ol Council for Germany on March 20, 1948 the Soviet delegation demanded to know the results of the London Conference. The Soviets felt their request justified as they knew that the conference had dealt with issues concerning the whole of Germany, although they were unaware of the specifics; nevertheless, the Potsdam agreement stated that such issues had to be dealt with by all four nations occupying Germany. The Western Allies refused to disclose what occurred, which the Russians saw as a clear breach of four-power control as agreed to at Potsdam. In protest the Soviet delegation walked out, never to return, marking the end of the cooperation of the four-power control of Germany (Marshal 37).The West had previously announced in a March 6 London conference, that the West German economy would become integrated with Western Europe, therefore combining the three sectors. The Allies wanted Germany to be united so its economy might have a chance of recovering. A new form of currency was to be introduced (Heater 16).The Soviet Union was becoming increasingly more and more worried about the influence of the West in Germany. It was convinced that Germanys neutrality was vastly important to the security of Russia. In response to the talks on March 6, the Soviets temporarily restricted the movement of Western military supplies into Berlin.The Soviets began to tighten their grip on Berlin by announcing that all persons, civilian or military, would have to present identification upon entering the Soviet zone. The Allies felt that the Russians had no right to make such a request of military personal so a small airlift of supplies to military installations was started by the United States.The West told West Germany in early June, to begin the constitutional process to establish the Federal Republic of Germany. Within two weeks, the new currency, called the Deutschmark, was being issued into the three western zones, excluding West Berlin (Pimlott 1...
