The Paris Peace Conference (July 29th to October 15th 1946) resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10th 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers (principally the United States, United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union) negotiated the details of treaties of Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland.
The treaties allowed Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland to reassume their responsibilities as sovereign states in international affairs and to qualify for membership in the United Nations.
The settlement elaborated in the peace treaties included payment of war reparations, commitment to minority rights and territorial adjustments including the end of the Italian colonial empire in Africa and changes to the Hungarian-Slovak, Romanian-Hungarian, Soviet-Romanian, Bulgarian-Romanian and Soviet-Finnish frontiers.
The political clauses stipulated that the signatory should "take all measures necessary to secure to all persons under (its) jurisdiction, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, the enjoyment of human rights and of the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, of press and publication, of religious worship, of political opinion and of public meeting".
No penalties were to be visited on nationals because of wartime partisanship for the Allies. Each government undertook to prevent the resurgence of fascist organizations or any others, "whether political, military or semi-military, whose purpose it is to deprive the people of their democratic rights."
Particularly in Finland, the dictated border adjustment was perceived as a major injustice and a betrayal by the Western Powers, after the sympathy Finland had received from the West during the Soviet-initiated Winter War of 1939 - 1940. However, this sympathy had been eroded by Finland's decision to join in Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, making it one of Hitler's most valuable allies. The Soviet Union's accessions of territory were confirmed based on the Moscow Armistice signed in Moscow on September 19, 1944, which had ended the Continuation War between Finland and Soviet Union.
War reparations
The war reparation problem proved to be one of the most difficult arising from post-war conditions. The Soviet Union felt entitled to the maximum amounts possible, with the exception of Bulgaria, which was perceived as being the most sympathetic of the former enemy states. In the cases of Romania and Hungary, the reparation terms as set forth in their armistices were relatively high and were not revised.
War reparations at 1938 prices:
$360,000,000 from Italy
$125,000,000 to Yugoslavia
$105,000,000 to Greece
$100,000,000 to the Soviet Union,
$25,000,000 to Ethiopia,
$5,000,000 to Albania.
$300,000,000 from Finland to the Soviet Union (fully paid)
$300,000,000 from Hungary
$200,000,000 to the Soviet Union
$100,000,000 to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
$300,000,000 from Romania to the Soviet Union
$70,000,000 from Bulgaria
$45,000,000 to Greece
$25,000,000 to Yugoslavia
The collapse of the Soviet Union has not led to any formal revision of the Paris Peace Treaties, although the wars of the former Yugoslavia have caused fundamental territorial change in south-eastern Europe.
Allied Commission
Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allied Powers were in control of the defeated Axis countries, anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Eastern Advisory Commission to make recommendations for the post war period. Accordingly they managed their control of the defeated countries through Allied Commissions, consisting of representatives of the major Allied Powers.
Germany
The Allied Control Council (ACC) for Germany oversaw the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. The ACC was established by agreement of June 5, 1945, supplemented by agreement of September 20 of that same year, with its seat in Berlin. Its members were Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America. Decision could only be made by consensus. Cooperation by the ACC broke down, as the Soviet representative withdrew on March 20, 1948. After that date, the ACC, even though in existence, no longer met, thus paving the way for the partition of Germany into two states.
After the breakdown of the ACC, West Germany (and West Berlin) was ruled by the Allied High Commission with membership from Britain, France, and the United States, while East Germany (and East Berlin) was ruled by the Chairman of the Soviet Control Commission, later the Soviet High Commissioner. The role of the High Commissioners ceased when each German state gained full sovereignty.
The ACC convened again in 1971, leading to agreement on transit arrangements in Berlin. During the talks for unification of Germany in late 1989, it was decided to convene the ACC again as a forum for solving the issue of Allied rights and privileges in Germany. The disbanding of the ACC was officially announced by the Two Plus Four Agreement of September 12, 1990, effective as of March 15, 1991.
Austria
The Allied Commission for Austria was established by the Agreement on control machinery in Austria signed in the European Advisory Commission in London on July 4, 1945. It entered into force on July 24, 1945 on the day that the United States gave notification of approval, the last of the four powers to do so. It was supplemented by agreement of June 28, 1946, with its seat in Vienna. The Commission was dismantled following the conclusion of the Austrian State Treaty on May 15, 1955.