Editing East Berlin (section)

==Overview==
With the [[London Protocol (1944)|London Protocol of 1944]] signed on 12 September 1944, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union decided to divide [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] into three occupation zones and to establish a special area of Berlin, which was occupied by the three Allied Forces together.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/germany-1945-1949-a-case-study-in-post-conflict-reconstruction|title=Germany 1945-1949: a case study in post-conflict reconstruction|last=Knowles|first=Chris|date=29 January 2014 |website=History & Policy|access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref> In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the whole city that was called "Magistrate of Greater Berlin", which existed until 1947. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administered the city together within the [[Allied Kommandatura]], which served as the governing body of the city. However, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a separate city government was established, which continued to call itself the "Magistrate of Greater Berlin".

When the German Democratic Republic was established in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital—a claim that was recognized by all [[communist countries]]. Nevertheless, East Berlin's representatives to the {{Lang|de|[[Volkskammer]]|italic=no}} were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Berlin seit dem Kriegsende|trans-title=Berlin Since War's End |editor-last1=Peitsch|editor-first1=Helmut|editor-last2=Williams|editor-first2=Rhys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOVRAQAAIAAJ&q=voting+rights|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] 
|date=1989|page=18|isbn=9780719026683|language=de}}</ref>

In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were [[Berlin Blockade|blocked]], and East Berliners were not allowed to emigrate. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 East Germans were [[Republikflucht|escaping]] to West Berlin each day by 1960, caused by the strains on the East German economy from war reparations owed to the Soviet Union, massive destruction of industry, and lack of assistance from the [[Marshall Plan]]. In August 1961, the [[Politics of East Germany|East German Government]] tried to stop the population exodus by separating West Berlin by the [[Berlin Wall]]. It was very dangerous for fleeing residents to cross because [[Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic|armed soldiers]] were trained to [[Schießbefehl|shoot illegal emigrants]].<ref name="Conrad">{{Cite book|title = Berlin|last = Stein|first=R. Conrad |publisher=[[Children's Press]]|year=1997|page=29|isbn=9780516205823}}</ref>

East Germany was a [[socialist republic]]. Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities. In the 1970s, the wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell.<ref name="Grant">{{Cite book
| title = The Berlin Wall
| last = Grant
| first = R. G.
| publisher = [[Raintree Steck-Vaughn]]
| year = 1999
| isbn = 9780817250171
}}</ref>

The [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Communist bloc|Communist Bloc]] recognized East Berlin as the GDR's capital. However, [[Western Bloc|Western Allies]] (the [[United States]], [[United Kingdom]], and [[France]]) never formally acknowledged the authority of the East German government to govern East Berlin. Official Allied protocol recognized only the authority of the Soviet Union in East Berlin in accordance with the occupation status of Berlin as a whole. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U.S. military and civilian personnel wishing to visit East Berlin.<ref>{{cite web | title = Helpful Hints for US Visitors to East Berlin | publisher = [[United States Army Berlin|Headquarters, U.S. Command Berlin]] | date = 1981-11-09 | url = http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/USCOB_Hints_on_Visiting_East_Berlin_-_19811109.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230305215400/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/USCOB_Hints_on_Visiting_East_Berlin_-_19811109.pdf |archive-date= Mar 5, 2023 }}</ref> In fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against the presence of the East German [[National People's Army]] in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany. Treaties instead used terms such as "seat of government".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhuQAwAAQBAJ&q=sitz+der&pg=PA159|title=Architecture, Politics, and Identity in Divided Berlin |last=Pugh|isbn=9780822979579|first=Emily|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]]|date=2014|page=159}}</ref>

On 3 October 1990, East and West Germany and East and West Berlin [[German reunification|were reunited]], thus formally ending the existence of East Berlin. Citywide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all-Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring at the time, and [[Eberhard Diepgen]] (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin.<ref name="NYT 1990 Mayoral">{{Cite news |last=Kinzer |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Kinzer|last2= |first2= |date=1990-12-01 |title=Berlin Mayoral Contest Has Many Uncertainties |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/01/world/berlin-mayoral-contest-has-many-uncertainties.html |access-date=2023-01-04 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>