The Bonn–Paris conventions were signed in May 1952 and came into force after the 1955 ratification. The conventions put an end to the Allied occupation of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

.Joachim von Elb
U.S. Embassy Bonn History
U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany /Public Affairs/ Information Resource Centers Updated: August 2001 The delay between the signing and the ratification was due to the French failure to ratify the related treaty on the

European Defense Community The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unratified treaty signed on 27 May 1952 by the six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West Germa ...

. This was eventually overcome by the British Foreign Secretary

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

proposing that West Germany become a member of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

and the removal of the references to the European Defense Community in the Bonn–Paris conventions. The revised treaty was signed at a ceremony in Paris on 23 October 1954. The conventions came into force during the last meeting of the

Allied High Commission The Allied High Commission (also known as the High Commission for Occupied Germany, HICOG; in German ''Alliierte Hohe Kommission'', ''AHK'') was established by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France after the 1948 breakdown of the Alli ...

, that took place in the United States Embassy in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, on 5 May 1955.

Overview

Attaining sovereignty had become necessary in light of the rearmament efforts of the FRG. For this reason, it was agreed that the Treaty would only come to force when West Germany also joined the

(EDC). Because the EDC Treaty was not approved by France's Parliament on 30 August 1954, the General Treaty could not come into effect. After this failure, the EDC Treaty had to be reworked and the nations at the London Nine-Power Conference decided to allow West Germany to join

and to create the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

(not to be confused with the

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

or the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

). With this development, West Germany, under the leadership of

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...

, in front of the backdrop of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

became a fully trusted partner of the western allies and with the second draft of the General Treaty, West Germany largely regained its sovereignty. The Allies, however, retained some controls over Germany until 1991 (see further Two Plus Four Agreement). Also, the end of the occupation regime in West Germany technically did not extend to Berlin (indeed the continuation of the presence of the Western Allies in West Berlin was necessary and even desired by West Germany given the Cold War context), and the occupation of Berlin by the Allies was only finalized in 1994 under the terms of the Two Plus Four Treaty.

Settlement Convention

Article 1 of Schedule I of the Settlement Convention provides that the Federal Republic of Germany is accorded "the full authority of a sovereign State over its internal and external affairs". However, Article 2 provides that the Three Powers retain their rights "relating to Berlin and to Germany as a whole, including the reunification of Germany and a peace settlement". Article 2 was designed to prevent acts undertaken by the Allies during the German occupation from being questioned retroactively by West German courts. Miriam Aziz of The Robert Schumann Centre, of the European University Institute, makes the point that there is a difference between the wording of the Settlement Convention "the full authority of a sovereign State" and the wording in the

Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (german: Vertrag über die abschließende Regelung in Bezug auf Deutschland; rus, Договор об окончательном урегулировании в отношении Ге� ...

of 1990 in which Germany is referred to as having "full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs", gives rise to a distinction between ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' and ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

'' sovereignty. Detlef Junker of the ''

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

'' agrees with this analysis: "In the October 23, 1954, Paris Agreements, Adenauer pushed through the following laconic wording: 'The Federal Republic shall accordingly fter termination of the occupation regimehave the full authority of a sovereign state over its internal and external affairs.' If this was intended as a statement of fact, it must be conceded that it was partly fiction and, if interpreted as wishful thinking, it was a promise that went unfulfilled until 1990. The Allies maintained their rights and responsibilities regarding Berlin and Germany as a whole, particularly the responsibility for future reunification and a future peace treaty."Detlef Junker (editor), Translated by Sally E. Robertson,
The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War
', A Handbook Volume 1, 1945–1968 Series: ''Publications of the

German Historical Institute The German Historical Institutes (GHI), german: Deutsche Historische Institute, (''DHI'') are six independent academic research institutes of the Max Weber Foundation dedicated to the study of historical relations between Germany Germany ...

'' . See Section "THE PRESENCE OF THE PAST" paragraph 9.

Footnotes

References

* Miriam Aziz, (Robert Schumann Centre, European University Institute
Sovereignty Lost, Sovereignty Regained? Some Reflections on the Bundesverfassungsgericht’s Bananas Judgment
PDF
Constitutionalism Web-Papers
ConWEB No. 3/2003,

Overview

Settlement Convention

See also

Footnotes

References

Further reading