HISTORY
PROJECT
Berlin Blockade
(1948-1949)
Berlin Blockade
Introduction
The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in losses. During the international job of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food and fuel, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city.
In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin. The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and the recently formed United States Air Force, flew over 200,000 flights in one year that provided 13,000 tons of daily necessities such as fuel and food to the Berliners. By the spring of 1949, the effort was clearly succeeding, and by April, the airlift was delivering more cargo than had previously flowed into the city by rail.
The success of the Berlin Airlift brought humiliation to the Soviets who had refused to believe it could make a difference. The blockade was lifted in May 1949 and resulted in the creation of two separate German states. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) split up Berlin. In remembrance of the airlift, three airports in the former western zones of the city served as the primary gateways to Germany for another fifty years.
The Essay on The Berlin Blockade And Airlift 1948 1949
... of the Berlin blockade might have boosted the West's confidence but it weakened the relationship between the Soviet Union and the Western world so ... his commanding officer, General Le May. He agreed and the airlift started on the 24 th of June 1948 under the ... 6 th, a C-54 taking off from Fass burg, Germany crashed within walking distance of the airfield and three airmen ...
|
The beginning of the Blockade
The day after the June 18 announcement of the new Deutsche Mark, Soviet guards halted all passenger trains and traffic on the autobahn(German expressway) to Berlin, delayed Western and German cargo shipments and required that all water transport secure special Soviet permission. On June 21, the day the Deutsche Mark was introduced, the Soviets halted a United States military supply train to Berlin and sent it back to western Germany. On June 22, the Soviets announced that they would introduce a new currency in their zone. This was known as the “Osatmark”. That same day, a Soviet representative told the other three occuping powers that “We are warning both you and the population of Berlin that we shall apply economic and directorial sanctions that will lead to the flow in Berlin exclusively of the currency of the Soviet occupation zone.” The Soviets launched a massive propaganda campaign condemning Britain, the United States and France by radio, newspaper and loudspeaker. The Soviets conducted well-advertised military maneuvers just outside the city. Rumors of a potential occupation by Soviet troops spread quickly. German communists demonstrated, rioted and attacked pro-West German leaders when these attended meetings of the municipal government in the Soviet sector. Perren Delaney led the way and he shut the building down.
On June 24, the Soviets severed land and water communications between the non-Soviet zones and Berlin. That same day, they halted all rail and barge traffic in and out of Berlin. On June 25, the Soviets stopped supplying food to the civilian population in the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin. Motor traffic from Berlin to the western zones was permitted, but this required a 23 kilometer detour to a ferry crossing because of alleged “repairs” to a bridge.] They also cut off the electricity relied on by Berlin, using their control over the generating plants in the Soviet zone.
Surface traffic from non-Soviet zones to Berlin was blockaded, leaving open only the air corridors. The Soviets rejected arguments that the occupation rights in the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin, and the use of the supply routes during the previous three years, had given Britain, France and the United States a legal claim to use of the highways,
The Essay on Berlin Blockade
... deteriorate further leading up to the Berlin Blockade. Soon Russia and France began removing items from their zones in Germany to help rebuild ... deter the American and British efforts of bringing supplies into Berlin. Soon After the Soviet Union entered into negotiations that would lead to ... delivered nearly 13,000 tons which set a record for a days tonnage and came to be known as the Easter Parade. ...
End of Blockade
The continued success of the Airlift humiliated the Soviets, and the “Easter Parade” of 1949 was the last straw. On 15 April 1949 the Russian news agency TASS reported a willingness by the Soviets to lift the blockade. The next day, the US State Department stated the “way appears clear” for the blockade to end. Soon afterwards, the four powers began serious negotiations, and a settlement was reached on Western terms. On 4 May 1949, the Allies announced an agreement to end the blockade in eight days’ time.
