WI: International Zone In Berlin

After world war 2, Vienna was spilt between the allies of world war two. The central district of Vienna was administered by all four allies, on a four month rotation. This meant it would be occupied by the soviets once every four months.

What if an similar district existed in occupied berlin? How would this effect events such as the Berlin airlift and the Berlin wall?

Below is a map which gives a example of were such a zone could be.

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After world war 2, Vienna was spilt between the allies of world war two. The central district of Vienna was administered by all four allies, on a four month rotation. This meant it would be occupied by the soviets once every four months.

What if an similar district existed in occupied berlin? How would this effect events such as the Berlin airlift and the Berlin wall?

Below is a map which gives a example of were such a zone could be.

The soviets just don't leave.
 
After world war 2, Vienna was spilt between the allies of world war two. The central district of Vienna was administered by all four allies, on a four month rotation. This meant it would be occupied by the soviets once every four months.

What if an similar district existed in occupied berlin? How would this effect events such as the Berlin airlift and the Berlin wall?

Below is a map which gives a example of were such a zone could be.

I've thought about it before and I've wondered if the international zone in Vienna was one of the reasons why Austria turned out so differently from Germany during the occupation. Since it technically wasn't possible for the Soviets to completely separate their areas of control from that of the other Allies.

An international zone occupied on a rotational basis would certainly have made a Berlin Wall more difficult unless the Soviets were prepared to still build the wall but have it exclude the international zone and then continue as before with the international zone being occupied by them once every four months (so every four months Soviet soldiers would move beyond the wall into the international zone for a month and then leave).
 
Interestingly enough, this might butterfly the "ghost stations" which were shut down by the Soviets (and reopened post-unification) to prevent easy escapes as the line ran from the western zone through Mitte and back into the western zone.
 
The area marked in the map is of course the Mitte, the old, presigious central part of the city including such sights as the Brandenburg Gate, the Museuminsel and the Alexanderplatz, etc.

I guess with whatever East-West crises, the party that is occupying the Mitte at the time the crisis breaks out would be highly unwilling to give up the zone to the next in line, lest the other side stops respecting the deal after they get in... Especially as it is a location with such iconic sights. It would be an obvious site of protests - for example I could see the USSR drumming up large East German communist demonstrations in the area every time it is their turn to lord over it. And so it would be an obvious flashpoint, some might say more trouble than it is worth.

I think to get a realistic idea how a crisis would affect such an area, you might do a play-by-play of how the different sides would react, for example then the 1948 crisis started, assuming no major changes caused by that time. Taking control of the Mitte would be one of the Soviet forces' first actions in this case, I would imagine, and who's contractual turn it is to hold it would have an effect on how the situation develops.

Looking somewhat further into the future, if the Berlin airlift and following events would not cause the USSR to claim the Mitte all to its own, and if the turn-based system can somehow be kept going into the 60s and the 70s, say, then the existence of the zone would have a lot of bigger and smaller knock-on effects. The Wall of course would have to be built behind it, and this would change public transport and the division of the metro lines, say. It would also change local architecture, for example. IOTL the area become something of a GDR playground, where the Palast of the Republic and the Berlin TV tower were built as examples of East German strength and modernity. ITTL, this would not happen as the area would have no permanent owner. It might be difficult to negotiate over the upkeep of the old buildings and infrastructure, as well as building new things, when the area would not be a part of either German state (presumably). It could lead to either the area starting to fall apart, or then some pretty exotic renewal projects (like a full redesign and rebuild of the Mitte by the neutral Swedes and Finns, working under a UN mandate, in the late 70s).

And there's a lot more in terms of butterflies, I believe. All in all, "The Fourty-Four Occupations - the Unlikely Story of Berlin Mitte, 1945-1989" might have the makings of some pretty quintessentially twisted Cold War black comedy...;)
 
The area marked in the map is of course the Mitte, the old, presigious central part of the city including such sights as the Brandenburg Gate, the Museuminsel and the Alexanderplatz, etc.

I guess with whatever East-West crises, the party that is occupying the Mitte at the time the crisis breaks out would be highly unwilling to give up the zone to the next in line, lest the other side stops respecting the deal after they get in... Especially as it is a location with such iconic sights. It would be an obvious site of protests - for example I could see the USSR drumming up large East German communist demonstrations in the area every time it is their turn to lord over it. And so it would be an obvious flashpoint, some might say more trouble than it is worth.

I think to get a realistic idea how a crisis would affect such an area, you might do a play-by-play of how the different sides would react, for example then the 1948 crisis started, assuming no major changes caused by that time. Taking control of the Mitte would be one of the Soviet forces' first actions in this case, I would imagine, and who's contractual turn it is to hold it would have an effect on how the situation develops.

