On June 18, 1948, Soviet troops temporarily blocked rail and road traffic into the Western zones of Berlin. It was in retaliation for an announcement made by the Western powers earlier in the day that they would soon introduce a new deutsche mark in their German occupation zones, a move the Soviets had been fiercely opposing for months. Three days later, and despite both protests and threats from Soviet-controlled eastern Germany, the Western powers introduced the new currency anyway. On June 24, the Soviets struck back, severing all road and rail connections into western Berlin until further
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