1948: The Berlin Blockade
After the War, Germany and it's capital Berlin, were each divided into four zones of occupation; the British, French, American and Soviet Zones.
By June 1948, Stalin had taken control of most of Eastern Europe. In response, the Western allies joined forces to make Western Germany wealthy and pro-American.
Western Germany had always been a rich industrial area of Europe, so it was decided that Western Germany would be included in the plans to rebuild Europe. With this aim, the USA...:
Extended the Marshall Plan to the Western Zones of Germany, but not the Soviet Zone, as they knew Stalin would reject the offer.
Combined American, British and French zones together, creating a stronger zone that was much easier to manage.
To stabilise the economy and combat inflation, a new currency was introduced in the Western Allied zone, called the 'Deutschmark'. It helped Germany recover but was a significantly stronger currency than the one used in the Soviet zone.
The Berlin Blockade
The introduction of the new currency in West Berlin angered Stalin, as he saw this as a threat to Soviet influence in Germany and Berlin. In response to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark, the Soviet Union initiated the Berlin Blockade on June 24, 1948. Its forces blockaded all road, rail, and canal access to West Berlin, cutting off all land routes between West Berlin and West Germany. The blockade was a Soviet attempt to pressure the Western Allies to abandon West Berlin and allow the Soviets to control the entire city.
The Allies (the USA, UK, and France) responded by cutting trade and traffic from Western Germany into East Germany.
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift began on the 26th of June 1948 and lasted until the 30th of September the next year.
Over this time, the United States Air Force and the British Royal Air Force flew more than 200,000 flights to Berlin, delivering over 1.5 million tons of food, fuel, clothes and equipment to West Berlin in more than one year.
Surprisingly, Soviet forces did not fire on the planes and allowed them to pass over Soviet territory.
By May 1949, Stalin accepted that his attempt to force the Western Allies out of West Berlin had failed and called the blockade off.
The Allies continued the airlift until September to build up a comfortable surplus of resources in case of another blockade.
What effects did the incident in Berlin bring in Europe?
Immediate Effects
In 1949, the Western Allies set up a military alliance called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) in which they promised to defend each other if attacked.
The Berlin Airlift significantly improved the relationship between the Allies and the Germans living in Western Germany, especially because they had been at war recently.
Germany became permanently divided into the Allied zone: the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet zone: the German Democratic Republic.
The crisis was peacefully resolved by the airlifts and showed the West's commitment to the city.
The USSR and the Western Allies both increased propaganda against each other as they both claimed victory.
Long Term Effects
Berlin became a symbol and the centre of Cold War Tensions as the Americans saw Berlin as an 'island' of democracy in the middle of communist repression and the Soviets saw Western Berlin as an 'invasive cancer' in East Germany.
Due to the Soviet Union's actions, many Americans became even more anti-communist, fearing future communist aggression in the West. They began to pressure their government into fighting communism globally.
In 1955, the Soviets created the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance where the USSR and Communist states of Eastern Europe promised to defend each other if they were under attack.
The Berlin Blockade was a failure for Stalin because...
The west showed their support for the city of Berlin through airlifts of resources, thus strengthening Germany's relationship with the rest of Western Europe and lowered the popularity of communism and the USSR.
The Berlin Blockade was a success for Truman because...
It strengthened the relationship with Germany and showed that life was better when capitalist countries united together.
Western Germany developed and strengthened.
The Military Alliance, NATO, was agreed.
Even for the allies in general, it improved their relationship with Germany as it showed their dedication towards Berlin despite the fact that they had been at war only a few years prior.