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...