The Berlin Blockade
By Anya Savio
Introduction ● 1948 alarming distrust between USA and
USSR
○ Increased stock of weapons
● Development of propaganda war
● The two had never fire on one another
○ Criticised policies and plans of the
other
● 1948 clash over Germany
The problem of Germany
● After war, Germany divided in 4 zones
● Initially, US plan (Morgenthau Plan) aim: remove all German industry and make it an agricultural
country
● Truman Grew, more concerned about USSR
○ Decided that strong Germany ally would be useful
● 1946: Britain, France and USA combined their zones
● 1949: area known as West Germany
Stalin blockades Berlin
● Stalin felt he had to show he would fight back if others interfered on the Soviet ‘sphere of influence’
● Berlin was mostly in the Soviet zone
○ June 1948: Stalin blocked roads, canals and railways which connected Berlin to western areas
● If USA filled roadblocks or railway blocks = act of war
● Stalin expected Truman to withdraw from Berlin
○ Soviets would have: control of Berlin + propaganda victory
● Situation in West Berlin seen as test case for
Americans
The Berlin airlift ○ If they gave into stalin = west german
zones next to become communist
● Order from Truman: aircrafts to fly supplies
into Berlin
○ Took off from western Germany
● People feared shootings, Soviets decided
not to
● In the next ten months, Berlin received all of
the supplies
● May 1949: Blockade from Stalin
Consequences of the Berlin Blockade
● End of Berlin Blockade didn’t end Cold War tensions, but had consequences for Cold War
relationships:
○ A powerful symbol
■ Berlin became powerful symbol for Cold War rivalry
○ Cold war flashpoint
■ Berlin was a Cold War flashpoint
■ Where US and USSR troops directly against each other
○ Cold war patterns of thinking and acting
■ Crisis in Berlin meant there would be no direct war between the two
■ Would fight ‘proxy wars’
● Helping anyone opposed to the other side
NATO and the Warsaw Pact
● During blockade, war between USA and USSR seemed likely
● April 1949: Western Powers met in Washington DC to sign a contract to work together
○ New organisation = NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
● USSR critical of NATO, but took no actions until 1955
○ When West Germany was allowed to join NATO
● USSR + main communist states formed an alliance → Warsaw Pact
○ Promised to defend each other if anyone was attacked
The End
