"GERMANY" REGAINS ITS SOVEREIGNTY, May 5, 1955

THE 

FEDERAL REPUBLIC 

OF GERMANY 

(AKA "WEST GERMANY") 

BECOMES 

SOVEREIGN 

MAY 5, 1955 

STREET SCENE WITH SAILOR 

GIESSEN, GERMANY, 1959 

Just short of ten years after V-E Day, the end of World War II in Europe, three of the four occupying powers (the U.S., the U.K., and France) granted West Germany its sovereignty; four days later, this "Federal Republic of Germany" joined NATO.  On the other side:  the "Democratic Republic of Germany," East Germany, and the USSR.