F.3 History - Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade (1948 - 49)

The background
Another battle of the Cold War took place in Germany. Germany in 1945 was divided into four occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French. The capital, Berlin, was also divided in the same way. A joint Alline Control Council was set up to ensure cooperation among the four occupying powers.

Yet, real cooperation between the Soviet Union and the other three allies was difficult. Their first clash was over reparations. The Soviet Union wanted Germany to pay for the heavy killing and widespread destruction the Russians had suffered in the war. On the other hand, the United States, Britain and France had agreed that they should encourage the economic recovery of Germany and reunity the four zones. Stalin, however, was deeply suspicious of a fresh and strong Germany. The opposing aims of the Western powers and the Soviet Union increased the distrust between the two sides.

At first, the relations between the Western zones and the Soviet zones seemed quite peaceful. The Soviet Union kept the routes from Berlin to western zones of Germany open. But the situation changed when the three Western powers proposed to reform the German currency in order to encourage German recovery. Stalin rejected this proposal outright. The United States, Britain and France ignored Stalin and decided to establish West Germany and begin the currency reform. Stalin declared that he would not allow the new currency to be used throughout Berlin. He further demanded that the whole of Berlin should be placed under Soviet control


The Berlin Blockade
On 23 June 1948, the Soviet Union cut all the land routes linking Berlin and the Western zones of Germany. The Berlin Blockade had begun. As a result, two and a half million people in West Berlin were cut off from vital supplies of food and fuel. There was only enough food and fuel for six weeks. The Soviet aim was to force the Western powers to withdraw from West Berlin by starving its population.


The Berlin Airlift
Britain and the United States decided to airlift massive supplies into West Berlin along three narrow air corridors. For almost a year (June 1948 - May 1949), tons of supplies including food and fuel were carried by transport planes and supplied to people in West Berlin every day. The airlift was very expensive and difficult to operate. However, it worked.West Berlin was able to get supplies from the Western zones of Germany. Stalin dared not stop the airlift by direct action, such as shooting down the Western planes, since he was frightened of US reaction and its nuclear weapons. The blockade failed. The Soviet Union reopened the land routes to West Berlin in May 1949.


The result and significance
The Berlin Airlift showed the Soviet Union that the blockade could not force Western Aillies out of Berlin. It also revealed the unity and determination of the Aillies in checking Soviet expansion.

Sovient-Western realtions worsened over the crisis, making a reunification of Germany impossible. After the crisis, the three Western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) with its capital at Bonn, while the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) withs its cspital at East Berlin. In 1961, a wall was built to separate East and West Berlin. German reunification did not come until November 1989.

Even before the Berlin crisis ended, the US was convinced that a long-term military alliance was needed. On 4 April 1949, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO北大西洋公約組織) was established with 12 member states. The Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat. In response, the Soviet Union formed her own military alliance with her satellites in Eastern Europe called the Warsaw Pact. The division between the Western bloc and the Soviet bloc became more obvious.

發D物資過去幫東邊囉 {食物&藥物}
幫助佢地對抗蘇聯
之後北約{1949年4月}出現
蘇聯發現西方要阻止蘇聯既行動
之後就解除封鎖{1949年5月左右}