Transcript How did the Berlin Blockade worsen Superpower Relations?

How did the Berlin Blockade
worsen Superpower Relations?
L/O – To identify the causes and effects of the
Berlin Blockade 1948-49
Problems with Berlin
• Berlin was deep inside the Soviet
sector, yet it was divided between the
four Allied powers (USA, USSR, Britain
and France).
• Germany was now run by a joint Allied
Control Commission.
• Berlin was run by a joint Allied
Kommandatura.
• Each country differed as to how they
felt Germany should be governed.
Who controlled Germany?
Who controlled Berlin?
Rebuilding Germany
• After the war, Germany was crippled and
each of the four occupation zones was in
economic chaos.
• Stalin feared a recovering Germany. He
wanted to keep it crippled.
• The West knew that Germany could not
feed its people unless it could rebuild its
industries. By 1947, the US and Britain
combined their zones to form one ‘bizonia’.
France joined in 1949 to form ‘Trizonia’.
Rebuilding Germany
• During 1948, it became clear that the
USSR intended to turn its zone into a
communist satellite state.
• Britain, France and the USA decided to
firstly set up a German assembly to
create a German constitution.
• They then introduced a new currency –
the Deutschmark – which became the
official currency of Trizonia. Germany
was becoming permanently divided.
Stalin’s Opposition
• The new currency was a step too far for
Stalin. It was seen as a real threat.
• West Berlin was a ‘window into the West’
for those living in the Soviet sector. The
Western allies had invested heavily to help
West Berlin recover. This showed those in
East Germany the higher standard of living
in the West.
• West Berlin was thus a continual
embarrassment to Stalin – it was a
showpiece of capitalism. He was
determined to do something about it.
The Berlin Blockade
• Stalin could do nothing about these
developments but he could stamp his
authority on Berlin.
• Stalin hoped to prove that a divided
Germany could not work in practice. So he
blockaded Berlin in June 1948.
• He used the Soviet military to block off all
supply routes (road, rail, canal) to Berlin,
leaving the 2 million population of West
Berlin stranded.
The Berlin Airlift
• The choice was
taken to fly supplies
in. This meant the
Western Allies
wouldn’t give into
Stalin, but also
wouldn’t provoke
war.
• It placed pressure
back on Stalin – he
couldn’t just shoot
down planes!
The Berlin Airlift
• For 11 months food and other supplies like coal
were flown into Berlin by the Allies.
• Inhabitants of West Berlin depended on these
flights for everything. In Winter 1948 they
survived on dried potatoes, powdered eggs and
cans of meat, with just four hours of electricity a
day.
• 275,000 flights carried 1 ½ million tons of
supplies. At its peak, 1 plane landed every 3
minutes and they had 7 minutes to unload.
• The airlift cost $100 million, and 79 servicemen
who died in accidents.
Was the airlift a success?
• In May 1949, Stalin
called off the blockade.
It was a major
propaganda victory for
the West.
• The impact of the
blockade should not be
underestimated. It
highlighted divisions
between East and West
– and made those
divisions more
permanent.
Relations
worsened – war
had almost
broken out.
Germany would
now be split up
into West and
East Germany.
Results of
the Airlift
NATO and the
Warsaw Pact –
defensive
alliances would
be set up.
Arms Race – both
sides focused on
building nuclear
weapons and
conventional forces.
After the Blockade
• The West set-up NATO in 1949. The ‘North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation’ was a military alliance that
offered mutual support in the event of an attack.
The Warsaw Pact was set up in 1955 by the USSR.
• In May 1949 the Western Allies formal created the
new Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) – West
Germany.
• In October 1949, the USSR responded by creating
the German Democratic Republic (GDR) – East
Germany.
• The Blockade also led to an arms race. Stalin knew
that he would need an atomic bomb to win any
further conflicts. In 1949 the USSR created one.