Le 9 mars 1990, François Mitterrand, président de la République française, tient au palais de l'Elysée à Paris, une conférence de presse conjointe avec le président du Conseil de l'État de Pologne, M. Jaruzelski, et le Premier ministre polonais, M. Mazowiecki, au cours de laquelle il revient sur le rôle crucial de l'intangibilité de la frontière germano-polonaise (ligne Oder/Neisse).

In his memoirs, François Mitterrand, former President of the French Republic, outlines the establishment, in 1990, of the ‘Two Plus Four' (2 + 4) Conference, attended by the two Germanys and the four Allied Powers signatory to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement, with a view to settling the international issue of German reunification.

On 5 May 1990, in Bonn, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West German Foreign Minister, opens the conference on German reunification attended by the Foreign Ministers of France, the FRG, the GDR, the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR.

On 5 May 1990, at the end of the ‘Two Plus Four’ Conference in Bonn, attended by the Foreign Ministers of the two Germanys and the four Allied Powers signatory to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement (France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States), Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), informs the international press of the Final Declaration approved by the participants.

‘The reunification policy needed some explaining abroad.’ In 1990, commenting on the ‘Two Plus Four’ (2 + 4) Conference attended in Bonn by the two Germanys and the four Allied Powers signatory to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement — the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union — the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, illustrates the efforts of Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West German Foreign Minister, to reassure the Western Allies and the Soviet Union of the definitive international status of the reunified Germany.

On 12 September 1990, in Moscow, the Four Allied Powers, signatories of the Potsdam Agreements in 1945 (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR), and the two Germanys (the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany) sign the ‘Two Plus Four’ Treaty. From left to right: James Baker (USA), Douglas Hurd (United Kingdom), Eduard Shevardnadze (USSR), Roland Dumas (France), Lothar de Maizière (GDR) and Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FRG).

On 12 September 1990, in Moscow, the Four Powers, guarantors of the quadripartite status established in 1945, together with representatives of the two Germanys sign the ‘Two Plus Four’ Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany, sealing the definitive international status of reunified Germany. From left to right: Roland Dumas (France), Eduard Shevardnadze (USSR), James Baker (USA), Mikhail Gorbachev (USSR), Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FRG), Lothar de Maizière (GDR) and Douglas Hurd (United Kingdom).

On 12 September 1990, in Moscow, the representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the United States, the French Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics sign the ‘Two Plus Four Treaty’ on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany.

On 12 September 1990, to mark the signing in Moscow of what is known as the ‘2+4 Treaty’, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Lothar de Maizière, respectively Foreign Ministers of the FRG and of the GDR, issue a Joint Statement to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States.

In his memoirs, Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), describes the circumstances surrounding the signing, on 12 September 1990 in Moscow, of the ‘Two Plus Four’ Treaty (the two Germanys and the four Allied powers signatory to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement) on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany, under which the reunified Germany would recover its full sovereignty. The Treaty came into force on 3 October 1990.

On 12 September 1990, at the signing, in Moscow, of what is known as the ‘2 + 4 Treaty’ (the two Germanys and the four Allied Powers signatory to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement), which conclusively settles the German question, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), expresses his satisfaction at the reunification of Germany and the restoration of full sovereignty to the country.

On 12 September 1990, in Moscow, at the signing of what is known as the ‘2+4 Treaty' (the two German states and the four occupying powers), Lothar de Maizière, Chairman of the East German Council of Ministers, welcomes the event in his capacity as Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and emphasises the impact of the Treaty for the reunification of Germany.

On 13 September 1990, the day after the signing in Moscow of what is known as the ‘2+4’ Treaty which seals the reunification of the two Germanies, the British left-wing daily newspaper The Guardian emphasises the political impact of the event.

On 1 October 1990, the four Allied Powers (France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States) signatory to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement and, as such, signatories, on 12 September 1990 in Moscow, to the Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany, declare that the operation of their quadripartite rights and responsibilities relating to Berlin and to Germany as a whole shall be suspended.

‘The time train …’ In 1990, the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, emphasises the definitive nature of the borders of the reunified Germany, with particular regard to the Oder-Neisse Line between Poland and Germany.

In 1994, the last Soviet troops leave the territory of the former East Germany. The photo shows members of the Soviet Army’s 47. Garde-Panzer-Division withdrawing from the village of Hillersleben, in Saxony-Anhalt.

On 18 June 1994, the Western Allied troops stationed in Berlin parade together for the final time in the streets of the German capital. On 8 September 1994, they leave Berlin permanently.

On 8 September 1994, a military parade is held in the courtyard of Charlottenburg Palace to mark the departure of Western Allied troops from the City of Berlin. The parade is attended by Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Warren Christopher, US Secretary of State, John Major, British Prime Minister, and François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic.

On 31 August 1994, Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), welcomes Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, to Berlin on the occasion of the departure of the troops from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) stationed in Berlin. A ceremony is held at the Neue Wache, a memorial dedicated to the victims of all wars and oppressive regimes.