Cold war can be described as political rivalry involving USSR and its allies and USA and its allied countries after the second World War. People have various opinions on when the Cold War began but the main argument is that it begun when the Berlin was blockaded in 1948. In this blog post we are going to discuss the antecedents of the Berlin Blockade and the effects it had on the start of the Cold War.
The Origins of the Cold War
The cold war had set its root from the period after world war II. The world powers became the Soviet Union and the United States, their beliefs and goals were opposite. The Soviet Union wanted communism, whereas the United States wanted capitalism and democracy.
When the relations between two superpowers began to deteriorate several events escalated the conflict. After WWII Germany was divided into zones of occupation; the Soviet Union controlled one of these regions, and the ideologies of both regions therefore differ. Failure to determine the best way of reassimilating Germany led to the ideological split into East Germany controlled by Soviet and West Germany control by the western allies.
The Berlin Blockade
The purpose of the Berlin Blockade was to attempt to bring the city of West Berlin, which is deeply surrounded within East Germany, under Soviet control. June 24, 1948 saw the Soviet cut off all road, rail and waterway exits to West Berlin and out of it.
It was meant to pressure the western Allies mainly USA into a cease in supply of provision to West Berlin or surrender to Soviet rule. However, instead of yielding to Soviet pressure, United States and its Western allies began a massive flying exercise called the Berlin Airlift.
From June 1948 to May 1949, the west demended huge food, fuel and other supplies to West Berlin through this large humanitarian mission. The airlift demonstrated the U.S. willingness to defend her interest and her allies against Soviet expansionism.
The role of the Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade played the role of a key event that preceded many severe battles of the Cold War. There was a clear geometry or demarcation line between the two sides, east and west, equally between communism and capitalism.
The blockade therefore symbolized the United’s determination in the containment policy as well as the country’s preparedness to fight the Soviet Union expansionism. The Berlin Airlift reflected an effective decision towards Soviet agression and demonstrated the superiority of the Western democracy and capitalism.
Impact on the Cold War
The long term effects of the Berlin Blockade for the Cold War were as follows. Firstly, it paved the way to official division of Germany. In 1949 West Germany was formed and East Germany was formed in 1949 under Soviet Union influence.
The blockade also stimulated formation of military alliances. After World War II in 1949 the United States of America, Canada together with ten west European countries established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance on collective defense targeting Soviet aggression. This in turn forced the formation of the Warsaw Pact, a military association of the Soviet Union including several East European countries.
The effect of the Berlin Blockade Dispute between the United States and soviet increased the arms race between the two nations. Easily both nations further increased their nuclear arsenal, which itself heavily strained the cold war competition.
Conclusion
The event that was central to the early phase of the Cold War, was the Berlin Blockade. It also signified the start of the segregation of Germany and at the same time helped to promote formation of alliances within military. The forcing through of a blockade was answered by the U.S. through the Berlin Airlift which proved that the country was ready to face Soviet oppression. Lastly, the Berlin Blockade built a wall between the East and the West throughout the entire period of time after WWII and forced both sides into a series of proxy wars.