949.

The Federal Republic of Germany did not yet have full state authority when it came into being , because the supreme authority lay with the Allies . This statute granted the three Western powers , represented by the Allied High Commission , the Federal Republic and their countries , the legislative , executive and judicial power one. They limited their previously claimed jurisdiction, but retained sovereign rights in the areas of foreign policy , demilitarization , reparation , admission of refugees and control over the Ruhr . All constitutional amendments and laws remained subject to the right of objection of the occupying powers. The country remained under military occupation so that the Allies could take over all political power again if necessary.

From the decision of the Western powers to the entry into force

The text of the Occupation Statute was adopted at the Foreign Ministers' Conference of the Western Powers in Washington, DC (April 6-8, 1949) and submitted to the Parliamentary Council on April 10th. In an accompanying note from the Foreign Ministers it was stated that the military governments would cease to exist with the establishment of the German Federal Republic. The remaining tasks of the Allied authorities would be divided up in such a way that the monitoring tasks would be performed by a High Commissioner , the military tasks by a Commander-in-Chief. The three High Commissioners should together form an Allied High Commission . In certain limited areas, the Allies would reserve the right to take immediate action themselves. Which areas are involved will be listed in the occupation statute.

On May 12, 1949 (the day the Berlin blockade ended ) it was formally communicated by the three military governors and commanders-in-chief . On September 15, 1949 was Chancellor appointed on September 20, the Federal Minister . The occupation statute was ceremonially presented to the Chancellor on the Petersberg the day after the constitution of the Federal Government , on September 21, 1949, and thus came into force.

From May 14, 1949, there was also a similar statute for the three western sectors of Berlin , the so-called Small Occupation Statute . It regulated the separate occupation law of the Western Allies for this part of Berlin .

Responsibilities of the occupation authorities

  1. Disarmament and demilitarization, including related areas of scientific research, industrial bans and restrictions, and civil aviation
  2. Control over the Ruhr , restitutions, reparations , decartellization , decentralization , exclusion of discrimination in trade matters, foreign interests in Germany as a whole and claims against Germany
  3. Foreign affairs including international agreements concluded by Germany or on its behalf
  4. “ Displaced Persons ” and admission of refugees
  5. Protection, prestige and security of the Allied forces, family members, employees and agents, their immunities and the coverage of occupation costs and other requirements
  6. Compliance with the Basic Law and the state constitutions
  7. Overseeing foreign trade and foreign exchange
  8. Monitoring of internal measures , but only to the extent necessary to ensure the use of funds, food and other commodities in such a way that Germany's need for foreign support is minimized
  9. Supervision of the care and treatment in German penal institutions of persons who have been indicted or convicted by courts or tribunals of the occupying powers or occupation authorities; the supervision of the execution of criminal judgments against such persons and in matters of their amnesty , pardon and release

Meaning and consequences

Text edition of the Basic Law as a provisional constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany in connection with the occupation statute, issued in the House of History in Bonn

In the period from the unconditional surrender to the entry into force of the occupation statute, four years and four months, the victorious powers had completely controlled Germany through occupation . The common starting point of the occupation policy of all four victorious powers was to prevent Germany from ever again becoming a threat to world peace. When the federal government was constituted in 1949, the basic structures of the western alliance system, NATO, had already been created. The establishment of democracy in West Germany began with the constitutional legislation of 1946 in the countries of the American occupation zone and was continued with the Basic Law. The key concepts of the democratization program of the economy came from liberal ideas: decentralization, decartelization and unbundling. With the occupation statute, the Federal Republic was given limits to its scope of action. This document laid down the legal barriers that were placed on the state sovereignty of the Federal Republic. The rule of occupation should not end with the adoption of the Basic Law, understood as a provisional constitution, and the establishment of the Federal Republic on the territory of the three western zones , but should merely be relaxed and legally redefined. The founding of the state had made West Germany capable of acting and negotiating, but not sovereign. A “ triumvirate ” had been established with the three High Commissioners , with whom all steps were to be negotiated that affected the area of ​​jurisdiction that the victorious powers had reserved for themselves.

The first example of the negotiations that were now beginning between the High Commissioners and the Federal Government was the Petersberg Agreement of November 1949. In it, the French and British also declared themselves ready, not only the Americans, to cut German industry's dismantling plans together. On the other hand, the Federal Republic of Germany joined the International Ruhr Authority, which controlled the most important German industrial area.

According to the German Prime Minister in Frankfurt am Main , the military governors would “resume the exercise of their full powers”, not only in the event of an impending emergency for the safety of the occupying forces, but also “to ensure compliance with the To secure the constitution and the occupation statute ”.

