In theory the Kommandatura would decide issues requiring attention and governance, formulate a response, and issue formal orders to the Lord Mayor and the Berlin Magistrat.[14] At the July 11, 1945, meeting, the commandants signed the first of their nearly 1,300 such quadripartite orders. That particular order truly put the Soviets in the saddle as it reinforced all preexisting Russian regulations and ordinances put in place throughout the city before the western allies arrived: