Berlin Crisis

1948-1949

Marshall Plan
Why was the USA interested in Europe postWWII? What were some success of the Marshall Plan?

What questions do you have about the Marshall Plan?

Iron Curtain A term used by Winston Churchill to describe the separating of the communist lands of East Europe from the West.

The Berlin Crisis

How do the US & Soviet Union fight their first Cold War Battle?

Background
There were many questions facing the Allies following World War II One of the biggest involved what should be done with Germany
Having suffered from German Aggression twice in the first half of the 20th Century, France and the USSR wanted a weakened Germany

The Solution
Create occupation zones based on the way in which the armies had entered the country The Soviets received the agricultural areas in the east, the British received the industrial areas to the north, and the Americans received the scenic areas to the south. The French zone was later carved out of part of the American zone.

 As we know, Berlin was divided into four occupied zones People in Berlin were badly affected by shortages and starvation Marshall Aid meant that dollars were flooding into of Germany The Allies relied on the Soviets letting them through their to get to their part of Berlin

Trouble in Berlin

Potsdam Agreement states Germany must pay reparations to USSR Marshall Plan giving millions to West German zones, Truman says that money cannot be used to pay to Soviet Union Says US is violating international law Installs a communist govt. in Soviet zone, that govt forms the country of East Germany, a Soviet Satellite

Joseph Stalin

Soviet section of Berlin becomes E. Berlin, the E. German capital. No chance of merging zones now.
US, Britain & France allow their zones to merge and form a government, creating country of West Germany Western sections of Berlin merge to form West Berlin US/GB will have to travel through East Germany to supply City of W. Berlin.

Harry Truman

Berlin
The city of Berlin was to remain the capital, and although it was situated deep within the Soviet zone, it became a divided city, with the western half occupied by the British, the United States, and the French

 Although the Western Allies had territory in Berlin, there was never an agreement with the Soviets to allow surface access into the city. In the interest of safety, however, an agreement was reached establishing air corridors to and from the city. The Allies wanted five corridors, but the Soviet Union only agreed to three
Two were in the British Zone, one in the American

Each corridor was 20 miles wide

What Caused the Blockade?

Europe was not recovering from the war as quickly as hoped The Western zones decided to replace the nearly worthless German currency with new money(Deutschmark), a move the Soviets ferociously opposed The US came up with the idea of combining the three western zones into Trizonia to help Germany recover The Soviet Union, opposed Germany unity and imposed a short (possibly a test), blockade in April 1948, preventing supplies from reaching Berlin
The purpose was not to drive the Western Allies out of Germany, but rather to force their hand.

 Stalin: already annoyed at West for new currency Deutschmark Allied convoys of food and materials started to get held up at checkpoints
Then vital bridges & autobahn were closed for repairs

The Berlin Blockade

On June 23, 1948, a message from a Soviet news agency was sent to a newspaper in Berlin. It read: The Soviet administration is compelled to halt all traffic to and from Berlin tomorrow at 0600 hours because of technical difficulties.
These technical difficulties closed the roads and canals, and shut off electricity to parts of West Berlin

Berlin had only enough food and supplies to last for 6 weeks America believed that if West Berlin fell to Communism, the next to fall would be West Germany

 Truman wrote in his diary we are very close to war Stalin wanted to flex his muscles and show the USA he was powerful

Conditions in Berlin

People were living on as little as 1000 to 1500 calories per day even before the blockade

The Allies determined they needed to supply at least 1700 calories a day to the 2.3 million people residing in West Berlin

What would you do?

What is a President to do?

Negotiate: Send representatives to Soviet Union and try to settle dispute peacefully: Make a deal Break through Blockade: Using armed convoys, continue to use roads to get supplies to W. Berlin Pull out of Berlin: Would the Soviets gain control of the entire city? Airlift: Send in supplies via airplane. Can we supply a city of over 2 million people w. enough supplies?

 Only way was an airlift Three narrow air corridors were set up to Berlin Conditions were bad ice, fog etc 79 Allied pilots killed Russian fighter planes followed Allied Planes in case they flew off course Berliners welcomed planes with open arms

Since roads were blocked into Berlin, US & Britain had to airlift supplies to the city.

East and West Berlin and Berlin Airlift airports.

 Soviets tried to bribe people to move east with extra rations of vegetables and coal 3% accepted

The Berlin Airlift

British and American forces organized a 24 hour-aday airlift into the city providing food, supplies and other goods for 11 months Britain also stationed B-29 planes with atomic bomb capability within short distance of Berlin to ward off ideas of shooting down British and American airlift planes

Punch Cartoon of showing the Berlin Airlift

A miniature city is used instruct how the airlift will work and locations that will be used.

US Air traffic controllers directing the airlift

Pilots at Rhein-Main flew four round trips per day.

The limited load capacity of the C-47 aircraft necessitated that the much larger C-54s be added to the airlift as quickly as possible. A single C-54 was capable of carrying as much cargo as four of its older cousins.

Jewish Passover food arriving in Berlin.

Fresh milk being loaded on a C47. Shipments of whole milk soon were dropped in favor of more weight efficient condensed milk.

One of the first planes to bring in supplies. Food had to be rationed as well. Two-thirds of a pound per day for employed persons and one-half pound for the unemployed.

A C-54 flies over a graveyard and perilously close to some apartments buildings while making its landing approach.

Remains of a Navy C-54 after a crash landing on the night of November 15, 1948.

Miniature parachutes carrying treats for the kids can be seen dropping from a C-54 as it comes in for a landing.

German children playing out their own Berlin Airlift

Waiting for supplies. Notice the kids sitting on rubble from WWII

The End of the Blockade

In spite of the obstacles involved, the Berlin Airlift was maintained and the Soviets eventually gave up and removed the blockade The Airlift ended after talks in May 1949
Conflict had been avoided Eastern part of Berlin stayed Communist

In May the French British and Americans combined their zones to form the Federal Republic of West Germany The Iron Curtain that Churchill had talked about had fallen across Europe

While the Statistics are impressive

The main things the airlift provided the people of Berlin were:

HOPE and FREEDOM

US Cold War Foreign Policy

Berlin Airllift

Containment Policy

Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan