Berlin Airlift Blockade

”(Doc. 2) The formation of NATO was meant to protect its participants but its formation caused the Warsaw pact which helped the USSR gain even more power and become a bigger threat. The U.S. wanted the Soviet Union to give up occupation of East Germany so that East and West Germany could be united. This was seen as a threat to the communist movement so the Soviet Union formed a blockade around Berlin.

At the long awaited end of World War 2, Germany was divided into two pieces, one for capitalists and the other for communists. Berlin, the stronghold city of Germany at the time, was split into two pieces as well, one part for capitalists and one part for communists, all separated by the infamous Berlin wall. West Berlin was a pro-american island in a soviet sea, and when the soviet union decided to blockade any shipments into West Berlin, the United States had to take immediate action. America shipped in supplies to West Berlin by air! If it hadnt been for America and its allies supporting West Berlin, it could have easily been conquered by the surrounding communists. The Berlin Airlift displayed the fight that America put into containing communism and how hard they were willing to work to keep the red water as far away from them as possible. These diplomatic tactics saved Berlin and eventually led to the Berlin walls’ downfall, allowing the city to come together and live peacefully. This was one of the first major steps in stopping the spread of communism through

The cold war started in 1947 between the USSR and the USA.The berlin wall was one of the most significant symbols in relations to the cold war. Although the wall was a crucial factor that helped in bypassing what could have turned out to be world war three, many would agree that it impacted on the lives of german citizens in both positive and negative ways. People had their families split up because of the wall and there were also very limited supplies getting into west berlin due to the blockade.

Germany and the capital, Berlin, was split at the end of WWII. The East Berlin and Germany were controlled by the Soviets and West Berlin and Germany was controlled by the US, France, and Britain. Since West Berlin was completely surrounded by communism, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, decided to prevent any shipments (including food) from going into West Berlin (Doc. B) in an attempt to starve them out. They created a blockade. When the US and its allies found out, they sent planes over to get the shipments and take them to the West Berliners which provided over two million people with supplies ranging from food to coal for nearly over a year (Doc. B).

The Berlin airlift initially started with the division of Germany into four sections amongst major powers, including the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union after WWII. The United States, Britain, and France united to make West Berlin, while East Berlin belonged to the Soviet Union. On June 27, 1948, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union decided to blockade any shipments into West Berlin in an attempt to weaken and overthrow it. With West Berlin surrounded by communism and no source of food because of the blockade, they saw no other choice but to surrender, that is until the US and its allies stepped in to help. The US and its allies supported West Berliners through airlifts, this consisted of supplies from food to coal being flown in to over two million people. On May 12, 1949, Stalin discards of the blockade, this left the nation and Harry Truman thrilled. The Berlin Airlift is a good example of containment because the United States was triumphant in keeping West Berlin from being overthrown by communist East

The allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. This effort, known as the “Berlin Airlift,” lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin.

Despite its beginnings as a logistical nightmare for the aircrews and aviators, the Berlin Airlift was extremely effective in the role of containing the spread of communism into Berlin, while ensuring the survival of capitalism for millions of its citizens.

Later, events like Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, and the Berlin Blockade, many attribute to the start of the Cold War. These were simply the two strongest European nations coming out of WWII trying to gain leverage in the newly structured continent. While it was a strong move by the Soviet Union, Berlin was inside their occupation zone laid out at Potsdam. More than anything, the issue of Berlin, was much like that of the Truman Doctrine and Marshal Plan that are often included in causes of the Cold War. These were all issues of the United States trying to move their democratic ideals into other parts of the world, while the Soviets were trying to spread communism. This battle is not new, given that the Red Scare occurred in 1920, so it clearly is the continuance of two countries ideals, not the start of the Cold War. While this struggle has been going on for years and did not cause the Cold War, it definitely played a key role how it did culminate.

