Editing Rhineland-Palatinate (section)

=== Emergence ===
The present state of Rhineland-Palatinate formed part of the [[French Zone of Occupation]] (1945–1949) after the Second World War. It comprised the former Bavarian Palatinate, the {{lang|de|Regierungsbezirke}} ("government districts") of Koblenz and Trier (which formed the southern part of the Prussian [[Rhine Province]]), the parts of the Province of Rhenish Hesse ({{lang|de|Rheinhessen}}) west of the [[River Rhine]] and belonged to the [[People's State of Hesse]] ({{lang|de|Volksstaat Hessen}}), parts of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau ([[Regierungsbezirk Montabaur|Montabaur]]), and the former Oldenburg region around [[Birkenfeld (Nahe)|Birkenfeld]] ([[Principality of Birkenfeld]]).

On 10 July 1945, the [[Allied-occupied Germany|occupation authority]] on the soil of the present-day Rhineland-Palatinate transferred from the Americans to the French. To begin with, the French divided the region provisionally into two "upper presidiums" ({{lang|de|Oberpräsidien}}), Rhineland-Hesse-Nassau (for the hitherto Prussian government districts and regions of [[Regierungsbezirk Koblenz|Koblenz]], [[Regierungsbezirk Trier|Trier]], and [[Regierungsbezirk Montabaur|Montabaur]]) and Hesse-Palatinate (for the hitherto Bavarian [[Palatinate region|Palatinate]] and old Hessian-Darmstadt province of [[Rhenish Hesse]]). The formation of the state was ordained on 30 August 1946, the last [[Land (Germany)|state]] in the Western Zone of Occupation to be established, by Regulation No. 57 of the French [[military government]] under General [[Marie-Pierre Kœnig]].<ref>Newssheet of the French Higher Command in Germany, No. 35 (1946), [http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/recht.pl?zeitung=jouroffi&jahrgang=1946&ausgabe=035&seite=03700292&ansicht=3&bild=1&navigation=1&wahl=0&filename=.gif p. 292] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429025229/http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/recht.pl?zeitung=jouroffi&jahrgang=1946&ausgabe=035&seite=03700292&ansicht=3&bild=1&navigation=1&wahl=0&filename=.gif |date=29 April 2018 }}</ref> It was initially called Rhenish-Palatinate ({{lang|de|Rheinpfälzisches Land}} or {{lang|de|Land Rheinpfalz}}); the name Rhineland-Palatinate ({{lang|de|Rheinland-Pfalz}}) was first confirmed in the constitution of 18 May 1947.<ref>{{cite web | title=Verfassungen in Rheinland-Pfalz | website=Verfassungen der Welt | url=http://www.verfassungen.de/rlp/index.htm | language=de | access-date=14 December 2021 | archive-date=14 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214130804/http://www.verfassungen.de/rlp/index.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Provisional Government of the French Republic|provisional French government]] at that time wanted originally to leave the option open of annexing further areas [[Left Bank of the Rhine|west of the Rhine]] after the Saarland was turned into a [[Saar Protectorate|protectorate]]. When the Americans and British, however had led the way with the establishment of German states, the French came under increasing pressure and eventually followed their example by setting up the states of [[Baden (South Baden)|Baden]], Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Rhineland-Palatinate. However the French military government forbade the [[Saarland]] from joining Rhineland-Palatinate. [[Mainz]] was named as the state capital in the regulation; the "Mixed Commission" ({{lang|de|Gemischte Kommission}}), named as the highest organ of state charged with the administration of the new state and with the preparation of an advisory state assembly, started its work in Mainz. However war damage and destruction meant that Mainz did not have enough administrative buildings, so the headquarters of the state government and parliament was provisionally established in [[Koblenz]]. On 22 November 1946, the constituent meeting of the Advisory State Assembly ({{lang|de|Beratende Landesversammlung}}) took place there, and a draft constitution was drawn up. Previously, local elections had been held. [[Wilhelm Boden]] was (after a short term of office as the {{lang|de|Oberregierungspräsident}} of Rhineland-Hesse-Nassau) nominated on 2 December as the [[minister president]] of the new state by the French military government.