Editing Bizone (section)

=== Local governance by zone ===
The Soviets had established central administration in their zone for nutrition, transport, jurisdiction, finance, and other areas already in July 1945, before the participants of the [[Potsdam Conference]] had officially agreed to form central German administrations.<ref>[[Wolfgang Benz]], ''Potsdam 1945: Besatzungsherrschaft und Neuaufbau im Vier-Zonen-Deutschland'', Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1986, (dtv Reihe Deutsche Geschichte der neuesten Zeit vom 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart; vol. 4522), p. 132. {{ISBN|3-423-04522-1}}</ref> The central administrations (Zentralverwaltungen) in the Soviet zone were not a form of German self-government, but were rather subdivisions of the [[Soviet Military Administration in Germany]] (SVAG), which had the legislative power. The states in the Soviet zone had only limited functions.

After Potsdam, in the summer of 1945, the [[Control Commission for Germany – British Element]] (CCG/BE) in [[Bad Oeynhausen]] created central offices (Zentralämter) for its zone.<ref>[[Wolfgang Benz]], ''Potsdam 1945: Besatzungsherrschaft und Neuaufbau im Vier-Zonen-Deutschland'', Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1986, (dtv Reihe Deutsche Geschichte der neuesten Zeit vom 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart; vol. 4522), p. 131. {{ISBN|3-423-04522-1}}</ref> Its chairpersons were appointed by the British military government and were more influential than the [[minister-president]]s of the states in the British zone, which at the time were administrative bodies rather than republics. After March 1946 the British zonal advisory board (Zonenbeirat) was established, with representatives of the states, the central offices, political parties, trade unions, and consumer organisations. As indicated by its name, the zonal advisory board had no legislative power, but was merely advisory. The Control Commission for Germany – British Element made all decisions with its legislative power.

In reaction to the Soviet and British advances, in October 1945 the [[Office of Military Government, United States]] (OMGUS) encouraged the states in the US zone to form a co-ordinating body, the so-called Länderrat (council of states), with the power to legislate for the entire US zone. It created its own central bodies (Ausschüsse or joint interstate committees) headed by a secretariat seated in [[Stuttgart]]. While the British and Soviet central administrations were allied institutions, these US zone committees were not OMGUS subdivisions, but instead were autonomous bodies of German self-rule under OMGUS supervision.

France had not participated in the Potsdam Conference, so it felt free to approve some of the Potsdam Agreements and ignore others. Generally the French military government obstructed any interzonal administrations in [[Allied-occupied Germany]]; it even blocked interstate co-operation within its own zone, aiming at total decentralisation of Germany into a number of sovereign states. Therefore, the states in the French zone were given a high level of autonomy but under French supervision, inhibiting almost any interstate co-ordination.