During a meeting with Moscow State University students on January 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the United States had not ended its military “occupation” of Germany, which began in May 1945:
"After all, after the Second World War, Germany was, as you know, divided into four occupation zones: American, British, French, and Soviet. So, the Soviet Union legally ended the occupation, but the United States did not. Strictly speaking — technically, legally — there are American occupation troops in the Federal Republic of Germany. In fact, they are: there are a lot of them,” Putin said.
That statement is false. The military occupation of western Germany by the United States, the United Kingdom and France after World War II lasted a little less than 10 years, from 1945 to 1955.
After Germany surrendered to the Allies on May 8, 1945, the German state ceased to exist, and it was ruled by the victorious Allied powers.
The four main European allies, the U.S., U.K., Soviet Union and France, jointly occupied Germany in accordance with the June 5, 1945, Berlin Declaration on the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Allied powers shared responsibility for administering Germany and its capital, Berlin, and each assumed responsibility for a certain part of the defeated country. The discussion of what to do with Germany began during World War II at the Allied leadership conferences. The U.S. Department of State described the history of these arrangements originating from the meetings...
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