Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany — 1990 treaty making Germany fully independent
This treaty ended Four Power occupation rights over Germany, enabling full German sovereignty and reunification in 1990.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 12 September 1990
- Negotiating parties
- West Germany, East Germany, France, USSR, UK, USA
- Treaty superseded
- 1945 Potsdam Agreement
- German reunification date
- October 1990
- Border reconfirmed
- German–Polish border accepted as final
- Territories renounced
- East Prussia, most of Silesia, parts of Brandenburg and Pomerania
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The collapse of Communist rule in East Germany and the rapid political changes of 1989–1990 created momentum for German reunification, but the Four Powers—France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—retained residual occupation rights from World War II that had to be formally relinquished before full sovereignty could be restored.
Negotiated in 1990 between the two German states and the Four Powers, the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed on 12 September 1990 in Moscow. The Four Powers formally renounced all rights held over Germany, and both German states explicitly renounced claims to former eastern territories, including East Prussia, most of Silesia, and parts of Brandenburg and Pomerania.
The treaty cleared the legal path for German reunification in October 1990, establishing a fully sovereign unified Germany. It also required West and East Germany to reconfirm the existing Polish border through a separate German–Polish Border Treaty, settling postwar territorial questions that had remained unresolved for four decades.
Political Outcome
Germany reunified as a fully sovereign state; Four Powers relinquished all occupation rights; German–Polish border confirmed as final.
Germany divided under residual Four Power occupation rights stemming from World War II
Unified Germany restored as a fully sovereign independent state