In the aftermath of World War II, the Allied Powers occupied Germany and set up an extensive administrative structure. Occupation of the West Germany ended in 1955 with the Bonn-Paris conventions, however, Soviet occupation of the East Germany continued, and the occupation as a whole ended only in 1990 with the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany and the consequent Reunification of Germany.

Austria, an ally of Nazi Germany under the Anschluß, an annexed part of Nazi Germany during the World War II and a culturally related neighbour, was governed under a similar system, though separately. Together with West Germany, Austria became a fully sovereign state in 1955, and promptly declared military neutrality.