The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (The “Two Plus Four Treaty”)

Moscow, USSR - 12 September 1990

The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, also known as the “Two Plus Four Treaty,” was signed in Moscow on September 12, 1990, by the two German states (the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic) and the four Allied powers of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union). It is the foundational legal document for the reunification of Germany.

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Key Provisions

• German Sovereignty: The treaty grants full sovereignty to a reunified Germany. The Four Powers terminate all of their remaining rights and responsibilities regarding Berlin and Germany as a whole.
• Borders: The treaty defines the territory of the united Germany as the territory of the FRG, the GDR, and Berlin. It confirms the finality of Germany’s borders, particularly the Oder-Neisse line with Poland. Germany renounces all territorial claims.
• Military Forces: Germany agrees to limit the personnel of its armed forces to 370,000. It also reaffirms its renunciation of the manufacture, possession, and control of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
• Stationing of Forces: The treaty regulates the stationing of armed forces on German territory.
  • Soviet forces were to be withdrawn from the territory of the former GDR by the end of 1994.
  • While Soviet forces were still stationed in the east, other foreign forces assigned to NATO could not be deployed in the former GDR.
  • After the withdrawal of Soviet forces, German forces assigned to NATO could be stationed in the former GDR, but foreign forces and nuclear weapons systems could not be deployed there. This effectively made the territory of the former GDR a special military status zone.
• Alliance Membership: The treaty explicitly states that a united Germany has the right to belong to alliances, with all the rights and responsibilities that arise from this. This provision confirmed a reunified Germany’s right to be a member of NATO.

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The Two Plus Four Treaty was a diplomatic masterpiece that ended the division of Germany and was a key step in the peaceful conclusion of the Cold War. Its provisions on military forces and alliance membership are central to the ongoing debate about NATO’s eastward expansion.