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One Australian Airforce page offers this nutshell version of why the Soviets agreed to air corridors but shut down land access to West Berlin in the late 1940s.

Berlin was in the centre of the Soviet Zone of occupation and 3 corridors were established to link the Western Zone with Berlin. The London Agreement of 1945 designated in writing Western access rights by air. However, agreement on other forms of transport access were verbal and not formally ratified. Accordingly, the USSR regarded a verbal agreement as not binding and used that to their own advantage.

I'm not entirely sure what the the "London Agreement" bit refers to though, as it's best known for establishing the Nuremberg Tribunal charter, but perhaps it had other (more obscure) issues in its remit.

So, was there a broader "London Agreement" that covered such issues like air access, or is the Australian page simply confused on the matter? The latter form of the corridor agreements that the US saw as binding was not agreed until Dec 1945, with minor changes made in 1946. But that does not preclude that the Soviets may have previously agreed--in principle and in writing--to provide such air access, as the Australian page suggests. But I'm most doubtful this was in the venue of a "London Agreement".

N.B. The London accords of 1947-1948 may be what it's actually meant here... (I don't know if such an assurance was given at the latter conferences either.) Furthermore, the rest of the claim, that the USSR simply disallowed land traffic on the basis that it had only been verbally agreed to, can't immediately be double-checked from the other source I consulted. According to another (more detailed) account, the Soviets simply and literally claimed there were (suddenly) "technical problems" with these...

Actually, the London Protocol of 1944 seems the more plausible thing being referred to, as it established the future zones of control, including the partition of Berlin. However, I'm unable to verify if anything was agreed in writing regarding air access back then, to substantiate the gist of the story in that quote. (Also Wikipedia is misleading as to when Berlin's partition proper was agreed. That only [p. 596] happened at the September 1944 Quebec Conference, when the reluctant US administration agreed to a partition of Berlin. Until then, the protocol only specified that Berlin was to be jointly occupied by the allies, but there was no partition defined. In general, throughout most of 1944, the Roosevelt administration opposed "detailed plans for a country which we do not yet occupy"-- Roosevelt's own words.)

Fizz
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    Why is this here and not on history.SE? – pipe Aug 16 '21 at 11:26
  • @pipe: because there is a history tag here and this is a (dubious) claim, i.e. it fits the Skeptics format. – Fizz Aug 16 '21 at 11:33
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    Is the claim "notable"? The source linked isn't the Australian 'Airforce' but the "Australian Gold Coast Branch of the Aircrew Association" (although I am not trying to belittle their fine efforts during the Berlin Airlift). – Weather Vane Aug 16 '21 at 12:04
  • @WeatherVane: fair enough. It seems that para was for introductory purposes of what is mostly a personal account of the events from someone who was in an Airlift crew. But at the same time, it does provide a number of other "big picture" data like how many aircraft were involved etc. – Fizz Aug 16 '21 at 12:11
  • Could it be referring to the Potsdam Agreement of 1945, which concerned the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany and its borders (and the subsequent Nuremberg tribunals)? – Weather Vane Aug 16 '21 at 12:23
  • @WeatherVane It wasn't the Potsdam Agreement of July 1945. The air corridors were established later in a written agreement signed in November 1945. But I too see nothing to be skeptical about here. The air corridors did exist, and unlike ground and water transportation, the Soviet Union did not shut down those air corridors during the Berlin blockade. – David Hammen Aug 16 '21 at 13:10
  • I think this would be much better on [history.se]. It has a community of historians, and you are much more likely to get an answer. – DJClayworth Aug 16 '21 at 17:33
  • It may be [this conference in London in 1948](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Six-Power_Conference). It concluded just before the blockade. – DJClayworth Aug 16 '21 at 17:37
  • @DJClayworth The written agreement was signed in November 1945. I have found multiple sources for that, but none gave it a name or discussed whatever else was discussed along the way. Here's one: https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2012/July%202012/0712berlin.pdf – David Hammen Aug 16 '21 at 17:56
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    Related on SE History: [How were the West Berlin air corridors negotiated?](https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/65804/how-were-the-west-berlin-air-corridors-negotiated) – Weather Vane Aug 16 '21 at 18:20
  • That's actually most of the answer. It gives a huge level of detail on the negotiation of the air corridors, and links to even more detailed documents. Which of course the OP would have found through searching History. – DJClayworth Aug 16 '21 at 18:39
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    @DJClayworth what I don't understand is that it is OP's own answer to that question. – Weather Vane Aug 16 '21 at 19:05
  • Now I'm confused. – DJClayworth Aug 16 '21 at 19:06
  • @DJClayworth: it's one small bit at the end of my answer to a Q on H.SE. A bit that I actually became increasingly unsure of, after a bit more of investigation. It seemed to me the "perfect" kind of Q for Skeptics: clearly stated claim that upon a bit more investigation doesn't immediately pan out... (95% of my answer on H.SE is based on different/primary sources.) – Fizz Aug 16 '21 at 20:43
  • @DavidHammen: I see plenty of stuff to skeptical about in the claim. I'm not trying to be obnoxious, but did you carefully read my question? I'm not saying the corridors didn't exist. I'm dubious the Soviets committed to air access in the venue and circumstances claimed in the quote. The latter part of the story in the quote (how the Soviets justified their denial of land access) also is in doubt, when one attempts to corroborate with other sources. – Fizz Aug 16 '21 at 20:46
  • You just provided a very good answer History.SE to this very question, @Fizz : [How were the West Berlin air corridors negotiated?](https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/65804) I am still trying to understand what you are skeptical about, and whether that skepticism constitutes a notable claim. – David Hammen Aug 16 '21 at 22:19

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It was not the London Agreement 1945

As you correctly state, the London Agreement 1945 established the war crimes tribunal. The full text of which is here and makes no mention of anything related to Berlin or air corridors.

This answer on History SE quotes the Australian website and says:

I'm not entirely sure what the the "London Agreement" bit refers to though, as it's best known for establishing the Nuremberg Tribunal [charter], but perhaps it had other (more obscure) issues in its remit.

It didn't, the website is just wrong - who knew there could be mistakes on the internet?

However, the answer is really detailed about the instruments that did establish the corridors. I won't reproduce it but the essence is "these were "mini-agreements" signed within the framework of the Allied Control Council and its specialist sub-committees like the Committee on Aviation of the Air Directorate."

Dale M
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