30 Facts About West Germany

West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 October 1990.

West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, established from eleven states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Wurttemberg in 1952, and the Saarland became a West German state in 1957.

Foundation for the influential position held by Germany today was laid during the economic miracle of the 1950s, when West Germany rose from the enormous destruction wrought by World War II to become the world's third-largest economy.

East West Germany voted to dissolve and accede to the Federal Republic of West Germany in 1990.

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Consequently, following the death of Hitler in 1945 and the subsequent capitulation of the German Armed Forces, the national political, judicial, administrative, and constitutional instruments of both Nazi Germany and the Weimar Republic were understood as entirely defunct, such that a new West Germany could be established in a condition of constitutional nullity.

Nevertheless, the new West Germany asserted its fundamental continuity with the 'overall' German state that was held to have embodied the unified German people since the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848, and which from 1871 had been represented within the German Reich; albeit that this overall state had become effectively dormant long before 8 May 1945.

The former occupying Western troops remained on the ground, now as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which West Germany joined on 9 May 1955, promising to rearm itself soon.

West Germany became a focus of the Cold War with its juxtaposition to East Germany, a member of the subsequently founded Warsaw Pact.

Outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 led to U S calls to rearm West Germany to help defend Western Europe from the perceived Soviet threat.

West Germany was to be permitted to rearm, and have full sovereign control of its military, called the.

West Germany announced that he would step down in the fall of 1963.

All over West Germany, thousands demonstrated against the Springer newspapers which were seen as the prime cause of the violence against students.

The issue of improving relations with Poland, Czechoslovakia and East West Germany made for an increasingly aggressive tone in public debates but it was a huge step forward when Willy Brandt and the Foreign Minister, Walther Scheel negotiated agreements with all three countries.

Allowances for retraining and advanced training and for refugees from East West Germany were increased, together with federal grants for sport.

That same year, the Safety Institute of the Federal Republic of West Germany was transformed into a public Federal Agency with significantly enlarged powers, in the context of which special emphasis would be placed on its new task of promoting and coordinating research in the area of accident prevention.

Under the Brandt Administration, West Germany attained a lower rate of inflation than in other industrialised countries at that time, while a rise in the standard of living took place, helped by the floating and revaluation of the mark.

East West Germany then dissolved itself, and its five post-war states were reconstituted, along with the reunited Berlin which ended its special status and formed an additional.

One day later, the parliament of the united West Germany would assemble in an act of symbolism in the Reichstag building.

At the time West Germany had a large pool of skilled and cheap labour, partly as a result of the flight and expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe, which affected up to 16.

In 1952, West Germany became part of the European Coal and Steel Community, which would later evolve into the European Union.

On 5 May 1955 West Germany was declared to have the "authority of a sovereign state".

The UK and the USA retained an especially strong presence in West Germany, acting as a deterrent in case of a Soviet invasion.

In 1976 West Germany became one of the founding nations of the Group of Six .

The Treaty of Moscow, the Treaty of Warsaw, the Four Power Agreement on Berlin, the Transit Agreement, and the Basic Treaty helped to normalise relations between East and West Germany and led to both German states joining the United Nations.

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The Hallstein Doctrine was relinquished, and West Germany ceased to claim an exclusive mandate for Germany as a whole.

West Germany encouraged and covered up a culture of doping across many sports for decades.

West Germany played 43 matches at the European Championships, more than any other national team.

Exemplary for West Germany's literature are – among others – Siegfried Lenz and Gunter Grass .

Whilst East Germany was divided into 15 administrative districts, which were merely local branches of the national government, West Germany was divided into states with independently elected state parliaments and control of the, the second legislative chamber of the Federal Government.