¹ The first problem that anyone writing about Berlin has to face is that of terminology. In this article the term “Berlin” is generally used in preference to “West Berlin” since statements about Berlin's legal status are true of all four Sectors of the city. However it must be recognised that, since 1948, it has been impossible for any decisions of the Allied Kommandaturs or the three Western Allies to be enforced in the Soviet Sector, and that consequently the position de facto differs from that de jure. (A further convenient piece of shorthand used throughout is “the Allies”; in the Berlin context this means the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom.)