Allied_Control

[[Image:Kammergericht.jpg|thumbnail|right||Kammergericht, Headquarters of the Allied Control Council]]
The '''Allied Control Council''' or '''Allied Control Authority''', known in [[German language|German]] as the ''Alliierter Kontrollrat'', also referred to as the '''Four Powers''', was a military occupation governing body of the [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany]] after [[the end of World War II in Europe]]; the members were the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[Soviet Union]]. [[France]] was later added with a vote but had no duties. The Allied Control Council was based in [[Schöneberg|Berlin-Schöneberg]].

== Creation ==
After the death of [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Karl Dönitz]] became [[Reichspräsident|president of Germany]] in accordance with [[Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler|Hitler's last political testament]]. He authorised the signing, at [[Rheims]], of the unconditional surrender of all German forces, which took effect on [[8 May]] [[1945]], and tried to establish a government under [[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellor]] [[Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk|von Krosigk]]. This government was not recognised by the Allies, however, and Dönitz and the other members were arrested on [[23 May]] by British forces.

The [[German Instrument of Surrender]] used by [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force]] at Rheims, was modeled on the one used a few days earlier to allow the German forces in Italy to surrender.<ref name="page_256">{{cite book| url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/other/us-army_germany_1944-46_index.htm| title=The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946| first=Earl F.| last=Ziemke| publisher=Center of Military History United States Army| location=Washington, D. C.| year=1990| id=Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-619027| pages=256}} First Printed 1975-CMH Pub 30-6</ref> They did not use the one which had been drafted for the surrender of Germany by the "[[European Advisory Commission]]" (EAC). This created a legal problem for the Allies, because although the German armed forces had surrendered unconditionally, the ''civilian'' German government had not been included in the surrender. This was considered a very important issue, given that Hitler had used the surrender of the civilian government, but ''not'' of the military, in [[1918]], to create the "stab in the back" argument.<ref name="page_109">{{cite book| title=The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946| pages=109}}</ref> The Allies understandably did not want to give any future hostile German regime any kind of legal argument to resurrect an old quarrel. Eventually they decided not to recognise Dönitz, but to sign a four power document instead, creating the Allied Control Council. On [[5 June]] [[1945]], in [[Berlin]], the supreme commanders of the four occupying powers signed a common [[Berlin Declaration (1945)|Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany]] (the so-called [[Berlin Declaration (1945)|Berlin Declaration]] of 1945), which formally abolished any German governance over the nation:
{{quotation|The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, hereby assume supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German Government, the High Command and any state, municipal, or local government or authority. The assumption, for the purposes stated above, of the said authority and powers does not affect the annexation of Germany. [US Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series, No. 1520.]<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/ger01.htm Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany]</ref>}}
[[Image:allied control council.ogg|frame|right|250px|News broadcast from 1945 about the control council]]
This imposition was in line with Article 4 of the Instrument of Surrender that had been included so that the EAC document, or something similar, could be imposed on the Germans after the military surrender. Article 4 stated that "This act of military surrender is without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to GERMANY and the German armed forces as a whole."<ref>Earl F. Ziemke [[#References|References]] [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/other/us-army_germany_1944-46_ch15.htm#b3 CHAPTER XV:The Victory Sealed] Page 258</ref> In reality, of course, all German central civilian authority had ceased to exist with the death of Hitler and the fall of Berlin at the latest. These parts of the Berlin declaration, therefore, merely formalised the ''[[de facto]]'' status and placed the Allied military rule over Germany on a solid legal basis.

The actual exertion of power was carried out according to the model first laid out in the "Agreement on Control Machinery in Germany" that had been signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on [[14 November]] [[1944]] in [[London]]<ref>[http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box32/a298f04.html Scanned original document at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum]</ref> based on the work of the [[European Advisory Commission]]. Germany was divided into three zones of occupation, an American, a British, and a Soviet one, and each zone was ruled by the Commander-in-Chief of the respective occupational forces. (Later a French zone was added.) "Matters that affect Germany as a whole," however, would have to be decided jointly by all three Commanders-in-Chief, who for this purpose would form a single organ of control. This authority was called the Control Council.

The purpose of the Allied Control Council in Germany, like the other [[Allied Commission|Allied Control Commissions and Councils]] which were established by the Allies over every defeated Axis power, was to deal with the central administration of the country, an idea that hardly materialised in the case of Germany, as that administration totally broke down with the end of the war, and to assure that the military administration was carried out with a certain uniformity throughout all of Germany. The [[Potsdam Agreement]] of [[2 August]] [[1945]] further specified the tasks of the Control Council.

