Evening star., 1948-04-02
Showdown Over Berlin

M0ScoWS imposition OF drastic reStr1c-
tions on land communications between the
western allied sectors of Berlin and their
zones Of occupation in Germany Is another
Potsdam chicken come home to roost.
It is result of failure Of the Western
Allies to insure control over those COM
munication lines when Berlin was placed
under Four-Power administration by the
Potsdam Agreement made by the victors
after their complete conquest OF Hitler's
Reich in the spring Of 1915.
This oversight while highly unfortunate,
is understandable. In the hour Of victory,
few among the western leaders realized
the depth Of Soviet duplicity. The Potsdam
Agreement presupposed basic determine
ton to treat Germany as whole, pending
a peace settlement which would determine
its future status.
Such treatment logically required an
overall Allied authority to coordinate and
implement the actions and policies Of the
four occupying powers in their respective
zones of authority. Equally logical was
the choice Of Berlin, the capital and
metropolis of the defunct Reich, as the
seat OF this overall authority, despite the
fact that it was geographically an isolated
enclave deep within the Soviet zone. Fur
thermore, in order to give proper status
and dignity to the respective participants,
1t was thought necessary to split the city
into sectors, thereby reproducing In minia-
ture the division of the Reich as whole.
Any other arrangement would have
rendered the representatives Of the west
ern powers mere guests OF the local
paramount Soviet authorities.
After having Systematically sabotaged
the Potsdam Agreement and thereby COM
PEELED the western powers to take common
action in their zones of occupation, Moscow
now accuses them of having destroyed
the agreement which it had itself first
violated. The intent is to squeeze them out
of Berlin by throttling their commune
cations. Moscow is able to do this be-
cause the Western Allies shortsightedly
failed to obtain extraterritoriality for the
one rail line and highroad into their
sectors of Berlin.
Such highhanded action is, of course,
in fragrant violation of the interallied
agreement But there is no way of ousting
the Russians from their technical posses
sion save by force. Since the western
powers refuse to submit to the new re-
strictions decreed by the Russians, their
communications with Berlin are restricted
to the air. This is at best an expedient
and one which does nothing to remove
the affront already given-and which, for
want OF an alternative, we have taken.
It should be noted that the Russians
have not yet imposed an open land
blockade. And this is the sole hopeful
factor in an otherwise grim situation.
But the course of the Western Allies
would seem to be clear. 1t is, to stand
firm and refuse to be bluffed or squeezed
out of Berlin, no matter how harassing
Russian tactics. To abandon Berlin under
Russian pressure would be psychological
disaster to us throughout Europe which
might we'll tip the scales for communism
in the coming Italian elections, to name
only one crucial sector on the diplomatic
front. Certainly, yielding on Berlin
would invite similar Russian squeeze
play in Vienna, where the setup is parallel
and even less tenable for us.
Berlin and Vienna thus stand forth as
key points in the defense of Western
Europe from Soviet aggression. If this
be true, they must be held, no matter
what the immediate consequences.