On 20 March 1948, in London, Vassili Sokolovsky, Soviet Marshal, announces the breakdown in relations between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies on the issue of Germany and confirms his refusal to attend future meetings of the Allied Control Council.

On 2 April 1948, the British daily newspaper Daily Mail condemns the decision of the Soviet Union to bring to an end its participation in meetings of the Allied Control Council and expresses concern over the risks of confrontation between the Western Allies and Moscow in the event of the Soviets’ blocking the means of access to Berlin.

„Stecknadel-Duell.“ Angesichts der sich verschlechternden internationalen Lage in Berlin illustriert der britische Karikaturist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth die wachsenden Spannungen zwischen dem Westen und dem Ostblock und unterstreicht die Risiken eines ernsten Konflikts zwischen den beiden Supermächten USA und Sowjetunion. Links: der amerikanische Präsident Harry Truman, rechts: Josef Stalin.

Diese Karte zeigt die Sektoren Berlins, die ab dem 24. Juni 1948 von der Sowjetunion blockiert wurden, sowie die Korridore der Luftbrücke der alliierten Streitkräfte, die bis zum 12. Mai 1949 dauerte.

The Berlin Blockade, imposed by the Soviet Union on 24 June 1948, causes a food shortage, forcing Berliners to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

Wenige Tage nach dem Beginn der Berliner Blockade am 24. Juni 1948 analysiert die französische Tageszeitung Le Monde die möglichen Auswirkungen der Blockade auf den Verlauf der Gespräche zwischen der Sowjetunion, den Vereinigten Staaten und dem Vereinten Königreich über die Besatzung der Stadt durch die vier Siegermächte.

On 1 and 12 July 1948, Albert Wehrer, Head of the Luxembourg mission to the Allied Control Council in Berlin, sends several letters to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he describes the state of tension in Berlin after the access routes to the former German capital were blocked by the Soviets.

Two weeks after the start of the Berlin Blockade by the Soviet Union on 24 June 1948, the United States sends a note to the Soviet Government expressing its resolve not to abandon the people of Berlin in the face of Soviet pressure.

On 14 July 1948, in a letter addressed to the US and British Governments, the Soviet authorities accuse the Western Allies of having breached the four-power agreements on the control of Berlin.

On 30 July 1948, in a memorandum addressed to the Soviet authorities in Berlin, the British, French and US representatives reject the reasons put forward by Moscow for closing the access routes to Berlin.

‘Over the lime (Linden) trees’. In July 1948 the German satirical magazine Der Tintenfisch portrays the hegemonic policy of the Soviet Union in Berlin and Moscow’s overt desire to see the Western Allies leave the former German capital.

On 3 August 1948, the British, French and US Governments deliver to Joseph Stalin a note in which they call on the Soviet Union to put an end to the military blockade of Berlin.

On 1 July 1948, the Italian newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera explains how the Berlin Blockade fits into the scheme of the Cold War and considers the fate of Germany.

„Die Zerreißprobe.“ Am 1. Juli 1948, nach Beginn der Berlin-Blockade durch die Sowjets, illustriert der Karikaturist Mirko Szewczuk „die Zerreißprobe“ zwischen der Sowjetunion und den westlichen Alliierten (Vereinigte Staaten, Vereinigtes Königreich, Frankreich) über den Status der Stadt.

‘Note after note — Fear not! We shall feed him so many strongly worded notes that he will no longer have any appetite for you …’ On 17 July 1948, some weeks after the start of the Berlin Blockade, the German cartoonist Lang comments ironically on the Western Allies’ response to the real threat posed by the Soviet Union to the city of Berlin.

In July 1948, British cartoonist Ernest Howard Shepard emphasises the Western Allies’ determination to present a united front against the decision taken by the Soviet Allies to block access to the Western zones of Berlin.

On 20 September 1948, Alexandre Parodi, permanent French delegate to the United Nations Security Council, expresses to Trygve Lie, first Secretary-General of the UN, France’s wish that the Security Council will intervene on the issue of the Berlin Blockade.

In October 1948, Joseph Stalin gives an interview to the Soviet Communist daily newspaper Pravda in which he outlines his position on the Berlin Blockade and deplores the aggressive policy of the Western bloc towards the USSR.

On 5 October 1948, in response to questions from East German journalists, Marshal Vasily Sokolovsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany, outlines the causes of the Berlin Crisis.

On 27 October 1948, André François-Poncet, former French Ambassador to Germany, condemns in the French Conservative daily newspaper Le Figaro the Soviet policy on Berlin and calls for an end to the Blockade.

Das deutsche Nachrichtenmagazin Der Spiegel untersucht die diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und der Sowjetunion während der Berliner Blockade im Jahre 1949.

In 1948, Vincent Auriol, the first President of the Fourth French Republic, expresses his concern about the consequences of the Berlin Blockade. In favour of an agreement with the Soviet Union in order to defuse the situation, he refuses to lend his support to the American policy.