s led Germans to believe that electricity in the Western sectors was to be limited because of technical difficulties. The same excuse was given to passengers and freight traveling on the Berlin-Helmstedt railroad (Walton 55).Western authorities in the three sectors began storing food, and to prevent panic, they announced that there was enough food for 30 days as well as powdered milk for children. West Berlin was still fearful that the troops would have to leave because of lack of supplies.The Allies were significantly outnumbered having only 6,500 troops in Berlin compared to the 18,000 Soviet troops in Berlin, and the 300,000 Soviet troops in the east zone of Germany (McCollough 647). The West was left with three choices, to pull out of Berlin at the right time to avoid war, to defend the Western position at all costs, or to stay in Berlin for the time begin without an ultimate decision. The possibility of war lay within the Wests determination to defeat the Soviet Union (Walton 56).American General Lucius Clay was convinced that the Soviets were being too careful with its actions to have war in mind. He suggested that the United States break through the blockade by sending an armed caravan across Germany and into West Berlin, or close United States ports and the Panama Canal to Soviet ships. Truman did not approve either of these options. He believed it would be too much of a challenge for the Soviet army. Instead, Truman announced that the West would stay in Berlin without any further discussion. Other White House staff members were never consulted on the decision (McCollough 630).At the time, Trumans decision to stay in Berlin was disagreed with by many Americans. Newspaper headlines stated that the West was ready to pull out. Many people did not see the point of going to war (or almost war) on behalf of a country that had brought destruction to all of Europe and caused millions of deaths. Despite this, Truman stood fir...