== Operation ==
On [[30 August]] [[1945]] the Control Council constituted itself and issued its first proclamation, which informed the German people of the Council's existence and asserted that the commands and directives issued by the Commanders-in-Chief in their respective zones were not affected by the establishment of the Council. The initial members of the Control Council were as follows: Marshal [[Georgy Zhukov]] for the Soviet Union, Field Marshal [[Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Bernard Montgomery]] for the United Kingdom, General [[Dwight Eisenhower]] for the United States, and General [[Jean de Lattre de Tassigny]] for France.

In the following time, the Allied Control Council issued a substantial number of laws, directives, orders, and proclamations. They dealt with the abolition of [[Nazism|Nazi]] laws and organisations, [[demilitarisation]], [[denazification]], but also with such comparatively pedestrian matters as telephone tariffs and the combat of venereal diseases. However, relations between the Western Allies (especially the United States and the United Kingdom) and the Soviet Union quickly deteriorated, and so did their cooperation in the administration of occupied Germany. Against Soviet protests, the two English-speaking powers pushed for a heightened economic collaboration between the different zones, and on [[1 January]] [[1947]] the British and American zones merged to form the [[Bizone]]. Over the course of 1947 and early [[1948]], they began to prepare the currency reform that would introduce the [[Deutsche Mark]], and ultimately the creation of an independent West German state. When the Soviets learnt about this, they claimed that such plans were in violation of the Potsdam Agreement, that obviously the Western powers were not interested in further regular four-power control of Germany, and that under such circumstances the Control Council had no purpose anymore. On [[20 March]] [[1948]], Marshal [[Vasily Sokolovsky]], the Soviet representative, walked out of the meeting of the Council, never to attend one again.

==After the breakdown==
As the Control Council could only act with the agreement of all four members, this move basically shut down the institution, while the [[Cold War]] reached an early high point during the [[Berlin Blockade|Soviet blockade of Berlin]]. The Allied Control Council was not formally dissolved, but ceased all activity except the operations of the [[Four-Power Authorities]], namely the management of the [[Spandau Prison]] where persons convicted at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] were held until [[1987]], and the [[Berlin Air Safety Center]].

The Western powers instituted the [[Allied High Commission]] by September of 1949 which remained in operation until 1955. In Eastern Germany, the [[Soviet Military Administration in Germany|Soviet administration]] with its representative of the ACC was the highest authority, later this position was converted to a High Commissioner as well, until the [[German Democratic Republic]] gained sovereignty.

Germany remained under nominal military occupation until 15 March 1991, when the final ratification of the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany]] (signed on [[12 September]] [[1990]]) was lodged with the German Goverment. This, as the final [[peace treaty]], was signed by the four powers and the two German governments restored German sovereignty. It also meant the official end of the Allied Control Council, insofar as it still existed at all.

== The Kammergericht building ==
During its short active life, the Allied Control Council was housed in and operated from the former building of the [[Kammergericht]], the supreme court of the state of [[Prussia]], which is situated in Berlin's [[Schöneberg]] borough in the American sector.
The building itself had suffered some battle damage, losing a central tower, but had remained mostly usable. After the cessation of most Council activity in 1948, all occupying powers quickly withdrew from the building to their respective sectors of the city, leaving the facility cold, empty and dark.

Only one [[four-power organization|four-power organisation]], the [[Berlin Air Safety Center]] (BASC), remained in the building from 1945 until the fall of the wall in [[1989]]. As a symbol of the BASC's continued presence, the four national flags of the occupying powers still flew over the large front doors every day. The only other signs of occupancy were the few, sparse office lights that emanated from a small corner room of the building — the BASC Operations Room — in the evenings. Of the 550 rooms in the building, the BASC office complex and guards' quarters occupied fewer than forty.

Because of the BASC's presence, the building remained closely guarded by United States [[military]] guards, with access granted only to select members of the four powers. This led to mysterious legends and ghost stories about the eerie, dark facility with its grand, granite statuary overlooking the beautiful park.

After the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], and after the Soviet troops left Berlin in [[1994]], the building was returned to the German government. In [[1997]], its erstwhile occupant, the [[Kammergericht]], moved in. It now functions as the supreme court of the state of [[Berlin]].

==See also==
* [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany]]
* [[History of Germany]]
* [[Military rule]]
* [[Far Eastern Commission]], a counterpart in the [[Occupation of Japan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,934360,00.html Cornerstone of Steel] Time Magazine Jan. 21, 1946
*[http://home.att.net/~rw.rynerson/acabldg.htm Photos from the 1970-71 Four Power negotiations on the Status of Berlin.]

[[Category:World War II politics]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War II]]
[[Category:Politics of Germany]]
[[Category:Defunct international organizations]]
[[Category:International political organizations]]
[[Category:International military organizations]]
[[Category:1945 establishments]]
[[Category:Allied occupation of Germany]]

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