Why was West Berlin in East Germany?

[ronki23]

I thought the capital of West Germany was Bonn so why was Berlin split into two if it was surrounded by East Germany? Was the infamous Berlin Wall surrounding the whole of West Berlin to stop population exchanges?

 

[ronki23]

 

[Jumi]

It was split in four originally by those allies that reached Berlin occupied a part each, but the French, British and American Berlins were combined into West Berlin. Soviets tried to starve the isolated West Berlin, but there was an air bridge bringing supplies. The Soviets also built a wall so that people from their puppet state couldn't escape to a better life in the west. It was quite a big deal when the Berlin wall fell...

 

[ronki23]

It was split in four originally by those allies that reached Berlin occupied a part each, but the French, British and American Berlins were combined into West Berlin. Soviets tried to starve the isolated West Berlin, but there was an air bridge bringing supplies. The Soviets also built a wall so that people from their puppet state couldn't escape to a better life in the west. It was quite a big deal when the Berlin wall fell...

But why did the allies only occupy parts of Berlin and let the rest of that part of Germany be surrounded by Soviet land? What I'm trying to say is that I don't understand why there is a huge chunk of Soviet land and then a tiny part of the German map (Berlin) occupied by allies. Why didn't they give it all to the Soviets?

 

[Jumi]

But why did the allies only occupy parts of Berlin and let the rest of that part of Germany be surrounded by Soviet land? What I'm trying to say is that I don't understand why there is a huge chunk of Soviet land and then a tiny part of the German map (Berlin) occupied by allies. Why didn't they give it all to the Soviets?

Why would they give it to the Soviets? Having it was wonderful for them.

 

[columbus]

But why did the allies only occupy parts of Berlin and let the rest of that part of Germany be surrounded by Soviet land? What I'm trying to say is that I don't understand why there is a huge chunk of Soviet land and then a tiny part of the German map (Berlin) occupied by allies. Why didn't they give it all to the Soviets?

Because the "winners" of WWII were Euro-Christian Colonialists, unaccustomed to taking into consideration the people that they "possessed".
Drawing borders that ignored the people on the ground was a long established cultural norm. To The Victors Go The Spoils, as it were.

Same thing happened in The Holy Land and East Asia.
Tom

 

[Subduction Zone]

But why did the allies only occupy parts of Berlin and let the rest of that part of Germany be surrounded by Soviet land? What I'm trying to say is that I don't understand why there is a huge chunk of Soviet land and then a tiny part of the German map (Berlin) occupied by allies. Why didn't they give it all to the Soviets?

Germany as a land was divided up between the allies. Berlin was its old capital city so that too was divided. The USSR got the land surrounding Berlin but they did not get all of that city.

 

[Skwim]

"In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, United States forces had pushed beyond the agreed boundaries for the future zones of occupation, in some places by as much as 320 km (200 miles). The so-called line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities, mostly lying eastward of the July 1945-established inner German border, was temporary. After two months in which they had held areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone, U.S. forces withdrew in the first days of July 1945. Some have concluded that this was a crucial move that persuaded the Soviet Union to allow American, British and French forces into their designated sectors in Berlin, which occurred at roughly the same time (July 1945), although the need for intelligence gathering (see Operation Paperclip) may also have been a factor."
Source:Wikipedia
​

So after the war Germany was divided up as such:

.
.​

 

[ronki23]

"In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, United States forces had pushed beyond the agreed boundaries for the future zones of occupation, in some places by as much as 320 km (200 miles). The so-called line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities, mostly lying eastward of the July 1945-established inner German border, was temporary. After two months in which they had held areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone, U.S. forces withdrew in the first days of July 1945. Some have concluded that this was a crucial move that persuaded the Soviet Union to allow American, British and French forces into their designated sectors in Berlin, which occurred at roughly the same time (July 1945), although the need for intelligence gathering (see Operation Paperclip) may also have been a factor."
Source:Wikipedia
​

So after the war Germany was divided up as such:

View attachment 26670

.
.​

It was split in four originally by those allies that reached Berlin occupied a part each, but the French, British and American Berlins were combined into West Berlin. Soviets tried to starve the isolated West Berlin, but there was an air bridge bringing supplies. The Soviets also built a wall so that people from their puppet state couldn't escape to a better life in the west. It was quite a big deal when the Berlin wall fell...

Because the "winners" of WWII were Euro-Christian Colonialists, unaccustomed to taking into consideration the people that they "possessed".
Drawing borders that ignored the people on the ground was a long established cultural norm. To The Victors Go The Spoils, as it were.

Same thing happened in The Holy Land and East Asia.
Tom

Germany as a land was divided up between the allies. Berlin was its old capital city so that too was divided. The USSR got the land surrounding Berlin but they did not get all of that city.

What I don't quite understand is why (or more importantly how) the allies got half of Berlin but let it be surrounded by Soviet occupied land?

 

[columbus]

What I don't quite understand is why (or more importantly how) the allies got half of Berlin but let it be surrounded by Soviet occupied land?

Because, having divided up Germany into semi-colonial divisions the capital could only be in one of them. But the Soviets weren't exactly our allies, after the Nazis were defeated. They remained godless Communists, and holding a chunk of Berlin remained important.
Tom

 

[Shad]

Because the "winners" of WWII were Euro-Christian Colonialists, unaccustomed to taking into consideration the people that they "possessed".
Drawing borders that ignored the people on the ground was a long established cultural norm. To The Victors Go The Spoils, as it were.

Same thing happened in The Holy Land and East Asia.
Tom

Selective history or did you ignore the part where the so-called Egalitarian Communists had no issues with the division...

 

[Shad]

What I don't quite understand is why (or more importantly how) the allies got half of Berlin but let it be surrounded by Soviet occupied land?

It was part the Potsdam and Yalta agreements in order to rebuild Germany to avoid another Hitler. Berlin still had symbolic power even as rubble. Obviously the USA and the UK held radically different views regarding government than the Soviets. Those disagreement comes to a head with the "Iron Curtain". Likewise the East/West Germany divide was due to those treaties as the allies agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation with Berlin (divided itself) on the Soviet side of the boundary.

 

[columbus]

Selective history or did you ignore the part where the so-called Egalitarian Communists had no issues with the division...

What reason have you to think I consider Communists Egalitarians?
Tom

 

[HonestJoe]

I thought the capital of West Germany was Bonn so why was Berlin split into two if it was surrounded by East Germany? Was the infamous Berlin Wall surrounding the whole of West Berlin to stop population exchanges?

The split of Germany between the allies was a combination of symbolic (with no side wanting to see any other get “more” than they did”) and practical (though Germany was obviously a mess after the war, the land and people were still a valuable resource longer term). It was natural for Russia to control an Eastern part of Germany which put the capital on their side. The symbolic aspect meant the other allies couldn’t allow Russia to control the capital outright, hence the separate split within the boundaries of Berlin. It didn’t lead to the best or smartest outcome IMO but was influenced by a whole mess of different politics and one-upmanship from all the parties involved.

The Berlin Wall formed part of a ring surrounding the entirety of the West Berlin. It wasn’t all the same kind of wall but there was a fenced and guarded border all the way around. It just happens that pretty much all the imagery we see is of the wall itself.

 

[Shad]

What reason have you to think I consider Communists Egalitarians?
Tom

Never suggested such. I pointed out you blamed the West yet ignore the Soviets role in the whole process. For example the West sold out Poland but the Soviets killed Poland itself until the 90s.