British and French Troops

The zones of Germany occupied by the U.S., Great Britain and France were transformed into the Federal Republic of Germany. A new constitution was adopted, and elections were held. The Christian Democratic Party and its ally, the Christian Socialist Party, won a plurality in the first election. Konrad Adenauer became the first Chancellor.

The Federal Republic of Germany, known as West Germany, came into being on May 23, 1949. France, England, and the US, who were occupying West Germany, supported that move. The capital of the new nation was Bonn. Free elections were held on September 12, Theodor Heuss was elected President, and Konrad Adenauer became the Chancellor. Both had been opponents of the Nazis regime. Nine days after the elections, the Allied occupation ended and was replaced by an Allied High Commission.

At a ceremony in Bonn in which the new German flag was raised, Adenauer stated that not unit the millions of German refugees from the East were settled would Germany truly be stable