76 years ago today, on May 23, 1949 (April 26, 1949 lunar calendar), the Federal Republic of Germany was established. Germany was a defeated country in World War II. After the war ended, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France issued a joint statement on the control of Germany on June 5, 1945, deciding that the four countries would occupy Germany by division, and the Allied Control Council against Germany was formed by the commanders-in-chief of the four countries' occupation forces as the highest authority. Although the statement emphasized that Germany should be regarded as a unified whole during the occupation period, countries have their own power in their own occupied areas, and there is a potential for division. The three occupied territories of the United States, Britain, and France are located in western Germany, covering an area of more than 240,000 square kilometers. The occupied territories of the three Western countries first carried out the work of eliminating German militarism and Nazis, tried war criminals, dissolved some monopolies, but retained military industrial equipment that should be dismantled according to regulations. In order to make Germany's economy recover quickly, the Western occupying powers adopted the policy of "rebuilding Germany". In December 1946, the United States and Britain reached an agreement to merge the occupied territories of the two countries in order to promote economic unity. In January 1947, the dual occupation area was established. In February 1948, the United States and Britain expanded it into a state-like entity and established a joint state assembly and administrative committee. On June 7, the six countries of the United States, Britain, France, and Benelux signed the "London Agreement", and France agreed to join, establishing the 3 occupation areas. On June 20, 1948, the Western occupying powers began a separate monetary reform in the 3-occupied area, replacing the old mark with the new mark. In order to issue and supervise the new currency, the Deutsche Federal Bank was established. Erhard, according to his vision of a social market economy, abolished the regulations governing the economy, promoting economic stability and growth. The currency reform of the 3 Western countries was regarded by the Soviet Union as a violation of the Potsdam Agreement, and the Soviet Union therefore took corresponding monetary reform measures. The economy of the East and West occupied areas was completely divided. At the same time, the political division was also increasing. On July 1, 1948, the military chiefs of the three Western countries in Germany convened a meeting of the 11 state premiers of the Western Occupied Territories in Frankfurt, and distributed to the state premiers three documents, later known as the "Frankfurt" document, which set out the vision for the development of the Western Occupied Territories and laid down the basic guidelines for the future state institutions of West Germany and their terms of reference. At the meeting, the state heads were also authorized to start a constitutional assembly to formulate a "basic law". On September 1, a parliamentary committee was established in Bonn, chaired by Adenauer of the Christian Democratic Union. The parliamentary committee discussed and formulated the constitution in accordance with the spirit of the Frankfurt document. In April 1949, the three Western countries formulated the "Law of Occupation" for Western Germany. It stipulated that after the establishment of the West German state, the military government would be abolished and replaced by a high commission composed of the civilian high commissioners of the three countries, which was responsible for Germany's foreign and security affairs and had veto power over all actions of the West German parliament. On domestic issues, the German government could make its own legislation within the scope allowed by the Allies. On May 8, the parliamentary committee concluded its meeting and formulated a provisional constitution - the Basic Law. The new state emerged as a parliamentary democracy. The state structure was federal, and its foreign affairs, defense, currency, customs, railways, aviation, post and telecommunications were under federal management, and the states were given greater autonomy. The Basic Law was approved by the military chiefs of the Western-occupied territories on May 12, 1949, passed by the state legislatures, and came into force on May 23, 1949.