ABSTRACT
The basic fact determining the relationship between West Berlin and the Eastern countries is that of a Western exclave in Warsaw Pact territory. The character of the problem has altered since the principal set of serious Berlin crises from 1958 to 1962. While open conflict over Berlin has been limited since the 1972 Quadripartite Agreement, latent conflict has always been present. The three Western Powers take the legal view that they have occupied Berlin together with the Soviet Union on an equal basis of original right. However, Moscow has asserted that Berlin has been a Soviet Occupation Zone. Any of the legal differences carries the potential for major political conflict. The situation in Berlin repeatedly became rather tense during the period 1974-1978. Eastern polemics against Western behavior in the city intensified. Leonid Brezhnev's visit in Bonn in May 1978 improved relations by avoiding those steps that were perceived as particularly provocative by the other side.
