Word: bizonia
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Last spring, Western Germany's economy was smothered by masses of inflated marks in which no one had any confidence and which bought almost nothing. No one felt like working, or selling, for piles of nearly valueless paper money. In one drastic piece of surgery, Bizonia's economic authorities called in all the old currency, issued only one new mark for ten of the old. Along with this severe bloodletting, the patient was given his economic freedom: all price ceilings were lifted, except for basic foods, coal, iron and steel...
...which depends the rebuilding of all Western Europe. The military governors of the U.S., British and French occupation zones announced that all of the import & export trade of those areas would henceforth be regulated by one centralized agency. That regulation meant the almost complete economic merger of U.S.-British Bizonia with the hitherto separate French zone. It was a firm answer to Russia, who, by putting on the screws in Berlin, is trying to make the West abandon Western German recovery...
...toughest question had been the share of Bizonia (the merged U.S. and British zones of Germany). The first figure arrived at by OEEC was $364 million, less $90 million in export contributions to Europe, leaving a net of $274 million. General Lucius Clay, who considers Western Germany all-important to European recovery, angrily decided that the figure was too low, that Bizonia was being treated as OEEC's ugly duckling. Lawrence Wilkinson, Clay's man in Paris, flatly refused to ratify the draft agreement...
...Harriman visited the top economic brass in Brussels and London, and finally persuaded Lucius Clay that German-needs, however important, must be subordinated to the interests of the whole. Clearly, however, the first OEEC figure would have to be raised. The final figure agreed on for Bizonia was $414 million, less $10 million in contributed exports...
...ordered mission is to create chaos . . . The people of Berlin will not be permitted to starve." Unfortunately, Howley could not tell them exactly how they would be fed. Western Berlin depends for the most part on 2,000 tons of food a day brought in by rail from Bizonia, 100 miles away-more than could be supplied by the cargo planes which the U.S. and Britain were able to press into immediate service last week.* At week's end, Berlin had only enough bread left for 25 days, enough meat...