Transcript 投影片 1 - St Francis' Canossian College

What is the Berlin Blockade?
Introduction
The Berlin Blockade was…
•a symbol of the Cold War
•started in 1948 and ended in 1949
•carried out by the USSR to
control the whole of Berlin
Background
• After the Second World War, the world was divided into 2
blocs : Capitalist bloc and Communist bloc.
• Germany was divided into 4 zones: zones occupied by
Britain, USA and France belonged to the capitalist bloc while
the Soviet zone was in the communist bloc.
• Berlin, the capital city of Germany which was located in the
Soviet zone, was also divided into 4 parts.
Berlin
Division of Germany
Division of Berlin
Development
In June 1948 …
• The USSR wanted to control the whole of Berlin
• In order to force Britain, USA, France to give up
West Berlin, the USSR blocked all land routes
and canal traffic from western zones of Germany to
Berlin, leading to the Berlin Blockade
a placard in West Germany
The Berlin Blockade
•In the winter of 1948-49, citizens in West
Berlin lived on dried potatoes, powdered
eggs and cans of meat. They only had 4
hours of electricity per day.
• Britain, USA, France responded by sending
supplies to West Berlin by air
from TIME in 1948
The Berlin Blockade
• In the Berlin Airlift, 275,000 flights carried 1.5
million tons of supplies. Every 3 minutes, a plane
landed in West Berlin.
• In 1949, 12 nations, included USA, Britain,
France and Canada formed a military alliance,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• The USSR felt worried and wanted to avoid wars
• Stalin ended the Berlin Blockade
Berliners welcomed the planes which sent supplies to them
Political cartoons on the Berlin Blockade
It was published by
Britain in 1948. In the
picture, Stalin
watches the storks
flying to Berlin with
food. But he could not
shoot them down.
It was published in
1948 by West
Germany. In the
picture, the two
men carry “road
closed’’ and “rail
closed’’ placard are
able to stop the
land traffic. But the
man who is holding
a net on the top is
not able to stop the
air traffic. It shows
that the Berlin
Blockade was not
successful
because of the
Berlin Airlift.
Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Europe
• It increased the fear of communism among capitalist
countries, leading to the formation of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by the
capitalist states
• To counter the NATO, the USSR formed the
Warsaw Treaty Organization with the East
European communist state
• 2 opposing military organizations were formed
Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Europe
• The tense relationship between the Communist
bloc and the Capitalist bloc worsened and
threatened war peace
• On the other hand, it led to greater unity among the
Western European states, paving the way for the
formation of the European Union
Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Germany
• In May 1949, the western zones of Germany united and
formed the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). It
stayed in the capitalist bloc
• In October 1949, the Soviet zone became the German
Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was in the
communist bloc
• Under the strict control of the USSR, East Germany became
weaker and poorer than West Germany
• Many people escaped from East Germany to West Germany
for a better life
Map of Berlin
Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Germany
• In order to stop the loss of people, the East German
government built the Berlin Wall in 1961
• People in West and East Germany were separated
and they could not have contact with one another
• Although passing through the Berlin Wall was not
allowed, many people from East Germany still tried
to go to the other side for freedom.
• In 1990, the Berlin Wall fell, Germany was reunited.
Test on the Berlin Blockade
‧The End‧
Duty List
Duties
Member(s) in charge
Collecting information
Loraine Chung, Mandy
Law, Tiffany Tam, Joyce
Tsui, Bess Wong
Writing of text
Joyce Tsui, Bess Wong
IT production
Loraine Chung, Mandy
Law
Script
Tiffany Tam