The Factious Fifties

Abstract

Germany one and indivisible was the goal of the Allies at Potsdam. Both the Soviets and the Western Allies hoped and expected the whole of the former Reich eventually to fall within their zone of influence. Berlin, under four-power control, was a microcosm which revealed the glaring weaknesses of the arrangements agreed upon. The administration of Berlin was different from the rest of Germany. All the troops of the occupying powers were to move freely in Berlin, although each power was specifically responsible for a sector of the city. This was not so outside Berlin, where zones were strictly delineated. British soldiers, for instance, had no automatic right of entry to the Soviet zone and vice versa. Berlin was the acid test and it fell victim to the rapidly worsening relations between the Great Powers. The introduction of different currencies for East and West Berlin on 23/24 June 1948; the blockading of West Berlin from 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949; the walkout by the Soviet representative on the Allied Kommandatura on 20 March 1948; the expulsion of the Berlin city council, meeting in East Berlin, by an SED-inspired demonstration on 6 September 1948; and the formation of a separate council and administration for East and for West Berlin — these were the key turning points. The currency reform may be seen as the first step on the road to a divided Germany.