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The Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War, setting up the stage for the decades of tension that were to follow.
In 1948, Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, blocked all rail and road access to Berlin. This sudden and unexpected move led to a major U.S. operation known as the Berlin Airlift, in which supplies were flown into the city for almost a year. BackgoundAt the end of World War II, defeated Germany was divided into four zones, controlled separately by the U.S., France, Britain and the Soviet Union. Although Berlin lay deep within the Soviet zone, it too was divided into four sections. While the Western countries (France, Britain and the U.S.) hoped Germany would soon be united as a democratic country, the Soviet Union hoped that Germany would follow its own example and become communist. Causes of the Berlin BlockadeStalin was renowned for his paranoia. He had submitted his own people to terrible purges in order to cleanse the Soviet Union of opposition. It is therefore unsurprising that he felt threatened by Western presence in the heart of the Soviet zone. In 1948 the three non-Russian zones united to form one economic unit. Stalin did not like the idea of a strong Germany, preferring it to remain divided as Russia had been invaded by Germany in the past. In response to the joining of the three non-Russian zones, Stalin blocked all rail and road access to the Berlin. Consequences of the Berlin BlockadeThe Western half of Berlin contained around two and a quarter million people who had only six week's worth of food. West Berlin, despite its strategic liability because of the surrounding Soviet zone, had become a symbol of democratic resistance to the expansion of communism. The U.S. saw the blockade as a test of their commitment and, unwilling to risk military confrontation with the Soviet Union, they took the lead in the major air-lifting operation. The Berlin AirliftAccording to Flying Officer Frank Stillwell who participated in the airlift, "It was the greatest ever humanitarian undertaking, providing the essential supplies to 2.2 million Berlin inhabitants. If we had failed, the Russians would have taken over Berlin completely, with the spread of communism westward." The airlift began on July 1 under the leadership of General Curtis LeMay. By the end of the blockade on May 12, 1949, the airlift (codenamed "Operation Vittles") was bringing in an average of 5,000 tonnes of supplies a day. Consequences of the Berlin Blockade and AirliftDue to the blockade tension between the US and the Soviet Union increased. In response to what the US deemed the threat of communism, the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was established as an alliance against the Soviet Union. NATO included France, Britain and the US, as well as a number of other non-communist countries. Germany remained divided and in 1949 West Germany became known officially as the Federal Government of Germany, while the Soviet zone, or Eastern Germany, became the German Democratic Republic. Despite its title, East Germany was communist. In 1954 West Germany was admitted to NATO and began to rearm, despite Stalin's worries about a strong Germany. In 1955 the Warsaw Pact was created by the Soviet Union as a defensive alliance against NATO, which included many of the Soviet Union's neighbouring countries. The Berlin Blockade was a potentially dangerous flashpoint in the Cold War, which could have been seen as an omen for the decades of tension that were to come. SourcesGere, Edwin. The Unheralded: Men and Women of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift. Trafford Publishing, Canada, 2003
The copyright of the article The Berlin Blockade in Military History is owned by Rebecca Byrnes. Permission to republish The Berlin Blockade in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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