BERLIN BLOCKADE 24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949

FACT PAGE This was the first major conflict between the big powers since the

end of the Second World War. The main goal of the Berlin Blockade for Stalin was to eventually

force out the western allies from Berlin and put in place communist rule.

A Blockade is the hostile act of sealing off and isolating a place, such as a city, to prevent people or goods from entering or leaving. A Blockade is designed to obstruct commerce, transportation and communications.

In November – December 1947 Bevin and Marshall agreed on one last initiative to create an all- German state.At the end of World War 2, on June, 5 1945, The Allied Control Council (ACC), with representatives from each of the Allied powers, announced the division of Germany.

Germany was split into four zones of occupation (the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain and France) and split between the two blocs as communist controlled Eastern Germany and democratic Western Germany.

The division of Berlin was agreed upon by America, the USSR, France and Britain in February 1945 at the Yalta conference.

On 24 June 1948 the Russians imposed a ban on all traffic flow to West Berlin.

This was a tricky situation for President Truman because he was up for re-election that year and did not want to risk a war but needed to appear tough because of the fall of Czechoslovakia in February 1948.

At its peak the Berlin airlift was flying in 13,000 tons of supplies daily to West Berlin and kept going for 324 days.

Stalin eventually conceded defeat on May 1949. Although Truman was trailing behind in the presidential race back

home, the conflict over Berlin helped him bag a win because it

showed him as a strong, resolute leader who could stand up to Stalin and communism.

The Berlin blockade was the driving force for the creation of NATO as many Western European countries wanted a military alliance with America to help them fight off communism.

The situation in the city, referred to as the Berlin Crisis, brought the United States and USSR to the brink of war.

On 12 May 1949, Joseph Stalin abandoned the blockade of the city.( notes and facts taken from Orange McCauley ) and http://www.american-historama.org/1945-1989-cold-war-era/berlin-blockade.htm

In late 1947, discussions on Germany broke down over Soviet charges that the Allies were violating the Potsdam Agreement, and on March 20, 1948, the Soviets withdrew from the Allied Control Council administering Berlin.

Ten days later, guards on the East German border began slowing the entry of Western troop trains bound for Berlin.

On June 7, the Western powers announced their intention to proceed with the creation of West Germany.

On June 24, arguing that if Germany was to be partitioned, Berlin could no longer be the single German capital, the Soviets stopped all surface travel between West Germany and Berlin.

Over the next 321 days, Western fliers made 272,000 flights into West Berlin, delivering thousands of tons of supplies every day.https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-blockade

Images and sources

Written sources

Source D[The Americans had introduced a new currency into Berlin.]Old money flooded into the Soviet Zone. Some restrictions were placed on links between Berlin and western zones, but the Soviet side was ready to supply food to all Berlin. Yet every day 380 American planes flew into Berlin. It was simply a propaganda move intended to make the cold war worse.From a Russian history book.

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Allies split the country into four temporary zones of occupation. Berlin, the capital, located within the Soviet Union controlled eastern part, was also divided into four sectors.

In June 1948, Britain, France and the US united their zones into a new country, West Germany, and introduced a new currency. In reply, the Soviet authorities announced that the four-power administration of Berlin had ceased and that the Allies no longer had any rights there. Power supplies and all road and rail links to the city were closed, thus beginning the blockade of Berlin. On 26 June, Britain, the US and other countries began to supply West Berlin by air.

Quotes and perspectives

LeMay is quoted as saying: " I had only been on the job for six or seven months when there came that all-important telephone call from General Lucius D. Clay asking . . . could we haul some coal up to Berlin?'

Mr. McCullough, in his fully documented biography of President Truman, added: "Gen. Clay, the American commander in Berlin, had already been shipping supplies by air, on a very limited scale, a step considered little more than a palliative. On Monday, June 28, {1948}, Truman ordered a full-scale airlift."