Berlin question

Four sectors of the occupation of Berlin in accordance with the decisions of the Yalta Conference

Actually recognized status quo with the construction of the Berlin Wall: West Germany (in blue), East Germany and East Berlin (in red) and de jure West Berlin (in yellow) not belonging to West Germany

Berlin Crisis of 1961 : Opposing Soviet and American Tanks at Checkpoint Charlie October 27, 1961

The “ Berlin Question” is the name that was given in politics to the problem of the status of occupied and divided into four occupation sectors of Berlin from 1945 to 1990 . It is considered as part of the "German question" , relevant in the same historical era.

The “Berlin Question” has five levels:

• domestic political - from the point of view of both German states (the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic ), striving for the comprehensive integration of Berlin, or at least part of the city;
• foreign policy - from the point of view of the victorious powers in World War II ( Great Britain , the USA , the USSR , France ), who wanted to maintain their influence on Berlin;
• geostrategic - arising from the "island" location of Berlin inside the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany ;
• state and international law - covering the legal status of Berlin and its legal relations with both German states;
• humanitarian - related to human suffering caused to the population in connection with the division of the city.

The most important events in connection with the "Berlin question":

• The Yalta Conference of 1945 , at which the victorious powers partitioned Germany into four occupation zones, and Berlin into four occupation sectors;
• the introduction of the German mark on the territory of the occupation zones of the Western powers and simultaneously in the western sectors of Berlin, which led to the economic division of Germany;
• retaliatory blockade of Berlin in 1948-1949 , blocking the supply of the western sectors of the city, which led to the creation of the Berlin air bridge ;
• Berlin crises of the late 1950s , associated with the ultimatum presented by the USSR, demanding the withdrawal of troops of the Western allies from the territory of West Berlin ;
• the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, which led to the physical division of the city;
• the subsequent detente and conclusion of the 1971 West Berlin Quadripartite Agreement , governing the status of Berlin;
• gradual reconciliation of all parties involved with the situation during the 1970s and 1980s and
• the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the final solution of the Berlin question during the 1990 German reunification .