The Berlin crisis was one of the most critical events that took place in the cold war regimen, which made the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union even worse. Hence in this blog, the analysis will highlight the significant features of the Berlin Crisis as well as how it raised the stakes of the Cold War.

Background of the Cold War

Before analysing the effects of the Berlin Crisis one must define what Cold War is all about. The Cold War was a decade of rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the decade following the Second World War. These two superpowers were comprised of two differing ideological systems; capitalist and democratic United States, and the communism embraced Soviet Union.

This ideology denied the other a chance to rule the region and extend the influence of its ideology and this led to series of confrontations and wars in proxy. The Berlin crisis however was instrumental in the promotion of this heated rivalry.

The division of Germany and Berlin

During and after the second world war, Germany was split into four zones of occupation under the allied forces of the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Britain. Like the city of Berlin, which was located in the deep Soviet zone, the city was divided into four sectors.

After sometime, the relationship between the soviet union and the western powers stressed because of the difference in the government system and the economy. This finally culminated in the formation of two separate entities by the year 1949; the Federal Republic of Germany, also known as West Germany that enjoyed the support of the western powers, and the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, under the dominance of the Soviet Union.

The Berlin Blockade

In 1948, Russia started the Berlin blockade trying to make Berlin and its western zones come under their control. This involved the complete sealing off of the Western sectors from any road, rail or canal transport thus denying these sectors the bare necessities for existence.

As a counter measure then the United States and its allies conducted the Berlin Airlift where food supplies and equipment where flown into West Berlin. This airlift continued for almost one year and demonstrated and commitment of the western powers for the freedom and independence of western sectors.

Steps to the Formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

After the Berlin Crisis as well as the escalating Cold War, the United States and its partners constructed NATO prior to 1949. NATO, as portrayed here, was originally a military organization of the United States of America, Canada, and several states of Europe with a role of contending the soviet union.

As a result, to-counter this NATO in 1955 the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact which was a mutual defense pact with the East European Satellite States. All these alliances entrenched super-power rivalry between east and west and raised the ante in the Cold war.

Consequently,

 the aim of the paper is to assess the relative importance of the Berlin Crisis to the superpowers identifying whether it was a source of conflict or a background for lesser clashes and understanding implications of the standoff for the current global status.

The Berlin Crisis had several significant effects on the course of the Cold War:

Increased Tensions: 

The situation known as the Berlin Crisis brought exaggerated tensions in relations between USA and Soviet Union. It illustrates some prospects of direct confrontation of two superpowers and their intent to their values.

Creation of Alliances: 

The Berlin Crisis directly produced NATO and the Warsaw Pact as forces. These military affiliations only served to intensify conflict along the East and West dividing and creating the blueprint for future battles.

Escalated Arms Race: It intensified conflict and led to rapid speed up of arms race between United States of America and Soviet Union. The two sides possessed nuclear weapons and they accumulated their arms to high levels, so the prospect of large scale war was close at hand.

Division of Germany: The events of the Berlin Crisis made the division of Germany into the Eastern and the Western part and bent the borders that were to stay until the German reunifications in 1990.

The End of the Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis continued for some half year before the Soviet Union, realizing the vain nature of their actions, removed the blockade in 1949. Nevertheless, Cold War crisis struck deep severe wounds and significantly defined the subsequent decades’ international relations.

Actually, the Berlin Crisis was an important episode which determined the climate of the U.S.S.R./U.S. confrontation and influenced the Cold War development. It can be seen historically as it was the main cause of the alliances, arms race and Germany partitions constituents of rest of the cold war. In order to realize all these objectives, it is critical to study the history of the Berlin Crisis and make an attempt to understand the key premise of this period in human history.