The Berlin Wall had a major impact on humanity’s views on how society should be ruled. Berlin is the capital of Germany. After the ending of WWII, Berlin was split up into East Berlin, and West Berlin. East Berlin was communist, suffered from the repressions of the Communist Party. West Berlin had a better lifestyle, and had financial aid from the United States. From the years between nineteen forty-nine to nineteen sixty-one, approximately 2.5 million people from East Berlin escaped to West Berlin. This toll included skilled workers, professionals, and intellectuals. Because of the loss of these people, the economy in East Berlin was threatened. On August twelve-thirteen, nineteen sixty-one, the Berlin was built in order to stop the people of East Berlin from fleeing. The Berlin wall was a major point during the Cold War, and many opposed it. It gave another reason to detest communism.

The original conflict that led to the Berlin blockade arose after World War II. As early as 1947, growing problems between western democracy (United States, Britain et al.) and communism (the Soviet Union), started to take definite shape as the

On May 8th, 1945, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel surrendered the German armed forces to the allies in Berlin, thus ending the war for Germany. The German people were then confronted by a situation never before experienced. All of Germany was occupied by foreign armies, their cities and infrastructure lay in ruins, and millions were homeless and starving. Following the unilateral surrender by Germany, the country was divided into four zones, governed by each of the allied powers: Britain, France, the U.S. and the Soviet Union. As diplomacy between the West and the Soviet Union began to deteriorate, each zone became more self-sufficient and independent of the others. Tensions between the West and the Soviet Union also began to rise as it became apparent that the two super powers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would vie for dominance throughout the world, each seeking to spread its ideology and stop the spread of the other’s. The first real exacerbation of this conflict came when the Soviet Union blockaded the divided city of Berlin, which lay in is zone of control. The U.S.S.R. wanted to test the Western resolve to hold Berlin and maintain control. The response the U.S. chose was to keep Berlin supplied by air, through constant resupply by aircraft, a feat never before accomplished. The airlift lasted for nearly eleven months and kept the Western controlled sectors of Berlin adequately supplied, and showed the Soviet Union the U.S.’s resolve to hold out against the spread of

The end of World War II saw two opposing superpowers emerging in the form of the United States of America and the Soviet Union. After dealing with Nazi Germany, these two superpowers sought to spread their individual influence throughout the world and thus the Cold War began. The Cold War wasn 't a direct War but a series of proxy wars and decades of intimidation, propaganda and espionage. Germany was occupied after the war and the Soviet Union controlled the area surrounding Berlin but not the city itself. There were already tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western allies because they felt threatened by each other and feared a new war could develop. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at this time declared that an iron curtain has descended across Europe. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin didn 't like the idea of West Germany regaining any former power so in 1948 the Soviets blockaded the Western sections of Berlin to force the other allies to give them control of the whole city. In turn, the Western allies just airlifted supplies into the city. In 1949 NATO was formed to strengthen the Western allies and Germany became divided into East and West as was Berlin itself. Stalin wanted to be in control of the countries on Russia 's borders to ensure security and because of this the Soviet Union claimed the states it had invaded during the war and established communist regimes within them. Stalin then set up secret police squads within these new regimes with orders to

The Cold War occurred after World War II, between 1945-1991. It was a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union but the two countries never physically had a battle. Both countries wanted control over Berlin. They both have different political regimes that were enforced when the city was divided by East and West. We will further discuss those political regimes and understand how it had an effect in Berlin during the Cold War.

The aim of this investigation is to assess the main factors that ultimately led to the failure of the Berlin blockade, giving the Soviets

They wanted to drive The United States of America, The United Kingdom and France out of the city. So, in 1948, what came to be known as the Soviet Blockade was an event that aimed to starve the western Allies out of the city. The United States could have retreated and started a war. But they did not. In fact, they themselves sent food to the city of Berlin and wanted to bring it back to normal. This is because they did not want Soviet Union to gain full control over the city. They could not see this part of the city turning totally communist. This effort, known as the Berlin Airlift, lasted for more than a year and delivered more than 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and other goods to West Berlin. 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to continue. In May 1949, The Soviets lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin.