France and Russia thought in short terms and did not participate in the rebuilding of the German economy. Also the political differences between the "Bizone (the merged zones of the USA and Britain) and the Russian and French zone were significant. The Soviets brought the Communist Party in control and the French did not allow the formation of parties at all in their zone. In contrast to that USA and Britain assisted the development of a whole range of parties.2 .
In November 1946 the head of the American occupation forces Lucius D. Clay listed some problems "which cannot be resolved in Berlin without inter-governmental decisions." Such problems were the disarmament and peace treaty, the fixing of the boundaries and the conditions for the economic unification. He also mentions the Soviet position on the German economy as he writes that they were only interested in reparations and did not stick to the agreements of the Potsdam Protocol. .
Furthermore he describes that letting Germany produce products for reparations would be bad for the economy, the Germans and Europe itself.3 America's view on how to deal with the economy after the war was different to the Soviets'. They wanted to re-establish a stable economy. This constellation of different powers with different interests in one country can be seen as an unavoidable conflict situation. Post-war Germany may have been a breeding ground for further conflicts, since the country was of major interest for all the powers and compromises were not accepted. .
Historian, Louis Halle, compared the situation with the animal behaviour: "If you put a scorpion and a tarantula (USA/USSR) together in a bottle (Europe) the object of their own self-preservation will impel them to fight each other to the death."4 The way for the political and economic division of Germany was cleared and it had already seemed to clear for Stalin, Attlee and Truman at the Potsdam Conference since the only thing they truly agreed on in this conference was the denazification.
