Berlin+-+12-13

= The Berlin Blockade and Airlift = = June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949 =



=A brief description about the event =

Shortly after World War iI, a delicate balance of power surfaced among the Allies – Great Britain, United States, France, and the Soviet Union. The opposing economic structures of capitalism and communism emerged triumphant at the end of the war: the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, sought to ensure their permanence by negotiating territorial claims. At the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, Europe and the Far East were partitioned off as spheres of influence to their respective Ally governments. The German capital of Berlin was divided into four sectors – the French, British, American, and Soviet sectors. The Soviet zone produced much of the food supply of Germany, while the British and American zones had to rely on food imports even before the war. This divided Germany, under direct supervision of the Council of Foreign Ministers (Allied Control Council) and the Kommandatura, was to become the first battleground of the emerging Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. When the Soviets blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control, the Western Allies responded by organizing the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to people in West Berlin. The United States Air Force, British Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and South African Air Force flew over 200,000 flights in a single year to deliver more cargo than had previously been transported to Berlin by rail. The success of the Berlin Airlift brought shame to the Soviets, and the blockade was lifted in May 1949, resulting in the creation of two separate German states.

media type="youtube" key="6dN6IM5PqYo" height="315" width="420" align="center"

A five-minute video about the Berlin blockade and airlift

=A list of the "major players" involved =

__Western Allies __

 * ====Great Britain ====
 * ====France ====
 * ====United States ====

__Soviet Union __
=Dates =

1948
**Mar. 20**: The Soviet representative demands to know what happened at a secret London meeting of the Western powers during an ACC gathering in Berlin (The United States, France, and Great Britain had been planning a new West German state). **Mar. 31**: Soviets demand inspection of all Western military trains going to and from Berlin, to which Clay refuses to comply and halts train shipments. This starts a mini-airlift to re-supply the Western troops in Berlin for 10 days. **Apr. 10**: The Soviets stop their inspection demands but continue occasional harassment of road and rail traffic. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Jun. 18**: The Western powers announce plans for a new Deutschmark to replace the former German currency, to which Russia refuses to comply and announces its own currency four days later. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Jun. 23:** When the Western Deutschmark appears in Berlin, the Soviets cut power to West Berlin to begin a blockade of the city. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Jun. 24**: All rail, road, and water access from the Western zones to Berlin is halted. The Soviets declare that they will not send any supplies to West Berlin the next day, to which the Western Allies impose a counter-blockade on Soviet areas. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Jun. 26**: The Berlin airlift begins with 32 flights in West Germany. 80 tons of provisions are delivered the first day. The American attempt to supply Berlin’s 2.5 million people is named “Operation Vittles”, while the British effort becomes known as “Operation Plainfare”. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Jul. 1**: THe Soviets quit the Kommandatura. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Aug. 2**: Western representatives meet with Stalin in Moscow to discuss the blockade. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Aug. 13**: On the airlift’s 50th day, named “Black Friday”, a series of close calls near Tempelhof lead General Tunner to alter flight patterns and request civilian air traffic controllers from the U.S.. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Oct. 4**: The United Nations Security Council takes up the issue of the blockade; the Soviet Union rejects the Security Council resolution to end blockade on Oct. 26.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">1949
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Jan.**: The first American airlift participants begin rotating back to their home bases. The British begin evacuating Berlin children in planes that have unloaded their cargo. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Apr. 4**: The Western Allies sign the North Atlantic Treaty in washington. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**May 23**: The Federal Republic of Germany is established in the Western zones. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Oct. 7**: The Soviets respond to the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany by announcing their own German Democratic Republic in the East.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">1954
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Oct.**: NATO guarantees the defense of West Berlin.

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The outcome of this event =

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Berlin Airlift was the first large-scale, modern humanitarian effort that primarily used airplanes as a means of delivery. Similarly, the political effort involved was also the first international humanitarian coalition that utilized military vehicles, instillations, resources, personnel, and aircraft. This set the precedent for future aid operations; modern wartime humanitarian relief operations and nation building policies were forged.

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">How this event influenced the Cold War as a whole = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">From the beginning, there were tensions between the Western Allies and the USSR. American troops were subject to delaying tactics and many obstructions when they crossed the Soviet zone to reach their sector of Berlin. Such friction foreshadowed a crisis when the administration of Berlin was set up. East Germany was tightly controlled by the Soviet Union, aiding Soviet espionage and intelligence operations throughout the Cold War. The Western Allies, on the other hand, united their operation zones and created a self-sufficient government in West Germany. After the success of the airlift operations and formal end to the Soviet blockade, there was no easing of political tensions. The Berlin Wall, constructed in the early 1960s to partition the city, became a Cold War symbol of the division between East and West, democratic and communist. =

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bibliography =

"Berlin Airlift." //History.com//. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. "Berlin Airlift." //Traces.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.

"Timeline: The Berlin Airlift." //American Experience//. PBS, 2007. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. "The Berlin Airlift." //The Berlin Airlift//. Truman Library, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.

"The Berlin Blockade/Airlift." //The Berlin Blockade/Airlift//. GCSE History, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.