Showdown

In Berlin last week the U.S. forced an issue, and the long-awaited showdown over Germany tensely took shape.

For months the Allied Control Council had bumbled along in wordy futility, while the cleavage widened between the U.S., Britain and France on one side and the Soviet Union on the other. Intended as a policy and lawmaking body for the four-power occupation of Germany, the council had degenerated into little more than a launching site for propaganda rockets. Making more propaganda, Russia's Marshal Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky took a pre-arranged walkout (TIME, March 29).

Last week his aim was mirrored by the Soviet-controlled German press in screaming headlines: "Western Powers Destroy Control Council." By blaming the West for the council's paralysis, the Soviets hoped to gain support among Germans who see it as the symbol of eventual German unity.

For once the Western powers reacted with speed and vigor. U.S. General Lucius Clay stated that there would be no further four-power meetings on any level until the Russians returned to the council.

Washington quickly strengthened Clay's hand with two moves: 1) it announced that plans to transfer U.S. control in Germany from the Army to the State Department had been canceled, thus leaving Clay in command; 2) Secretary of State George Marshall served notice that "the U.S. intends to continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a member of the Control Council and as a joint occupant of the city of Berlin." The second statement was a flat warning to Moscow that the only way Americans could be got out of Berlin in the foreseeable future would be for the Russians to throw them out--bodily.

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