The General Treaty (German: Generalvertrag, also Deutschlandvertrag “Germany Treaty”) is a treaty of international law which was signed by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany), and the Western Allies (France, United Kingdom, United States) on 26 May 1952 but which took effect, with some slight changes, only in 1955. It formally ended Germany's status as an occupied territory and recognised its rights of a sovereign state, with certain restrictions that remained in place until German reunification in 1990.