The new currency, over which the Soviets would have no control, was also to become legal tender in the Western sectors of Berlin. The USSR, which had been invaded twice by Germany, was alarmed ...

Europeans are reconsidering their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany.

Berlin had a "witches' Sabbath" atmosphere ... the breakdown was complete. The currency had lost meaning. What happened immediately afterward is as fascinating as the Great Inflation itself.