Black Market, Cold War
Everyday Life in Berlin, 1946–1949

This book explains how and why Berlin became the symbolic capital of the Cold War.

Paul Steege (Author)

9780521745178, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 October 2008

374 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.51 kg

'Steege's fascinating book is a superb example of 'history from below'. He is not the first historian to have examined the lives of the people of Berlin in this period, but no one has illuminated the interaction between daily life and global politics as effectively as he does.' Journal of European Studies

This book explains how and why Berlin became the symbolic capital of the Cold War. It brings the history of the Cold War down to earth by focusing on the messy accounts of daily struggles to survive rather than seamless narratives of diplomatic exchange. By following Berliners as they made their way from ration offices to the black markets, from allied occupation bureaus to the physical and symbolic battles for the city's streets and squares, Paul Steege anchors his account of this emerging global conflict in the fractured terrain of a city literally shattered by World War II. In this history of everyday life, he claims for Berliners a vital role in making possible Berlin's iconic Cold War status. The world saw an absolutely divided city, but everyday Berliners crossed its many boundaries, and these transgressive practices brought into focus the stark oppositions of the Cold War.

1. Postwar Berlin: the continuities of scarcity
2. October 1946: rolling back Soviet power
3. June 1947: Berlin politics in the shadow of the black market
4. March 1948: Berlin and the struggle for the Soviet Zone
5. August 1948: battle lines on the Potsdamer Platz
6. June 1949: ending the blockade.

Subject Areas: The Cold War [HBTW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]