Editing German reunification (section)

===German sovereignty and withdrawal of the Allied Forces===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F086568-0046, Leipzig, ausgeschlachteter PKW Trabant (Trabbi).jpg|thumb|Many [[Trabant]] vehicles were abandoned in Germany after 1989 (this one photographed in [[Leipzig]], 1990). A [[Volkswagen Golf Mk2|Volkswagen Golf]] can be seen parked in the background. Private brands like [[Volkswagen]] spilled over into East Germany after its state-owned auto industry collapsed.]]
[[File:Deutschland politisch 2010.png|thumb|250px|right|[[States of Germany|Current administrative map of Germany]]]]
On 15 March 1991, the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany]]—which had been signed in [[Moscow]] on 12 September 1990, by the two German states that then existed (East and West Germany) on one side and by the four principal Allied powers (the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States) on the other—entered into force, having been ratified by the Federal Republic of Germany (after the unification, as the united Germany) and by the four Allied states. The entry into force of that treaty (also known as the "Two Plus Four Treaty", in reference to the two German states and four Allied governments that signed it) put an end to the remaining limitations on German sovereignty and the ACC that resulted from the post-World War II arrangements. After the Americans intervened,<ref name="wiegrefe20100929" /> both the United Kingdom and France ratified the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany]] in September 1990. The Treaty entered into force on 15 March 1991, in accordance with Article 9 of the Two Plus Four Treaty, it entered into force as soon as all ratifications were deposited with the Government of Germany, thus finalizing the reunification for purposes of international law. The last party to ratify the treaty was the Soviet Union, which deposited its instrument of ratification on 15 March 1991. The [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] only gave its approval to the ratification of the treaty on 4 March 1991, after considerable debate. Even before the ratification of the Treaty, the operation of all quadripartite Allied institutions in Germany was suspended, with effect from the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990 and pending the final ratification of the Two Plus Four Treaty, pursuant to a declaration signed in New York on 1 October 1990 by the foreign ministers of the four Allied Powers, which was witnessed by ministers of the two German states then in existence, and to which was appended the text of the Two Plus Four Treaty.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 September 1990 |title=Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany |url=http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/fullnames/pdf/1991/TS0088%20%281991%29%20CM-1756%201990%201%20OCT%2C%20NEW%20YORK%3B%20TREATY%20ON%20GERMANY%20DECLARATION%20SUSPENDING%20OPERATION%20OF%20QUADRIPARTITE%20RIGHTS%20%26%20RESPONSIBILITIES.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709171829/http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/fullnames/pdf/1991/TS0088%20%281991%29%20CM-1756%201990%201%20OCT%2C%20NEW%20YORK%3B%20TREATY%20ON%20GERMANY%20DECLARATION%20SUSPENDING%20OPERATION%20OF%20QUADRIPARTITE%20RIGHTS%20%26%20RESPONSIBILITIES.pdf |archive-date=9 July 2017 |access-date=16 December 2018}}</ref> However, the Soviets cited their occupation rights for the last time as late as 13 March 1991, just two days before the Treaty became effective, when the Honeckers were enabled by Soviet hardliners to flee Germany on a military jet to Moscow from the Soviet-controlled [[Sperenberg Airfield]], with the German Federal Government being given just one hour's advance notice.<ref>{{cite news|title=Soviets may return Honecker to West|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=26 August 1991|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-26-mn-809-story.html|access-date=13 December 2022|archive-date=20 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220062826/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-26/news/mn-809_1_erich-honecker|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Brandenburger Tor abends.jpg|thumb|[[Brandenburg Gate]] in [[Berlin]], national symbol of present-day Germany and its reunification in 1990]]

Under the treaty on final settlement (which should not be confused with the Unification Treaty which was signed only between the two German states), the last Allied forces still present in Germany left in 1994, in accordance with article 4 of the treaty, which set 31 December 1994 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the remaining Allied forces. The bulk of [[Russian ground forces]] left Germany on 25 June 1994 with a military parade of the [[6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade|6th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade]] in Berlin. This was followed by the closure of the [[United States Army Berlin]] command on 12 July 1994, an event that was marked by a [[Casing of the Colors]] ceremony witnessed by President [[Bill Clinton]]. The withdrawal of the last Russian troops (the Russian Army's ''[[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany|Western Group of Forces]]'') was completed on 31 August 1994, and the event was marked by a military ceremony in the [[Treptow Park]] in Berlin, in the presence of Russian President [[Yeltsin]] and German Chancellor Kohl.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=Resources for The 1990 reunification – Historical events in the European integration process (1945–2014) |url=http://www.cvce.eu/en/education/unit-content/-/unit/02bb76df-d066-4c08-a58a-d4686a3e68ff/6f67f1a0-bf3b-4ed9-b3a0-0cfc5aa01ac7/Resources#17f1ddfe-cd1d-4018-904c-a994051b4145_en&overlay |access-date=9 October 2016 |website=Cvce.eu |publisher=CVCE |archive-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021094357/http://www.cvce.eu/en/education/unit-content/-/unit/02bb76df-d066-4c08-a58a-d4686a3e68ff/6f67f1a0-bf3b-4ed9-b3a0-0cfc5aa01ac7/Resources#17f1ddfe-cd1d-4018-904c-a994051b4145_en&overlay |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the bulk of the British, American, and French Forces had left Germany even before the departure of the Russians, the Western Allies kept a presence in Berlin until the completion of the Russian withdrawal, and the ceremony marking the departure of the remaining Forces of the Western Allies was the last to take place: on 8 September 1994,<ref>{{cite news |last=Kinzer |first=Stephen |date=9 September 1994 |title=Allies' Departure Leaves Berlin Without Foreign Troops |newspaper=NYTimes.com |location=Berlin, Germany |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/09/world/allies-departure-leaves-berlin-without-foreign-troops.html |access-date=5 April 2017 |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191915/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/09/world/allies-departure-leaves-berlin-without-foreign-troops.html |url-status=live }}</ref> a Farewell Ceremony in the courtyard of the [[Charlottenburg Palace]], in the presence of British Prime Minister John Major, American Secretary of State [[Warren Christopher]], French President François Mitterrand, and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, marked the withdrawal of the British, American and French Occupation Forces from Berlin, and the termination of the Allied occupation in Germany.<ref name=":4" /> Thus, the Allied presence was removed a few months before the final deadline.

Article 5 banned the deployment of nuclear weapons in the territory previously controlled by the GDR, and also the stationing of non-German military personnel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pifer |first=Steven |date=2001-11-30 |title=Did NATO Promise Not to Enlarge? Gorbachev Says "No" |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/ |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Brookings |language=en-US |archive-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101214156/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/ |url-status=live }}</ref>