The Failure Of The Berlin Blockade Of West 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

DBQ: Containment The US and the Soviets have constantly had disagreements and conflicts throughout the Cold War. The main conflicts were the Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Berlin Airlift. This essay is going to explain what containment is and how the US used containment against the Soviets. Containment is when someone is trying to prevent something else from spreading and US used it by preventing the communist government of the Soviet Union from spreading. The US and its allies tried anything they could to contain communism.

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

When the Soviets started to notice that their best citizens (like doctors, scientists, and other citizens that play an important part of society) were moving to West Berlin, they decided to put an end to it. They did so by constructing an 11 foot tall wall between East and West Berlin on August 13th, 1961.

The Berlin Airlift was an important historical event. At the end of World War II, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia took control of Germany, splitting it into four zones. The U.S.S.R. took control of the East. The U.S., Britain, and France took control of zones in the West which they later combined into the Trizone. The capital city of Berlin was located in the section controlled by the Soviets, so the four powers agreed to split Belin into two sections. Just like the rest of the country, the Western Allies took control of West Berlin and the Soviets took control of East Berlin. Because the city was in the middle of the territory controlled by the Soviets, the city of West Berlin was only accessible by selected roads and railway lines. The Soviets set up checkpoints

American and British leaders prevented the spread of communism to Berlin by means of patient and strategic actions against the Soviet Union. This strategy is shown in Document B, where it shows a map of divided Germany. The Soviet Union hoped to take Germany under its empire by cutting off all aid from other countries. this became known as the Berlin blockade. the U.S. refused to let the USSR gain Germany and as a result America and Britain airlifted supplies to the people of Berlin. No matter what the weather, they airlifted supplies. this showed the world and the Soviet Union what America was willing to do to stop communism.

After the conclusion of World War II, the city of Berlin was divided into two major sections: East and West Berlin. The western section was divided between the three allies and under the control of Britain, the United States, and France, while the eastern portion was under the Soviet's control. The portion of Berlin owned by the western powers had become a small hold on capitalism in a sea of Marxist communism. On 24 June 1948, the Soviet Union cut off all ground routes into the western portion of Berlin. This would leave approximately 2.5 million Berlin citizens without the United States supplies they had been receiving. It would also leave the roughly 6,500 western troops without ground-level support, surrounded by 16,000 soviets (Owens 70).

After unraveling of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, fears of war breaking out between the major powers of the United States and the Soviet Union were greatly reduced. Numerous commentaries, reports, and studies arose out of the question of what to do with the excess U.S. forces, and how to reshape them for a new era (Snider & Carlton-Carew, 1996). Since the birth of the United States, the military has been an important part of the United States. The US military has been a fundamental part of foreign policy, including fostering democracy, establishing rule of law, and assisting with economic development in territories allied with the U.S. (Ludema, 2007).

The Berlin Airlift- The airlift involved American, British, and French aircraft delivering supplies to West Berlin, which was blockaded by the Soviets. The Soviets wanted the US, France, and Britain to get out of West Berlin permanently, but the Americans won’t let that happen since they don’t want communism to spread. Aircraft from the non-Soviet occupation zones in Germany took off with supplies and landed in the airfields inside West Berlin. The airlift made it possible for the people inside West Berlin to survive, and the blockade was eventually lifted due to the embargo placed on products made in the Eastern bloc.

There were two famous speeches given at the Berlin wall about freedom, taking down the wall, and bringing East and West Berlin together once again. One of these speeches was president John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. It was given June 26, 1963. The other speech was Ronald Reagan's address from the Brandenburg Gate. This was given later on June 12, 1987. Reagan's speech was more effect than Kennedy's because it had many good points that Kennedy didn't have, spoke to the Berliners, and Kennedy's speech wasn't enough. It didn't do anything since it was at the beginning of the Cold War. Nobody wanted to listen to Kennedy. They did not tear down the wall. After Reagan's speech they did.

At the end of WWII, Germany is occupied by four major powers, three of which made up West Germany, leaving the East for communism control. On june 27, 1948, Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, and the Soviet Union decided to blockade any shipments, such as resources, money, and industrial equipment, from coming into West Germany. West Berlin was completely surrounded by communism and would’ve had to surrender if it weren't for the US and their allied forces. America and the allies decided to provide Berlin with supplies by air. This became known as the Berlin Airlift, due to the route by air caused by communist forces blocking every other route. This lasted for nearly a year supplying millions of people in Berlin. It’s definitely a turn of events considering the damage done while fighting Adolf Hitler and the Germans. On may 12, 1949, Stalin removes the blockade, thrilling the nation and President

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 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.