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.

On 5 April 1948, in the light of the deterioration of the international situation in Berlin, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth emphasises the growing opposition between the Western and Eastern blocs and evokes the risks of a major conflict between the two great superpowers that are the United States and the Soviet Union. From left to right, US President Harry Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Map showing the sectors of Berlin cut off by the Soviet Union from 24 June 1948 onwards and the routes taken by the Western airlift until 12 May 1949.

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.

A few days after the start of the Berlin Blockade on 24 June 1948, the French newspaper Le Monde analyses the possible consequences of the blockade on the continuing talks between the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom on the quadripartite occupation of the city.

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.

‘Trial of strength.' On 1 July 1948, after the imposition of the Berlin Blockade by the Soviets, cartoonist Mirko Szewczuk illustrates the ‘trial of strength' between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) over the city's status.

‘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.

On 30 April 1949, the West German news magazine Der Spiegel analyses US–USSR diplomatic relations at the time of the Berlin Blockade, from May 1948 to June 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.