Harassed Berlin

Report Outline
Increasing Soviet Pessures on West Berlin
Status of Occupying Forces in Berlin
Unique Position of Free Berlin

Increasing Soviet Pessures on West Berlin

Berlin, former capital of the Kaiser's Empire, the Weimar Republic, and Hitler's Third Reich, has been and remains the focal center in Europe of the postwar struggle between East and West. Vitally affected by the embittered relations between the victors in World War II and the ever-widening gap between the two parts of occupied Germany, the city holds a unique front-line position in the cold war. For the last ten months Berlin has suffered steadily increasing Soviet harassment, which makes life difficult for all Eerliners and is further isolating the section of the city still functioning under free institutions.

Whether the death of Stalin will lead to relaxation of the tension in Berlin is a matter of conjecture. Any appreciable easing of the East-West conflict, while the new leadership in Moscow consolidates its power, might bring the city a welcome period of relief from present strains. On the other hand, any new shooting war in Europe, precipitated by some reckless action of Stalin's successors in the Kremlin, would have Berlin as its first victim.

Mounting East-West Tension in Berlin

For almost eight years, Berlin has stood as a multinational “island” some 110 miles inside Soviet-controlled East Germany. It has maintained links with West Germany and with surrounding areas of East Germany, but the Russians have been in position to cut those links at any time. Since the breakdown of joint occupational control of Berlin in 1948, the “opposing but physically-joined halves” of the city have been ruled by two rival municipal governments.