imer gran conflicto de la Guerra Fra.

Factors Causing the

Blockade
1. In March 1948 the Allied powers decided to
unite their different occupation zones of
Germanyinto a single economic unit.
2. In protest, the Soviet representative
withdrew from the Allied Control Council.
3. Coincident with the introduction of a new
deutschemarkinWest Berlin(as throughout
West Germany), which the Soviets regarded
as a violation of agreements with the Allies,
the Soviet occupation forces in
eastern Germanybegan ablockadeof all
rail, road, and water communications
betweenBerlinand the West.

24 Junio 1948: US anuncia que la administracin

cuatripartita de Berln se terminaba, y que los
aliados no tenan ms derechos en la zona.
26 Junio: EEUU y Gran Bretaa comienzan el
puente areo.
Julio : US aumenta la ocupacin armada en
Alemania del Este. Aumenta la tensin de los 2
bloques
12 Mayo 1949: Despus de 11 meses, se
levanta el bloqueo

Termina en Septiembre 1949.

Costo total: $224 millones, entreg
2,323,738 toneladas de comida .
The end to the blockade was brought
about because of countermeasures
imposed by the Allies on East German
communications and, above all, because of
the Western embargo placed on all
strategic exports from the Eastern bloc. As
a result of the blockade and airlift, Berlin
became a symbol of the Allies willingness
to oppose further Soviet expansion in
Europe.

Factors Causing the

Blockade
1. Marshall Plan
2. Union of Western German (Bizonia)
states creating its own currency

Eastern European countries would buy

Western Germany currency which devalues
the Eastern European currency

3. Differing aims for Germany

Russia wants it to crumble

US/ BR want to rebuild its economy

Therefore, Russia blocks off surface routes

from Western Germany to West Berlin

Resumen
Negociaciones
con U
Sovitica.
1948

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/documents/index.php?
pagenumber=1&documentdate=1948-00-00&documentid=3-3&studycollectionid=Berlin

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/documents/index.php?
pagenumber=1&documentdate=1948-00-00&documentid=3-3&studycollectionid=Berlin

General Lucius Clay

Called for armed
convoys to push
through the
blockade
Plan was never
implemented
American ground
forces in Europe
were not strong
enough to defeat
the USSR

Berlin Airlift
US decides not to start a war and decides to send
supplies to West Berlin by air (British proposal)
Shows the resolve of the US to keep West
Berlin
C-47: Used to carry
supplies (3.5 tons each)

1948

"Operation Vittles
"Operation Plane Fare"
3,475 tons of supplies
were needed daily to
keep the over 2 million
people alive
3475 3.5 (capacity of C47) = approximately 1000
flights/day needed!!!

Coal was the largest

necessity (industries)
Later in June, C-54s
were used (10 tons)
faster too
Spacing of 3 minutes,
both types of planes
were used

Airlift Facts

The blockade lasted 318 days (11 months)

In the winter of 194849 Berliners lived on dried potatoes,
powdered eggs and cans of meat
4 hours of electricity/day
275,000 flights carried over 1 million tons of supplies (2.3 million
with Britain)
On 16 April 1949, 1400 flights brought in 13,000 tons of supplies in
one day
Some pilots dropped chocolate and sweets

Candy Drops

Significance
May 1929 Soviets end the blockade
They did not want war either

Airlift continues for a few more months to

stock Berlin in case of another blockade
2.5 million West Berliners saved without
violence
US would see the importance of air
transport and increases production of
transport planes
Template for Cold War conflicts push to
the point of war but drawing back just
before (Brinkmanship)
Leads to the creation of NATO

D) NATO North Atlantic Treaty

Organization
Truman Doctrine = political warning
Marshal Plan = economic resistance
NATO = military alliance
US, Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Norway,
Portugal, Italy, Britain, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands and Luxembourg

Reasons for
NATO

Protection from
unprovoked attack
Russian communism
posed a threat to
democracy

NATO
America
to be its
leader
Headquar
ters in
Paris

Significance
Organized defence of the West
European-American cooperation
total end of isolationism
First American peace time military
alliance
Soviets will respond with the Warsaw
Pact in 1955

Essay Assignment

Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
NATO

To what extent do the actions of the USA between

1945-1949 reflect a policy of containment
towards communism?
OR
To what extent were the Americans/ Russians
responsible for escalating Cold War tensions
between 1945-1949? (causes and effects)