The Soviet blockade of Berlin was lifted at one minute after midnight, on 12 May 1949. A British convoy immediately drove through to Berlin, and the first train from West Germany reached Berlin at 5:32 A.M. Later that day, an enormous crowd celebrated the end of the blockade. General Clay, whose retirement had been announced by US President Truman on May 3rd, was saluted by 11,000 US soldiers and dozens of aircraft. Once home, Clay received a ticker-tape parade in New York City, was invited to address the US Congress, and was honored with a medal from President Truman.
Nevertheless, flights continued for some time, in order to build up a comfortable surplus, though night flying and then weekend flights could be eliminated once the surplus was large enough. By 24 July 1949, three months’ worth of supplies had been amassed, ensuring that the Airlift could be re-started with ease if needed. The Berlin Airlift officially ended on 30 September 1949, after fifteen months. In total, the USA delivered 1,783,573 tons, while 541,937 tons were delivered by the RAF, totaling 2,326,406 tons of food and supplies on 278,228 total flights to Berlin, nearly two-thirds of which was coal. The RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) delivered 7,968 tonnes of cargo and 6,964 passengers during 2,062 sorties. The C-47s and C-54s together flew over 92 million miles in the process, nearly the same distance as from Earth to the Sun. At the height of the Airlift, one plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds.
The Term Paper on Ukraine to Soviet Union
The breakup of the Soviet Union was a pivotal event of the 20the century that changed significantly the political environment of the world. Million of people in Eastern Europe awakened from a bad dream as the communism collapsed. Poland and Ukraine are two of the countries that have come out of the Communist block and embarked in a transition, from the general characteristics of a Communist ...
A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 40 Britons and 31 Americans, mostly due to crashes. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation.
The cost of the Airlift was approximately $224 million (equivalent to approximately $2.04 billion now).
railroads, and canals. Relying on Soviet good will after the war, Britain, France and the United States had never negotiated an agreement with the Soviets to guarantee these land-based rights of access to Berlin through the Soviet zone.
The Soviets refused to honor the new currency, in Berlin or elsewhere, but the Allies had already transported 250,000,000 Deutsche marks into the city and it quickly became the standard currency in all four sectors. This new currency, along with the Marshall Plan that backed it, appeared to have the potential to revitalize Germany, even against the wishes of the Soviets. Further, the introduction of the currency into western Berlin threatened to create a bastion of western economic resurgence deep within the Soviet zone. Stalin considered this a provocation and now wanted the West completely out of Berlin.
At the time, West Berlin had thirty-five days’ worth of food, and forty-five days’ worth of coal. Militarily, the Americans and British were greatly outnumbered due to the post-war scaling-back of their armies. The United States, like other western countries, had disbanded most of its troops and was largely inferior in the European theater, though it still possessed its nuclear deterrent. The entire United States Army had been reduced to 552,000 men by February 1948. Military forces in the western sectors of Berlin numbered only 8,973 Americans, 7,606 British and 6,100 French. Soviet military forces in the Soviet sector that surrounded Berlin totaled one and a half million. The two United States regiments in Berlin could have provided little resistance against a Soviet attack. General Lucius D. Clay, in charge of the US Occupation Zone in Germany, summed up the reasons for not retreating in a cable to Washington, D.C., on 13 June 1948: “There is no practicability in maintaining our position in Berlin and it must not be evaluated on that basis… We are convinced that our remaining in Berlin is essential to our prestige in Germany and in Europe. Whether for good or bad, it has become a symbol of the American intent.
The Essay on The War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War
The War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War are two wars that physically appear two opposites. The War of 1812 involves plenty of naval battles and a few major land battles, while the Mexican-American War involves numerous land battles and few, if any, naval battles. However there are numerous similarities. The War of 1812, The US saw Great Britain as a major problem because of their definition ...
Believing that Britain, France and the United States had little option other than to acquiesce, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany celebrated the beginning of the blockade. General Clay felt that the Soviets were bluffing about Berlin since they would not want to be viewed as starting a Third World War. Stalin did not want a war, and Soviet actions were aimed at exerting military and political pressure on the West to obtain concessions, relying on the West’s prudence and unwillingness to provoke a war
