West Berlin D+25 (3 August, 1987)

On the morning of 3 August, 1987, as dawn broke across the eastern sky, few residents of West Berlin were aware that a temporary ceasefire was now in place across Europe. NATO and Warsaw Pact military forces were no longer engaged in combat with one another. Or that US and Soviet governments had agreed to …

A Second Glimpse at West Berlin D+10 (19 July, 1987) Part I

After eleven days of war, West Berlin remained physically unblighted by the colossal battles raging across the European continent. Remarkably enough, the fighting had yet to directly affect the western half of the divided city. Outside of a handful of rifle shots quite early on the first day of the war not a single piece …

A Glimpse at West Berlin: D-1 (8 July, 1987) **

Opinions on the fate of West Berlin in the event of war varied. On one end of the spectrum, a large number of military and political observers expected an East German/Soviet invasion of the city to announce the commencement of hostilities against the West. The primary reasoning for this belief was the amount of political …