Looking somewhat further into the future, if the Berlin airlift and following events would not cause the USSR to claim the Mitte all to its own, and if the turn-based system can somehow be kept going into the 60s and the 70s, say, then the existence of the zone would have a lot of bigger and smaller knock-on effects. The Wall of course would have to be built behind it, and this would change public transport and the division of the metro lines, say. It would also change local architecture, for example. IOTL the area become something of a GDR playground, where the Palast of the Republic and the Berlin TV tower were built as examples of East German strength and modernity. ITTL, this would not happen as the area would have no permanent owner. It might be difficult to negotiate over the upkeep of the old buildings and infrastructure, as well as building new things, when the area would not be a part of either German state (presumably). It could lead to either the area starting to fall apart, or then some pretty exotic renewal projects (like a full redesign and rebuild of the Mitte by the neutral Swedes and Finns, working under a UN mandate, in the late 70s).

And there's a lot more in terms of butterflies, I believe. All in all, "The Fourty-Four Occupations - the Unlikely Story of Berlin Mitte, 1945-1989" might have the makings of some pretty quintessentially twisted Cold War black comedy...;)

If building a wall remains essential, then the Soviets probably just wall it off, while also protesting the western presence. This might make Mitte into something of a no-man's land, perhaps ringed off by barbed wire on one side and the wall on the other, patrolled by troops, with almost no civilian presence.
 
If building a wall remains essential, then the Soviets probably just wall it off, while also protesting the western presence. This might make Mitte into something of a no-man's land, perhaps ringed off by barbed wire on one side and the wall on the other, patrolled by troops, with almost no civilian presence.

The Soviets would not want civilians to enter the area from their side, at least when the Western powers have their occupation turns. During Soviet turns, I believe only closely monitored, trusted Communists would be allowed to visit the area from the East. They probably would build a wall on the Eastern side, but would camouflage it so it would look non-threatening. For the USSR and the GDR, this area would be something of a theatre stage to manage during the Soviet turns, to create a "window" into the happy, fulfilling life in the Communist bloc. It could get pretty interesting at times.

The area would of course be a scene of many escape attempts to the West, especially in the early years, and always only on Western occupation turns - apart from the truly bizarre/resourceful escape attempts. It would make the Soviets and East Germans guard the wall along the Mitte with more zeal than other places, and during Western occupations, West Berliners would probably hold a nightly vigil near the eastern border of the zone in expectation of helping newcomers. The Western authorities would tacitly look the other way.

For those people determined to live in the international black hole of this zone, life would certainly be interesting. By terms of contract, they might well be simultaneously stateless and untouchable - neither side would want to treat them poorly, because that might cause them some pretty poor PR in the international press, fomented by the other side.

Of course visiting the Mitte would be one of the essential things to do for a Western visitor to Berlin, seeking local curiosities, during the Cold War. It would feature in many films, especially ones to do with espionage.
 
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I was inspired by a thread started around 8 years ago to start this and I thought this comment might be worth posting.

That arrangement would be seruious fun, if you are into the high weirdness of international diplomacy. Not at all impossible, the Cold War produced all manner of anomalies (did you know there was a British military legation that had the right to drive vehicles anywhere it wanted in East Germany? Spy fun, and good work for hundreds of Stasi agents following them around day and night)

So, the government would be subject to approval by all four Allies? Presumably, it would simply be given a very strictly circumscribed area of operations and left to elect its own 'administrative council' or such. The law would most likely be a version of the German code from before 1933, with the requisite changes to reflect the new times. It's not like it will have very many people living there, given the amount of control and patrolling going on along its borders. But the entire economy could well be based on providing services and accommodation for the various agencies and shell companies. After all, who's paying taxes?

Currency should be interesting. You couldn't use the West 'Spaltermark' or the East 'Tapetengeld', so this enclave is most likely continuuing to use the Reichsmark. Sucks, but then, they should have ample opportunity to earn dollars (I would assume the informal economy to run on dollars, with a dollop of Sterling and Deutschmarks). And aside from the many opportunities for trade and tax shenanigans, nobody will have the time to enforce the kind of social conformity that were the bread and butter of 1950s and 1960s Germany. Living there could have great attractions for artists, intellectuals and hippies.

Presumably, public security and law enforcement would be in the hands of the Allies, and since they don't trust each other, can you imagine the usual patrol car? Russian driver, British or US co-driver, respective interpreters in the back seat...

And rents will be sky-high. I can just see the ads: For rent: second-floor 2-bedroom apartment with spacious kitchen and shower bath, east-facing balcony with room for three telescopes or directional microphones, across the street from the Soviet military police post #2 and USSR Export Trade Agency office. Quiet neighbourhood, brick walls, concierge service (speaks English and Russian). $ 450/month cold. Enquire about our preferential rates for intelligence services.

Carlton_bach partly misunderstood it, but many of his points are quite good. Thought I might bring them up for discussion. The Soviets might settle a loyal population there, making excuses to remove the existing population, and then have them demonstrate against 'capitalist oppression'. As for construction, the Soviets might build a something, E.g a 50 foot statue of Lenin in the area, either forcing the Allies to leave it up or knock it down. Both could be turned into propaganda coups with enough distortion of the truth.
 
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