The Federal Republic of Germany (popularly known as West
Germany) is formally established as a separate and independent
nation. This action marked the effective end to any discussion
of reuniting East and West Germany. In the period after World
War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, with the
British, French, Americans, and Soviets each controlling one
zone. The city of Berlin was also divided in a like fashion.
This arrangement was supposed to be temporary, but as Cold War
animosities began to harden, it became increasingly evident that
the division between the communist and non-communist controlled
sections of Germany and Berlin would become permanent. In May
1946, the United States halted reparation payments from West
Germany to the Soviet Union. In December, the United States and
Great Britain combined their occupation zones into what came to
be known as Bizonia. France agreed to become part of this
arrangement, and in May 1949, the three zones became one. On May
23, the West German Parlia