on 15 november 1945 the de gaulle government appointed claude hettier de boislambert as governor of the rhineland. he took up the appointment with effect from 1 december 1945. the division of the western two thirds of postwar germany into four military zones of occupation had been agreed between the wartime allies well before the actual end of the war, and the rhineland represented approximately 50% of the german territory that came under french control in 1945. hettier de boislambert had a superficial but usable knowledge of the german language and proven inter-personal diplomatic skills. he was evidently in agreement with de gaulle's insistence that he should "never forget that without germany we will not be able to build europe" (""und vergessen sie nicht, daß man europa ohne deutschland nicht bauen können wird""). during the allied occupation of germany the british and american occupation zones would be administered in line with broadly parallel objectives. the french occupation zone was always administered with more than half an eye on the strategic vision of a more co-operative future between european states than had been achieved during the 1920s and ill-starred 1930s. (differences between the western zones and the soviet occupation zone quickly became more stark, and subsequently were of greater interest to western commentators and most historians.)