The Bank deutscher Länder , founded on March 1, 1948 in Frankfurt, was subject to the authority of the Western powers until 1951, the Ruhr authority and other international control bodies remained under the jurisdiction of the occupying powers. The expenses for the occupation costs and other war costs, which had previously been borne by the federal states, were now transferred to the federal government ( Art. 120 of the Basic Law); Due to a transition law, the federal states took over the settlement of the occupation costs until March 31, 1950.

Revision of the Occupation Statute in 1951

The provisions of the Occupation Statute should be reviewed after twelve, at the latest eighteen months, taking into account the experience of the High Commissioners with a view to expanding the competence of German bodies in the areas of legislation, the executive branch and the administration of justice. On the occasion of the negotiations on the Germany Treaty, Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer demanded in his security memorandum of August 29, 1950 that the occupying powers declare the state of war with Germany to be over. The relations between the occupying powers and the Federal Republic should be gradually converted to a system of contractual regulations. The occupation troops should now secure Germany against external danger. At the Foreign Ministers' Conference in New York in September 1950, the Three Powers agreed on a change in status, provided that the Federal Republic took on certain obligations. The legal basis for the occupation will be maintained. If the occupation statute were abolished, the presence of Allied troops in Germany and Berlin would no longer have a legal basis. The occupation regime will also remain for the time being. The occupation regulations could be relaxed.

The Federal Republic of Germany has two obligations to assume:

  1. Recognition of German pre-war foreign debts and debts that arose from economic support in the post-war period. Willingness to participate in a plan for debt settlement (see London Debt Conference );
  2. Cooperation with the Allies in order to bring about an appropriate distribution of the scarce war-essential raw materials and products.

In a letter dated March 6, 1951, the Federal Government declared its readiness for both

In execution of the resolutions of the New York Foreign Ministers' Conference of September 1950, the Allied High Commission on the same day, March 6, 1951, authorized the federal government to set up a ministry for foreign affairs and to select the personnel of its diplomatic missions, consular authorities and commercial missions itself. Foreign diplomatic and consular representatives could be accredited directly to the Federal Republic.

The Occupation Statute was revised on the same day, March 6, 1951, and a number of simplifications in the field of foreign affairs, economic issues and legislative control came into force. The European unification process had meanwhile been initiated, which was the result of an initiative by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman . Now it was about the treaty establishing the coal and steel union , which a German foreign minister was supposed to sign. With the revision of the occupation statute, Chancellor Adenauer could therefore become his own foreign minister. The high commissioners were subordinates of their foreign ministers, and Adenauer could now negotiate with their superiors at the same level instead of with them. The state of war between the Western Powers and the Federal Republic was formally declared over in July 1951. Nonetheless, the occupation statute remained in effect until the Paris Treaties came into force on May 5, 1955, in matters of military policy all power remained with the Allies, and the Federal Republic of Germany remained an occupied country until 1955.

The occupation regime in West Berlin also experienced a change that corresponded to this revision. In principle, however, the competence for its external relations remained with the Allied command .

Relief

The relief mainly concerned the Federal Republic's foreign policy and trade:

  • The powers of the Allies in the field of foreign affairs and international agreements of Germany were restricted in order to enable the Federal Republic to maintain full relations with other countries.
  • Foreign trade and foreign exchange were only monitored in order
    • to ensure compliance with the GATT rules until the Federal Republic of Germany has acceded to this tariff and trade agreement,
    • to ensure compliance with the rules of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until the Federal Republic has acceded to this fund and accepted satisfactory obligations,
    • to ensure the proper satisfaction of claims against Germany;
  • federal and state legislation should not be subject to review by the Allied High Commission during the legislative process.

In September 1951, the Federal Republic of Germany was included in the GATT agreements. In August 1952 she became a member of the IMF and the World Bank . On February 27, 1953, the agreement to settle the pre-war debt, which had been consolidated to 13.7 billion marks, was signed. On March 18, 1953, the Bundestag approved the reparation agreement with Israel and with it figures and deliveries totaling 3.5 billion.

