Count the responsible occupation powers.
The four victorious powers assumed governmental authority after Germany’s surrender. A military governor was responsible for each zone. Matters concerning Germany as a whole were to be addressed jointly in the Allied Control Council.
An occupation zone was not a present-day federal state, nor automatically a separate German country. It initially described an area under an Allied power’s control. The Federal Republic and the GDR were not founded until 1949.
The other three answers
The number refers to the four zones, not conference participants or later states.
3
Three is too few: France had its own occupation zone alongside the USA, Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
5
Five would be one zone too many. Berlin was separately administered in sectors; it was not an additional fifth occupation zone in this count.
6
Six does not match the four-power division. The original number follows the four responsible occupation powers.
Four zones and two later states are different divisions.
The later political separation into the Federal Republic and GDR does not replace the correct answer for the immediate post-war period. The question does not jump straight to the two states of 1949.
Berlin’s special position is important. All four powers were represented there too. The city must therefore be considered separately, rather than simply equated with the surrounding Soviet zone.
Allied occupation · House of History ↗USA + Great Britain + France + Soviet Union = 4.
Learn the names together with the number. This lets you work out the answer rather than memorise an isolated digit.
Three words for this question
- die Besatzungszoneoccupation zone
- An area under the control of an occupying power.
- der Militärgouverneurmilitary governor
- A military official responsible for administering an occupied area.
- der Sektorsector
- Here: one of Berlin’s four separately administered parts.