Thus, the Berlin Blockade and Airlift was one the significant episodes of the Cold War period. It was a confrontation between France, Britain and America and the USSR about the leadership of the post World War II Berlin. This blog post is devoted to the explication of the reasons for the Berlin Blockade and the consequent airlift to give you more insight into this important event.
The Origins of the Cold War
Let us go a little over the background of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift in order to fully appreciate this historical event which is best explained during the start of the Cold War. After the Second World War, there emerged hostility between the western democratic states on the one side and the Soviet union on the other side. The United States, Britain, and France had different opinions from the USSR for the post war Europe.
The Division of Germany
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, it was decided that Germany would be divided into four occupied zones, each controlled by one of the four major powers: the United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France. Postwar Berlin, which lay in the Soviet zone, was also divided among four sectors. Yet, relations between the USSR and the Western Allies were tense in a fairly short while.
The ever famous Marshall’s Plan and the Currency Reform
The Marshall Plan was launched in 1947 to bring recovery of the economy of Europe after the world war. That was the initiative, which provided funds to those countries, which was involved in wars and Germany among them. The USSR saw the Marshall Plan as an effort to build an economic superiority of American’s influence, hence declined to be part of it and prohibited the eastern European countries it dominated to take aid.
As a result of the Marshall Plan, the Soviets applied the currency reform in 1948 and changed the old currency- the Reichsmark to the new one – the Deutsche Mark in their zone. The Western Allies regarded it as an effort towards the Sovietization of the whole of Germany in terms of economy.
The Berlin Blockade
The situation underlined in June 1948, when the Soviet Union cut all road, canal, and barge deliveries to West Berlin from the allied zones. The plan was to ensure that supplies coming into West Berlin were cut off and then ensure full control of the city in the East.
Airlifting Supplies
The Western Allies faced a major challenge: How to bring supplies in to 2.5 million inhabitants of West Berlin? The solution was the largest in terms of scale ever seen, an airlift operation.
From the June of 1948 to May of 1949 the Allies provided the population of West Berlin with food, coal , and other necessities through air dropping them in what is referred to as the Berlin Airlift. This operation required 24-hour flying; some planes landed at Tempelhof Airport every few minutes.
The Outcome
It may safely be said that the Berlin Airlift was not an absolute failure for the Western Allies. It was not only a ‘lift’ of the necessary supplies to West Berlin but also a demonstration of their willingness to hold Berlin together against Soviets.
Knowing that they could not hold the western powers off indefinitely they pulled out of the blockade on May 12, 1949. The blockade itself, as well as the action crystallized in the airlift, caused a serious division of Germany after the war and became a turning point in the Cold War period.
Conclusion
In turn the post Second World War period saw the whole event known as the Berlin Blockade and Airlift as a crucial turning point of early Cold war. Soviet control regarding the Europeans’ future after the Second World War gave rise to the Soviet Berlin blockade. But hard work, determination and resourcefulness of the Allies saw the Airlift mission succeed and they put enough pressure on the Soviets which led to the ending of the blockade.
The dictator of the Soviet zone in Germany, boasted of his triumph in the Berlin Blockade and Airlift and also to remember the sophistication of diplomacy, to learn the values of persistence and to recall the freedom’s determined stand against aggression. It is still a great example of determination and the ability for organization and coming together in spite of natural difficulties.