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    "localId": "205714607",
    "label": "Memorandum, The Berlin Situation",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum, The Berlin Situation",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/205714607",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
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    "subjects": [
        "Berlin Blockade, 1948-1949"
    ],
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            "logicalDate": "1948-01-01",
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    "ocrText": "THE BERLIN SITUATION\nThe discussions in Moscow have reached the crucial\nphase. The fundamental issue from which all the\ndifficulties encountered stem ie the Soviet insistence\nthat the four-power control over Germany has lapsed\nand with it all rights of the occupying powers in\nBerlin. The specific points which have deadlocked the\ndiscussions, such as the four-power administration\nover the Berlin currency, stem from this basic issue\nconcerning the rights of the Western Powers in Berlin.\nThis point is so fundamental that it would probably\nrequire a further visit to Stalin before the discussions\nend.\nAmbassador Smith and the French and British\nrepresentatives are probably seeing Molotov today and\nif, as we anticipate, Molotov repeate the Soviet\nassertion that we no longer have any rights in Berlin,\nthey will request an interview with Stalin.\nWhile the discussions have not yet broken down,\nif the Soviets maintain their position that we have\nno rights in Berlin and are there only on Soviet\nsufferance and on the basis of such favors as the\nSoviet Government may choose to accord us, there will\nbe a complete deadlock in the discussions.\nWe feel the Soviet position is unacceptables\n(1) on the grounds that no one nation, party to\na multilateral agreement, can unilaterally\nby mere assertion of alleged violations by\nSTRENK\nthe other parties declare null and void such\nmultilateral agreements;\nARCHIVES\nSERVICE\n(2) to pass over in silence this issue would be,\nin effect, to trade our rights in Berlin\nfor the lifting or the blockade, which would\nrender our position in Berlin much more\ndifficult in the future and would unquestion-\nably be exploited all over the world by\nSoviet propaganda as a great diplomatic\nvictory (In this connection, you might care\nto mention that we have several reports from\nEurope that the Russians are informing their\nfollowers that a major Soviet diplomatic\nvictory on Berlin is in prospect. This has"
}