Troops from the anti-Hitler coalition of nations were stationed in Germany for nearly 50 years. This period began on May 8, 1945, with the unconditional surrender of the German Reich. With it also came the end of World War II, a war started by the National Socialists that, after six years, had claimed the lives of at least 60 million people.

Germany would be divided into four occupation zones by the victorious powers: the US, Great Britain and France took over large parts of the West, while the Soviet Union had the East.

What took place on a larger scale across the country was also seen on a small scale in Berlin, the one-time capital city of the German Empire. Both Berlin and Germany were divided into four sectors by the Allies, but the agreement was not without tensions between the victorious powers, even at this early stage.

Out of a military alliance of shared aims emerged two hostile camps, and these tensions were felt most acutely in Berlin. June 1948 saw the beginning of the Soviet blockade of the Western sectors. Their aim was to secure their control........

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