rench forces coordinated with the US Seventh Army for the employment of US VI Corps heavy artillery to barrage the city. The French 5th Armored Division then captured Stuttgart on 21 April 1945, encountering little resistance. The French army occupied Stuttgart until the city was transferred to the American military occupation zone in 1946.
An early concept of the Marshall Plan aimed at supporting reconstruction and economic/political recovery across Europe was presented during a speech given by US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes at the Stuttgart Opera House. His speech led directly to the unification of the British and American occupation zones, resulting in the 'bi-zone' (later the 'tri-zone' including the French). When the Federal Republic of Germany was founded on 23 May 1949, Stuttgart, like Frankfurt, was a serious contender to become the federal capital, but finally Bonn succeeded.
Parts of the former German States of Baden and W�rttemberg were merged in 1952 leading to the founding of the new state of Baden-W�rttemberg, now Germany's third largest state.
In the late 1970s, the district of Stammheim was centre stage to one of the most controversial periods of German post-war history during the trial of Red Army Faction members at Stammheim high-security court. After the trial, Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe committed suicide in Stammheim. Several attempts were made to free the terrorists by force or blackmail during the 'German Autumn' of 1977, culminating in the abduction and murder of the German industrialist and President of the German Employers' Association Hanns Martin Schleyer as well as the hijacking of Lufthansa flight LH181.
In 1978 Stuttgart's suburban railway came into operation.
Since shortly after the end of World War II there has been a US military presence in Stuttgart that remains to this day. At the height of the Cold War over 45,000 Americans were stationed across over
