The Failure of the Berlin Blockade My paper will focus of my paper what led to Berlin blockade and what caused it to fail. Before the blockade began Russians decided to withdraw from Kommandatura hoping this along with the blockade eventually would starve the Western powers of Berlin. June 15, 1948 Soviet authorities announced that the Autobahn, a highway from Western Germany to Berlin, would be closing indefinitely “for repairs.” Western Allies determined withdraw from the city was not an option and President Harry Truman said “We shall stay,” “period.” During discussions, a decision was made as an afterthought to fill the few dozen C-47 transport planes in Europe with supplies. This was used to buy time before a decision was made. …show more content…
It was decided that the airlift was the best solution as it “would at once reinforce the morale of the West Berliners.” The Soviets did not attempt to shoot down the planes due to the “concern for American nuclear capabilities.” The US also responded to the blockade by dispatching sixty B-29s … to Britain. The airlift became a symbol of American technical and scientific superiority. During the airlift, every flight made the Russians look increasingly foolish. The people of Berlin shouted their defiance in the face of the Communists with no assurance of victory except their own faith in democracy.
Initially the Soviets did not intend to enter into discussion but on the 22nd of March 1949, Ambassador Jessup was informed by the Soviet representative on the Security Council “that if a definite date could be fixed for a Foreign Ministers’ conference, then the blockade could be lifted even before the meeting.” The conference was “to consider the questions relating to Germany and problems arising from the situation in Berlin.” It appears “Moscow gave up the blockade for a momentary propaganda forum at Paris.”
The lifting of the blockade was an “experimentation of Soviet policy from a militant, confrontational strategy to one of negotiating and peaceful coexistence after 1948,” and
The lives of the people in Berlin were impacted by a result of hostility, making
As tensions continued to augment profoundly throughout the latter half of the Cold War period, they brought forth a movement from a previous bipolar conflicting course, to one of a more multipolar nature. These tensions were now not only restricted to the Soviet Union and United states, but amongst multiple other nations of the globe. It became a general consensus that a notion of ‘peace’ was sought globally, hence, the emergence of détente. The nature of this idea in the short term conveyed itself to be an act of change for the conflicting nations, however, in the long term it proved to be a blatant continuity, ultimately acting as a ‘mechanism for domestic fortification’ which prompted a more divisive tone. It became apparent that by the prime 1970’s Cold War countries were now seeking a state of relaxation in political and international tension, détente, through measures of diplomacy and negotiation. Actions, influences and treaties such as the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the establishment of SALT 1, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and the Shanghai Communique of 1972 evidently help reinforce that the concept of détente brought a period focused on lessening the tensions of international relations and ultimately achieve political relation for the future of the Cold War, although the success and impact of this era is abhorred by many historians who have concluded that détente didn’t activate any positive changes to the cold war, and was conclusively a failure.
In the years 1953-61 some might say that the cold war tensions were eased by peaceful coexistence, with super power negotiations and key agreements paving the way for better relations. Despite this, the stronger argument suggests that ultimately, cold war tensions were not eased, the cold war continued for another 30 years. This was due to failure to negotiate anything of substance at conferences such as Geneva 1955 and the lack of change in superpower attitude with Eisenhower’s new look policy and the USSR’s approach to Hungary.
The biggest obstacle that the Soviets and Americans faced in dealing with this crisis was the added difficulty imposed by cross-cultural negotiations. This added burden further magnified the differences in thinking, feeling and behaving between the two countries. The table above illustrates the national style in negotiation faced by the United States and Soviet Union. Both the Americans and Soviets had to take into account each other style to eventually reach an agreement. Even though Cuba was at the center of this debate, it played a minor roll in the negotiations between the US and Soviet Union.
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
With an end goal to test the United States' dedication to control Joseph Stalin chose to set up a bar around West Germany. (Doc B) The bar kept all provisions, including sustenance, from being brought into Western Berlin. Since the U.S. was at that point sending billions of dollars into Europe the Soviet Union felt that they wouldn't get included in the little encounter going on. Be that as it may, the United States regarded their dedication to the Truman Doctrine and alongside assistance from their partners; America flew in provisions and sustenance to West Berliners for over a year. The Berlin Airlift was a win and on May 12, 1949, Stalin evacuated the barricade(Doc B). This demonstration of regulation demonstrated that the States kept their oath when it came to keeping the spread of
Section three of Patrick Major’s book Behind the Berlin Wall: East Germany and the Frontiers of Power published in 2010 from the Oxford University Press Inc., called The Fall of the Wall: 9 November 1989 is about developing the reasons for the fall of the wall. The author starts with describing the political, financial and economic situation in East Germany and the other eastern
Almost one year later, Stalin had decided to remove the blockade since there was no point in using it anymore. This shows containment because although the Communists tried to stop the US and its allies, the US and allies managed to find a way to prevent the Communists from overpowering
The first source which will be evaluated is Richard Harris’ excerpt of "The Berlin airlift" from the textbook American History, published in 1998. The source origin is valuable because the author
Despite its beginnings as a logistical nightmare for the aircrews and aviators, the Berlin Airlift was effective in the role of containing the spread of communism into Berlin, while ensuring the survival of capitalism for its millions of citizens.
During the course of history, great leaders have coerced the world to the brink of war; this was the case for Joseph Stalin, who forced the world to the unprecedented Cold War. To a large extent, Stalin’s actions were responsible for the onset of the Cold War. Stalin displayed a lack of trustworthiness, evident in the Yalta conference during February 1945, and spread communism into eastern European states. This led to mutual distrust between the USSR and the United States. In 1948, Stalin further escalated tensions between himself and the United States, by enforcing the construction of the Berlin blockade, created to weaken the United States supplies in West Germany. Stalin was a strong believer in militarism, because of this Stalin ordered the creation and consolidation of the USSR’s nuclear arsenals in 1947, inflaming the arms race that could have potentially inflicted total devastation throughout the globe. Stalin’s impetuous actions caused great tensions between himself and other leaders, subsequently causing him to be responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War.
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.
“But there was always the risk that Russian reaction might lead to war. We had to face the possibility that Russia might deliberately choose to make Berlin the pretext for war. . .”- Harry S. Truman.
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 aim of this investigation is to assess the main factors that ultimately led to the failure of the Berlin blockade, giving the Soviets