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The Allied powers that defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–1949. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, American forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the future zones of occupation, in some places by as much as 200 miles. The line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities was temporary. After two months in which they had held areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone, American forces withdrew in the first days of July 1945. Some have concluded that this was a crucial move that persuaded the Soviet Union to allow American, British, and French forces into their predesignated zones in Berlin, which occurred at roughly the same time (July 1945), although the need for intelligence gathering may also have been a factor. On 16 February 1946 France disentangled the Saar area from the Allied Zones of Occupation and established the separate Saar Protectorate, which was no longer under the joint allied jurisdiction by the Allied Control Council for Germany. The principal reason for the French wanting economic control of the Saar was it's large coal deposits.
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