<P> Upon the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II , the victorious Allies asserted their joint authority and sovereignty over ' Germany as a whole ' , defined as all territories of the former German Reich which lay west of the Oder -- Neisse line , having declared the extinction of Nazi Germany at the death of Adolf Hitler ( see 1945 Berlin Declaration ) . The four powers divided ' Germany as a whole ' into four occupation zones for administrative purposes , under the United States , United Kingdom , France and the Soviet Union respectively ; creating what became collectively known as Allied - occupied Germany ( German : Alliierten - besetztes Deutschland ) . This division was ratified at the Potsdam Conference ( 17 July to 2 August 1945 ) . The four zones were as agreed in February 1945 by the United States , United Kingdom and Soviet Union meeting at the Yalta Conference ; setting aside an earlier division into three zones ( excluding France ) proposed by the London Protocol . </P>
<P> Upon the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II , the victorious Allies asserted their joint authority and sovereignty over ' Germany as a whole ' , defined as all territories of the former German Reich which lay west of the Oder -- Neisse line , having declared the extinction of Nazi Germany at the death of Adolf Hitler ( see 1945 Berlin Declaration ) . The four powers divided ' Germany as a whole ' into four occupation zones for administrative purposes , under the United States , United Kingdom , France and the Soviet Union respectively ; creating what became collectively known as Allied - occupied Germany ( German : Alliierten - besetztes Deutschland ) . This division was ratified at the Potsdam Conference ( 17 July to 2 August 1945 ) . The four zones were as agreed in February 1945 by the United States , United Kingdom and Soviet Union meeting at the Yalta Conference ; setting aside an earlier division into three zones ( excluding France ) proposed by the London Protocol . </P>
list the four powers that divided and occupied germany
list the four powers that divided and occupied germany
United States United Kingdom France Soviet Union
United States United Kingdom France Soviet Union