British occupation zone

Allied-Administered Germany British Occupation Zone
Military occupation
← 1945 — 1949 [[Germany|→]]   →
The C-Pennant
Occupation zones in Germany (1945)
Capital	Bad Oeyenhausen
Political structure	Military occupation
Governors (1945)
- UK zone	Field Marshal Montgomery
Historical era	Cold War
- Surrender	8 May 1945
- Allied Control Council	5 July 1945 1945
- Federal Republic of Germany	23 May 1949
- German Democratic Republic	7 October 1949 1949
- Final Settlement	12 September 12 1990
¹ German reunification took place on 3 October 1990. The four sectors of Allied occupation in Berlin

The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country into four occupation zones from 1945 to 1949.

The British zone consisted of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and the present-day state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The British military government was based in Bad Oeynhausen.

Bremen and Bremerhaven where surrounded by the British Zone, but were given to the United States, so that the Americans had a port. What is now Rhineland-Palatinate was to be a part of the British Zone. It was given up to form part of the French occupation zone.

In May 1949 the British French and American zones were joined to form the Federal Republic of Germany. The military governors were replaced by civilian high commissioners. The high commissioners were part-governor and part-ambassador. The occupation officially continued until 1955. This is when the Federal Republic was became a fully sovereign state, the western occupation zones ceased to exist, and the high commissioners were replaced by normal ambassadors. But the four allied powers still had special rights and responsibilities in Germany until the Final Settlement of 1990.

The city of Berlin, however, was not part of either state and continued to be under Allied occupation until 1990.

The military governors and commissioners

Military governors

• 22 May 1945 - 30 April 1946 Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Bernard Law Montgomery

• 1 May 1946 - 31 October 1947 William Sholto Douglas

• 1 November 1947 - 21 September 1949 Sir Brian Hubert Robertson

High commissioners

• 21 September 1949 - 24 June 1950 Sir Brian Hubert Robertson

• 24 June 1950 - 29 September 1953 Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick

• 29 September 1953 - 5 May 1955 Sir Frederick Hoyer-Millar

Related pages

• Allied occupation zone
• Soviet occupation zone

References

• Post-WWII commanders/governors of Germany