The Bonn–Paris conventions were signed in May 1952 and came into force after the 1955 ratification. The conventions put an end to the Allied occupation of West Germany.^[1]

The delay between the signing and the ratification was due to the French failure to ratify the related treaty on the European Defense Community.^[2] This was eventually overcome by the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden proposing that West Germany become a member of NATO and the removal of the references to the European Defense Community in the Bonn–Paris conventions. The revised treaty was signed at a ceremony in Paris on 23 October 1954.^[1][3] The conventions came into force during the last meeting of the Allied High Commission, that took place in the United States Embassy in Bonn, on 5 May 1955.^[1]

The General Treaty (German: Generalvertrag, also Deutschlandvertrag “Germany Treaty”) is a treaty which was signed by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany), and the Western Allies (France, United Kingdom, United States) on 26 May 1952 but which took effect, with some slight changes, only in 1955. It formally ended Germany's status as an occupied territory and recognised its rights of a sovereign state, with certain restrictions that remained in place until German reunification in 1990.

Attaining sovereignty had become necessary in light of the rearmament efforts of the FRG. For this reason, it was agreed that the Treaty would only come to force when West Germany also joined the European Defense Community (EDC). Because the EDC Treaty was not approved by France's Parliament on 30 August 1954, the General Treaty could not come into effect. After this failure, the EDC Treaty had to be reworked and the nations at the London Nine-Power Conference decided to allow West Germany to join NATO and to create the Western European Union (not to be confused with the Western Union or the European Union). With this development, West Germany, under the leadership of Konrad Adenauer, in front of the backdrop of the Cold War became a fully trusted partner of the western allies and with the second draft of the General Treaty, West Germany largely regained its sovereignty. The Allies, however, retained some controls over Germany until 1991 (see further Two Plus Four Agreement). Also, the end of the occupation regime in West Germany technically did not extend to Berlin (indeed the continuation of the presence of the Western Allies in West Berlin was necessary and even desired by West Germany given the Cold War context), and the occupation of Berlin by the Allies was only finalized in 1994 under the terms of the Two Plus Four Treaty.

Article 1 of Schedule I of the Settlement Convention provides that the Federal Republic of Germany is accorded "the full authority of a sovereign State over its internal and external affairs". However, Article 2 provides that the Three Powers retain their rights "relating to Berlin and to Germany as a whole, including the reunification of Germany and a peace settlement". Article 2 was designed to prevent acts undertaken by the Allies during the German occupation from being questioned retroactively by West German courts.^[4]

Miriam Aziz of The Robert Schumann Centre, of the European University Institute, makes the point that there is a difference between the wording of the Settlement Convention "the full authority of a sovereign State" and the wording in the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany of 1990 in which Germany is referred to as having "full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs", gives rise to a distinction between de facto and de jure sovereignty.^[5][6] Detlef Junker of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg agrees with this analysis: "In the October 23, 1954, Paris Agreements, Adenauer pushed through the following laconic wording: 'The Federal Republic shall accordingly [after termination of the occupation regime] have the full authority of a sovereign state over its internal and external affairs.' If this was intended as a statement of fact, it must be conceded that it was partly fiction and, if interpreted as wishful thinking, it was a promise that went unfulfilled until 1990. The Allies maintained their rights and responsibilities regarding Berlin and Germany as a whole, particularly the responsibility for future reunification and a future peace treaty."^[7]

• Petersberg Protocol of November 1949. Signed between the three Allies and Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.^[1]
• London and Paris Conferences
• Four Power Agreement on Berlin
• Two Plus Four Agreement (Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany)

• Miriam Aziz, (Robert Schumann Centre, European University Institute) Sovereignty Lost, Sovereignty Regained? Some Reflections on the Bundesverfassungsgericht’s Bananas Judgment(PDF) Constitutionalism Web-Papers, ConWEB No. 3/2003,

• Aziz, Miriam. 'The Impact of European Rights on National Legal Cultures' (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2004)
• Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Authority by Allied Powers
• Approval by Western Military Governors: THE BONN CONSTITUTION (BASIC LAW FOR THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY) 12 May 1949
• Joint Resolution To Terminate the State of War Between the United States and the Government of Germany Public Law 181, 82nd Congress, Approved 19 October 1951
• Ostpolitik: The Quadripartite Agreement 3 September 1971
• Press release issued by the Registrar on the judgement in Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein v. Germany (application number 42527/98) 12 July 2001 (the judgement)
• "Appendix B—Four powers conference", Journals of the Senate of Canada - Second session of the twenty-second Parliament (1955), Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1955, p. 62a–62f
  • 1. Protocol 1. on the Termination of the Occupation Regime in the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 2. Resume of the Five Schedules Attached to the Protocol on the Termination of the Occupation Regime
  • Declaration of the Federal Republic on Aid to Berlin
  • Convention on the presence of Foreign Forces in the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 5. Three-Power Declaration on Berlin
• "Appendix C—Nine powers conference", Journals of the Senate of Canada - Second session of the twenty-second Parliament (1955), Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1955, p. 62f–62t
  • 1. Declaration involving Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany to accede to the Brussels Treaty
  • 2. Protocol modifying and completing the Brussels Treaty
    • Protocol No. II on Forces of Western European Union
    • Protocol No. III on the Control of Armaments
    • Protocol No. IV on the Agency of Western European Union for the Control of Armaments
  • 3. Letters with reference to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice from, respectively, the Governments of the Federal Republic and of Italy to the other Governments signatory of the Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty
    • Reply to the Letters from the Governments of the Federal Republic and of Italy to the Other Governments Signatory of the Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty
  • 4. Resolution on Production and Standardization of Armaments (Adopted by the Nine-Power Conference on 21 October 1954)
• "Appendix D—NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL", Journals of the Senate of Canada - Second session of the twenty-second Parliament (1955), Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1955, p. 62t–62II
  • 1 Resolution to Implement Section IV of the Final Act of the London Conference
  • 2. Resolution of Association
  • Declaration by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Declaration by the Governments of United States of America, United Kingdom and France
  • 3. Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the Accession of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 4 Resolution on Hesulis of the Four and Nine Power Meetings (Adopted by the North Atlantic Council on 22 October 1954)
  • Final Act of the London Conference (3 October)
    • Federal Chancellor's List – Declaration by the Powers
    • British Statement
    • Canadian Affirmation
    • German Membership of NATO – Powers' Recommendation
    • Principles of UN Charter – German Acceptance
    • Declaration by the German Federal Republic
    • Declaration by the Governments of U.S.A., U.K. and France
    • European Unity – Close Association of Britain
    • Annex 1. Draft Declaration and Draft Protocol Inviting Italy and the German Federal Republic to Accede to the Brussels Treaty