2).To the Russians, this was the final straw. The Soviet Union was irate because first they had not agreed to any such plan, and second, this was against Potsdam, which stated that Germany would be treated as a single economic unit. This introduction of a new western Deutschmark would split Germany economically.The Soviet Union protested the change of currency because it would drive valueless coins into their territory, so in turn the Soviet government developed a new currency. Stalin was unwilling to allow Germany to join the West (Walton 55). All of these disagreements made it obvious to the Soviets that the Allies wanted to end the cooperative control of Germany and create a separate German state. The Soviets wanted to avoid this because they felt an independent West Germany would eventually re-arm and then pose a threat to the USSR's Eastern Empire. Stalin decided to push the West by installing a blockade in order to show that the Soviets did not plan on giving up, and also to try and force new discussions on the German problem in hopes of stopping the formation of West Germany. The Soviet Union then made a drastic decision. On June 24, 1948 West Berlin was blockaded.Access to the city consisted of a single motorway, a railway, a few canals and an air corridor (Pimlott 12). While arranging the joint occupation no one thought to bother with such details like who had the right to use access routes. The occupying authority in Germany was called the Kommandatura. It was made up of the United States, Britain, and France (once the Soviets withdrew of course) and initiated policies of recovery and aid. The West was then told by the Soviet Union that the roadway was closed. The goal of the blockade was to force the Allies out of Berlin. Any food that entered Berlin was to be distributed only in the Soviet sector (Walton 55).Being that there was no formal announcement, the blockade came as a surprise to the West. Soviet newspaper...
