The London Six-Power Conference in 1948 was held between the three Western occupation forces in Germany after the World War II (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) and the

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countries. The aim of the conference was to pave the way for Germany's participation in the international community through the creation of a democratic and federal government in the area of the U.S., British and French zones of the country. The conference was held in two sessions, the first from 23 February to 6 March, the second from 20 April to 2 June 1948. The reason for summoning the conference was that the Foreign Secretary Conference 15 December 1947 between the four victorious nations United States, Britain, France and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

had ended without result in the German question. The recent Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia made it urgent for the western allies to help create a democratic (West) Germany. The Soviet Union was not invited to the London Conference. The conference conclusions were later called London recommendations. The three western military governors in Germany were assigned to make recommendations to the Minister Presidents in western Germany about how the new state should be established. The Minister Presidents should convene a constitutional Assembly (Parliamentary Council) to found a free and democratic state. The Military Governors recommendations were called the

Frankfurt Documents 200px, Members of the Frankfurt conference The Frankfurt Documents were an important step towards the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. On July 1, 1948 the representatives of the Western allied occupation forces handed over a number ...

after the place where the German Minister Presidents met. Conditions were made that Germany should not have weapons of mass destruction and other similar weapons, and that the country should not be able to invade the Soviet occupation zone. France voted for the merger of the three western occupation zones on conditions that the

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was financially merged with France and that the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

area became subject to international control. USSR ended its efforts in the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority (german: Alliierter Kontrollrat) and also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany and Allied-occupied Austria after the end of Wo ...

as a consequence of the London Conference.

References

{{Reflist Allied occupation of Germany Conferences in London

See also

Further reading

References