A new currency triggered the Berlin Blockade
In 1948, the simple act of introducing the Deutsche Mark transformed post-war tensions into a global crisis that physically divided a city for nearly a year.
Following the collapse of Nazi Germany, the nation operated without a sovereign government or a stable economy. By 1948, the occupying Western Allies realized that the existing Reichsmark was practically worthless, leading to a thriving black market where cigarettes often served as a more reliable medium of exchange than paper money. To stabilize the economy, they secretly printed and introduced the Deutsche Mark across their zones of occupation.
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