Repeal of the occupation statute

Between February 1951 and March 1952, the six states that had already formed the coal and steel union negotiated the treaty on the European Defense Community . It was initialed on May 9, 1952 after the Bundestag had approved it with a large majority. On 26 May, in Bonn of Germany contract signed. Five of the signatory states ratified the EDC Treaty relatively quickly. France had indeed already in September 1950, four months after the attack by North Korea on South Korea , with the Pleven Plan proposes the establishment of a West European army with German participation. But in the negotiations the German side had largely prevailed with its demands for equal rights. Little was left of the Pleven Plan, which provided for unequal treatment of Germany, in the EVG contract. France hesitated for two years, the French parliament finally overturned the EDC Treaty on August 30, 1954. Regardless of this, the joint between the German defense contribution and the repeal of the occupation statute remained in the German position, while the Allied position was not to grant the Germans any sovereignty without a defense contribution.

On September 28, 1954, the Allies and the German Chancellor finally reached an agreement at the Nine Powers Conference in London on the termination of the Occupation Statute, on the position of the Federal Republic under international law, on its and Italy's accession to the Brussels Pact and on the Federal Republic's entry into NATO. With the Paris Treaties , the powers and responsibilities under occupation law were explicitly and completely abolished. The presence of Allied troops on the territory of the Federal Republic, previously based on martial law, was converted into a right of stationing under contract law. With the end of the Occupation Statute, the occupation reservations imposed by the Basic Law finally ceased. Some reservations in favor of the Western Allies remained. These allied rights of reservation only lost their effect under international law in 1990 with German reunification and the entry into force of the Two Plus Four Treaty on March 15, 1991 , when Germany regained full sovereignty and was committed to its peace state .

literature

  • The Parliamentary Council 1948–1949. Files and minutes. Volume 4: Committee on the Occupation Statute. Edited by the Federal Archives and the German Bundestag, edit. by Wolfram Werner. Boldt, Boppard am Rhein 1989, ISBN 3-7646-1889-2 .
  • Michael F. Feldkamp : The emergence of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany 1949. A documentation (= Reclams Universal Library, Bd. 17020). Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-15-017020-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ OJ. of the Allied High Commission for Germany 1949, p. 13.
  2. ↑ Wording of the Agreement on Three Power Control, which was submitted to the Parliamentary Council in connection with the Occupation Statute (PDF), April 10, 1949.
  3. ↑ Three Power Communiqué on Germany (at the end of the Foreign Ministers' Conference in Washington) of April 8, 1949
  4. ^ The proclamation of the occupation statute took place together with the letter of approval of the military governors for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of May 12, 1949, Official Gazette of the Military Government of Germany , British Control Area, No. 35 Part 2 B p. 29; see. the translation of the Parliamentary Council in the regulation gazette for the British Zone 1949 (VOBlBZ, p. 416).
  5. ↑ Gerhard Keiderling: The four powers in Berlin . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 3, 2001, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 4–17, here p. 5 ( luise-berlin.de ).
  6. ^ Agreement on the establishment of an International Ruhr Authority of April 28, 1949
  7. ↑ See Hans Booms (Ed.), The Cabinet Protocols of the Federal Government , Vol. 2: The Cabinet Protocols 1950 , edit. by Ulrich Enders and Konrad Reiser, Munich 1984, p. 306, note 15.
  8. ↑ Correspondence on this: a) Letter from the Allied High Commission of October 23, 1950, b) Reply from the Federal Chancellor of March 6, 1951, printed in Europa-Archiv , 1951, p. 3851; see. Answer of the federal government to question no. 143 of the parliamentary group of the KPD, no. 1644 of the printed matter - German foreign debts (PDF), BT-Drs. 2218 of April 26, 1951.
  9. ^ Decision of the Allied High Commission on the powers of the Federal Government in the field of foreign affairs of March 6, 1951 , printed in: Report on Germany by the American High Commissioner for Germany , January 1 - March 31, 1951, p. 160.
  10. ^ Joint resolution of the Congress of the United States of America of July 12, 1951; Note from the British High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of July 9, 1951. “In the comments on Decree No. 51-883 of 9 July 1951 […] France distinguished between the end of the state of war under international law and the repeal of domestic war legislation; According to this , June 5, 1945 is regarded as the decisive point in time for the end of the state of war under international law ”, Dieter Blumenwitz , The foundations of a peace treaty with Germany. A contribution to future policy in Germany under international law , Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, p. 78 (the decree came into force on July 13, 1951).
  11. ↑ Amendment of the Allied Command of March 7, 1951, Law and Ordinance Gazette Berlin, 1951, p. 274.
  12. ^ Communiqué of the Allied High Commission of March 6, 1951
  13. ^ Peter Graf Kielmansegg : After the disaster. A history of divided Germany . Siedler, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-88680-329-5 , pp. 141-149.
  14. ↑ Hans Peter Ipsen in: Yearbook of Public Law , NF Vol. 38, 1989, p. 6 f.