23 - U.S. High Commissioner for Germany and Related Records: Sources for the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949–1955, in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Summary

With the proclamation of the Basic Law on May 23, 1949, and its effectuation by the promulgation of the Occupation Statute on September 21, military government came to an end in Western (“Trizonia”) Germany. There began an interim of semisovereignty for the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany, FRG) under the Occupation Statute, supervised jointly by the Allied High Commission (AHC) for Germany, consisting of high commissioners for Germany from France, Great Britain, and the United States. During the several stages between September 1, 1949, and May 5, 1955, when restrictions on sovereignty were all but lifted by proclamation of the AHC, culminating in the replacement of the high commissioners by ambassadors, by reason of its overwhelming economic and military power the United States played a decisive role in determining the pace and limits of progress toward near emancipation. Consequently, the records of the U.S. federal government deposited in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), second only to those deposited in the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz and Freiburg/Breisgau, and the German Foreign Office Archives in Bonn, are a major source for the study of the history of the Federal Republic of Germany between 1949 and 1955. It should be noted, however, that the progressive reduction of direct Allied activity from operations to mere observation, advice, and assistance with only an occasional direct intervention, contributed to much reduced paperwork and thus, a smaller archival residue.