 Their plan after this was to divide the

country into four zones of occupation,
each country controlling a zone
Each unit was to be administered through
a joint committee called the Allies Control
Council (ACC)
ACC formed by the commanders-in-chief
of each of the occupying armies and their
headquarters were in Berlin
Germany was to be treated as a single unit
so any decisions about it had to have
unanimous support from the ACC
As soon as the 4 zones were established
each Allie power began establishing their
own rules going against this policy

 Berlin, Germanys capitol, was

situated in the Soviet Union zone
It was granted separate status, and
was divided into 4 zones again for
each Allie power
Each Allie power had to appoint a
commander for this section of Berlin
The western part of Germany had no
access to Berlin
In June 1945 the Allies agreed to
have one main road, one main rail
line and two air strips into the city

 There began to be disagreements

between the Allies as to what their
mission was in Germany and how
long they would stay there
This caused a lot of tensions between
the US and Soviet Union
President Truman finally decided to
take a stand and released the
Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947
The second step came through the
Marshall Plan

 Sept 22, 1947- Soviet Union fought back

by rejecting the Marshall Plans European
Recovery Program
Tensions after this point escalated
between the Western powers (US, Britain
and France) and the Soviet Union
Feb. 1948- Western powers met in London
to discuss uniting their zones into a single
economic unit with the same currency
The Soviet Union wrote letters to each
government on February 13, 1948 stating
that any decisions that were reached at
this meeting would not be considered
legitimate in their eyes

 To protest the London conference the

Soviet Union withdrew from the ACC
and the 4 powers never met together
again
Soviet Union began putting
restrictions on traffic to Berlin from
Western Zones (March 30, 1948)
US personnel traveling through the
Soviet zone by rail and highway had to
present evidence of identity
Shipments from Berlin to Western zones
had to be cleared through Soviet check
points
All baggage had to be inspected at
Soviet check points with the exception

 The US protested, but the Soviets did not

listen
In the spring of 1948 more restrictions
were put into place
Soviets explained them as technical
difficulties such as repairs to railways
Western zones restricted exports to Soviet
zone that were crucial to their economy
June 18, 1948- Western zones proceeded
with a common currency (Deutsche mark)
This currency spread to Western zones of
Berlin 4 days later
All residents of Berlin had no choice but to
exchange their Russian currency into
Deutsche marks to buy all goods they

 This was the last straw for Soviets

In June 22, 1948, they established
their own separate currency that
would be used in the entire Soviet
zone, including all of Berlin
Two days, June 24, 1948, all land and
water traffic to and from Berlin was
stopped- this fully began the Berlin
Blockade
Tensions and a war of words
continued between the US and the
Soviets- a fully blow war was
inevitable

 The US had to figure out the

intentions of the Soviets
Before they could do this, West Berlin
was running out of food and supplies
The Western zones had no way of
getting these supplies to their
people, except by air
The airlift began on June 26, 1948,
delivering food and fuel to West
Berlin
By the fall these supplies had run
out, and another airlift had to be
done

 The Soviets soon saw that the

blockade was not going to halt the
Western powers
March 1949- they entered
negotiations with USA, UK and France
to lift the blockade. Results were a 3
point plan;
Restriction on communications,
transportation and trade between Berlin
and Western zones will be removed May
9, 1949
Restrictions the Western zones imposed
will be removed May 9, 1949
On May 23, 1949, the 4 powers will

 The final results were to keep

Germany divided between East and
West
The Federal Republic in Western
Germany was created on Sept. 21,
1949, New capital was Bonn
Democratic Republic in Eastern
Germany on October 7, 1949, capital
remained East Berlin
There was still fear about a military
build up in Eastern Europe, therefore
a Western alliance formed: North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

 NATO treaty signed on April 4, 1949

in Washington DC by : Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, France, Great
Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, US
(Greece, Turkey in 1952) (Western
Germany 1955)
Treated stated that an armed attack
against one or more will be
considered an attack against all of
them

 At the same time Eastern Europe was

signing similar agreements
The Warsaw Treaty Organization was
signed by Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
East Germany, Hungary, Poland,
Romania and Soviet Union
This began the Cold War- Western
world armed lead by the US against
the Eastern world lead by the Soviet
Union

Berlin- 1945

Great
Britain
Soviet
UnionRussia
France

USA

What were the consequences?

1st major flashpoint of Cold War
1949, Western allies estd. Federal
Republic of West Germany
1949, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation) founded
End to US isolationism
Divisions between East & West
Germany became permanent