Berlin Blockade And Airlift Flashcards
Causes of the Berlin Blockade
-The USSR wanted Germany to remain weak in order to prevent any future German attack on the Soviet Union. The Western powers wanted Germany to recover, believing that an economically
strong Germany could act as both a barrier against the spread of communism and an important part in the recovery of Europe.
-To enable their zones to work more effectively, at the end of 1946 the British, Americans and French decided to join their zones into one unit into which the USA poured Marshall Aid in 1948.
-A new currency – tensions increased when no agreement could be reached over establishing a new currency for all of Germany. The Western zones introduced a new currency without informing Stalin who saw this as a threat to the USSR.
Berlin was a hole in the ‘iron curtain’
What was the Berlin Blockade
When Stalin ordered the closing of all rail lines, canals and
roads that entered West Berlin through the Russian sector June
1948.
Food and fuel supplies for up to 2 million people living in West Berlin were cut off by the blockade
What was the response of the Allies to the Berlin Blockade
Flights containing food and fuel were flown into Berlin for 10 months. They flew in 13,000 tonnes per day regarding this as a test of their Truman Doctrine.
When it became clear to Stalin that the Allies were determined to stand firm, he gave in and lifted the
blockade.
The Allies remained in their sectors in Berlin. This had been the first dispute of the Cold War and Stalin had blinked first.
What were consequences of the airlift
-The democratic capitalist FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY came
into being in MAY 1949. It gained full independence in 1955.
-The communist DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF GERMANY came into existence in October 1949 and became independent in 1955
What was the impact on East - West relations
Tensions increased between the superpowers.
The policy of containment could be seen to have worked.
In April 1949, even before the end of the blockade, 12 Western nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The
North Atlantic Treaty was written to bond the United States, Canada and Europe together in case the Soviets attacked any of them.
The Soviets saw NATO as an aggressive western alliance, an opinion that seemed to be confirmed when Western Germany joined in 1955. In response, the Soviets established the Warsaw Pact, a communist version of NATO
