In Berlin one day last week, the Allied Control Council was, as usual, deadlocked. For two hours, Russia's Marshal Vasily D. Sokolovsky kept being disagreeable. Then, suddenly, he rose. "The Control Council," he said, "no longer exists as an organ of government. . . ." He walked out of the room, followed in a body by his 16-man staff. Said General Lucius D. Clay: "A deliberate discourtesy."
The Russian walkout was likely to be a great deal more than that. It had been planned, for Sokolovsky's parting message was carefully typed in advance. It heralded the final breakup of four-power...