Introduction

The two phenomena of the Cold War period were the Berlin Blockade and the Airlift. They emerged after the Second World War and aided in defining new affiliations of the post war Europe and the USSR and the western countries. In this article I plan to go a bit deeper into the specific events and their repercussions.

The Berlin Blockade

The Cold War began in 1947 when the Soviet Union decided to make a demonstration of power demanding that West Germany pay for the goods transported to the western sectors of Berlin by the United States of America and Great Britain. The Soviet Union wanted to tighten its grip on the German capital by sealing off all means of ground and water approaches to the western sectors. This was actually intended to make the powers in the West give up on formation of a separate democracy for West Germany.

The blockade led to scarcity of these important items like food, fuel and raw materials in West Berlin. However, the Western Allies resolved to supply the city, and its people, as well as to not let the Soviet Union dominate it entirely. This implied the beginning of the Berlin Airlift.

The Berlin Airlift

The Berlin Airlift also known as operation “Vittles” was a complex process of supplying import food and other necessities to West Berlin during this blockade. The Western Allies, most notably the United States, launched an around the clock aerial supply drop to deliver food, fuel and other supplies to the cut off city.

The airlift came through from the use of cargo planes that used Tempelhof Airport in West Berlin as their center. Pah Rahma said the planes would land every few minutes to offload their supplies and immediately take off again. This made it possible for the free flow of resources going to the people of West Berlin which relieved it of the kind of pressure that East berlin was in.

The Impact

The Berlin Airlift had far-reaching effects on both the Cold War dynamics and the city of Berlin itself:

1. Demonstration of Western resolve:

 The airlift showed the determination of the West to defend it’s self and its allies against aggression by the Soviet Union. This signified the intention to stand for West Berlin against communism further into Eastern Germany.

2. Cold War tensions intensified:

 The blockade and subsequently the airlift increased the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West again. This is one of the activities that defined a higher level of ideological confrontation of the cold war and a direct affront on Soviet control.

3. Increased division:

 These events as a contribution exacerbated the parlous of east and west Germany. In West Germany the Federal Republic of Germany is recognized as an independent state while in the East Germany the German Democratic Republic has in fact became generally more oriented to the establishment of the Eastern Bloc.

4. New alliances and military cooperation: 

The Berlin Airlift resulted in the création of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Orgnisation) as a collective defense organisation of North America and Europe. It stressed that the Western defence identity was relevant in order to coordinate allied military effort against the Soviets.

5. Legacy of resilience: 

The Berlin Airlift helped to establish the image of the westerners specifically West Berliners as liberty bearers against oppression by the Soviet Union. It focused on how determined to protect their democracy they were, given that they were a surrounded community in East Germany.

Conclusion

The Berlin blockade and airlift where key events towards the formation of the cold war. By the blockade, the Western Allies wanted to end the Soviet control over East Germany as the Berling Airlift demonstrated the western powers’ resolve not to yield to Soviet pressure and their determined to ensure that their interests in the divided city/state were protected. Tremendous effects of these events were the reinforcement of the ideological cleavage; the formation of the new coalition; the setting up of the FRG as the stable democratic country. Its ever remembered as a symbol of Berlin strength and determination to defy Soviet Union regardless of its attempts at controlling the region.