Place and Time

    Since its rise as a state, Germany had always been the key to controlling the European continent.  At the conclusion of Word War II in 1945, the Soviets maintained control of the eastern part of Germany that they had defeated and the Western Allies (US, UK, France) controlled the western part (see maps below).

    The spirit of cooperation between the Allies following the end of World War II quickly faded as it became clear they had different plans for German reconstruction.  The Soviets ruled their sector with an iron fist.  It is estimated forced relocations in eastern Germany cost 2.2 million lives.1  In western Germany, General Clay, the head US Administrator, successfully argued that Germany should be included in the Marshal Plan and millions of dollars became available to get the local economy up and running.  Berlin was in the Soviet sector and the entire city relied on Soviet control for most government services.  Still, the citizens of Berlin in the Western controlled areas quickly started to see their standard of living rise as the allies rebuilt their economy. 

    On June 23, 1948, following the proclamation of currency reform in the Western zones, the Soviets charged the agreements were invalid and declared the new currency illegal in the Soviet Zone including Berlin.  They then suspended all highway, rail and barge traffic to and from Berlin.  The Berlin Blockade had commenced.

1. Douglas Botting, From the Ruins of the Reich, (New York, Crown Publishers Inc., 1985), pp. 179-92 from data originally published in Documentation on the Expulsions of the German Population from East Central Europe (Bonn, West Germany, Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims).