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Berlin Blockade Research Paper

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The Cold War was a conflict during 1947-1991 of capitalism vs communism after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies, and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact). Some believed that freedom and democracy would be vanished under communist rule, which caused the United States to enter into this conflict. During World War II, decisions made by the U.S caused tensions to escalate between the US and the Soviet Union. The feud between the US and USSR influenced the Korean War and the building of the Berlin Wall, which were just two of the many conflicts between these two powerful nations. Korea and Berlin were affected, but more importantly, all countries …show more content…

Just three years after the end of World War II, the blockade was the first major clash of the Cold War and created future conflicts over the city of Berlin. Moreover, this had an impact on Berlin geographically. By 1961, Cold War tensions over Berlin were running high. East Germans built a wall to close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the Berlin Wall stood as a symbol of the Cold War, a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe. Winston Churchill gave a speech about the Iron Curtain which grew emphasis on containment of Russian and communist expansion. In addition, Soviet hostility toward West Germany was growing due to the Marshall Plan, this plan gave money to Western European countries to help rebuild their economies. Eventually, the Berlin Wall was torn down on November 9th, 1989 when President Ronald Reagan pleaded to President Gorbachev “Tear down this wall!”. This opened up the barrier that divided West and East Berlin since 1961. Therefore, the wall was a symbol of the growing tensions between the westernized government and the communist Soviet

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