Was Berlin in 1945 symbolic as the capital of defeated Nazi Germany or truly strategic given the post-World War II era?
Berlin in 1945 was a city in ruins. Most buildings were reduced to rubble and there was no food, water, electricity, gas or functioning government. However, the city was seen as the greatest prize of all, especially by the Soviet regime. Stalin was determined that the Red Army would invade the city before the Americans and British, aware of the propaganda value of the capture of Hitler’s capital by his own army. The iconic photo, the Red Flag over the Reichstag, was no coincidence. It was deliberately staged to show the world that the Soviets, and they alone, had captured Hitler’s capital.
How divided was the city in terms of daily life during the occupation by the four Allies: the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain and France? Was it possible to live in one sector and work in another? After all, the famous Wall was only built in 1961.
In the early days of the occupation, until early 1946, it was possible to move freely between the different sectors. Identity documents were checked and there were checkpoints, but life was not very restricted. This all changed in 1946, when tensions between the Soviets and their Western “partners” increased dramatically. It became increasingly difficult to move between the eastern and western sectors. There were frequent arrests and – for scientists and doctors – a real risk of being kidnapped and taken to the Soviet Union.
Was control of all of Berlin a way for Stalin to test the resolve of Western allies?
Yes, Stalin did not believe it was possible for the western sectors of Berlin to be supplied by air. He witnessed the failure of the German attempt at Stalingrad during World War II. The Soviet leader was convinced that if he closed the road and rail lines to the western sectors, the Americans, British and French would have no choice but to capitulate.
How decisive was the attitude of West Germany and the Germans in West Berlin during the crisis?
The key figure in West Berlin at the time was the elected mayor Ernst Reuter. A master speechmaker who knew he was speaking on the world stage, he publicly implored the Western powers to do everything in their power to save West Berlin from the Soviets. His morale-boosting speeches helped residents weather extremely difficult conditions during the lockdown.
The Soviet Union did not go nuclear until 1949. If the West was in danger of losing its grip on the Soviets, was the American nuclear option on the table?
It is true that the Americans had a monopoly on nuclear energy at the time, but I cannot imagine them using a nuclear bomb against the Soviet Union during this period. They preferred to overcome the Berlin blockade by organizing the largest airlift in history, which would prove their technological and logistical superiority to the world.
Was 1948, because of the Berlin blockade, the real beginning of the Cold War?
1948 was certainly the year the Cold War flared up! But I prefer to date the beginning of the Cold War in the spring of 1946. That was when Churchill gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech, and it was also then that a Soviet diplomat in Canada, Igor Gouzenko, defected to the West and confessed that the Soviets were spying on the American nuclear program. This marked the end of the wartime alliance.
THE AUTHOR
Gilles Halton is now publishing Checkmate in Berlin – The Cold War confrontation that shaped the modern worldbut Vogais has already translated another of his books into Portuguese: Churchill’s Dirty War – The incredible story of the clandestine operations of World War II.
Source: DN
