ABSTRACT
The case of Germany after the Second World War is sui generis in so far as the victorious Allies did not offer Germany a peace treaty nor complete the act of subjugation by annexing the conquered Reich. Thirty years after the Nazi surrender Germany remains divided and no peace treaty has been signed. A peace treaty with Germany could have similarly been ratified by a majority of the Allies without the Soviet Union, if Germany had not been divided into zones at the Yalta Conference. At the time of the Potsdam Conference the Allies, including the Soviet Union, also committed themselves to the idea of terminating the war with Germany by way of a peace treaty. In view of the fact that no peace treaty with a united Germany was achieved, the Western Powers, principally for domestic reasons, moved to end the state of war by unilateral proclamation.
