West Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG, and also called the Bonn Republic, was a nation that existed from 1949 to 1990. It was created from the American, British, and French occupied sections of Germany after its defeat at the end of World War II, largely in opposition to the Soviet-backed German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, a communist state. With the USSR exerting heavy influence in East Germany, the West German government established ties to NATO very early in the Cold War. During the reunification of Germany in 1990, East Germany effectively ceased to exist, while Federal Republic of Germany absorbed the territory of East Germany and gained sixteen states, becoming the only "Germany".