Notes |
-In 1945, Germany was invaded by Western Powers and Soviet forces
-Berlin itself would be administered by the Allied "Kommandantura" -It was a temporary arrangement. The allies wanted to keep Germany as one economy that would eventually become an independent state -But in 1949 the country was permanently divided -The USSR did not want Germany to become a threatening country again. It also wanted US$20 billion in reparations -As the Cold War developed, suspicions between the East and West increased -It was agreed in the Potsdam conference that the USSR could take 25% of all industrial equipment from the Western Zones. But in return, the USSR had to supply food and raw materials -The USSR failed to deliver enough food, therefore the UK and USA stopped supplying the Soviet zone -In early 1947, the British and American zones had been merged into a "Bizonia" -In April 1946, the Soviets merged with force all of the political parties in their zone to form the Socialist Unity Party (SED) -In 1948 in the London Conference, France, Britain and the USA began drawing up a constitution for a new West German state -They also introduced a new currency called Deutschmark in the Western Zones -The stop this, Stalin decided to blockade Berlin to try to force the west out -There was a total blockade of West Berlin on the 23rd of June 1948 -All road, railway and waterways connecting to West Berlin to the Western Zones of Germany were closed -This left the West with a difficult choice, they didn’t want to start a war with the USSR but they didn’t want to let West Berlin fall to the Communist -The west decided to bypass the blockade by airlifting supplies to west Berlin -Over the course of 320 days, the West flew 200,000 flights to Berlin, supplying over 1 ½ million tons of food and coal to 2.2 million West Berliners at a cost of $100 million. 1 plane landed every three minutes and had 7 minutes to unload -By May 1949 Stalin realized his gamble had failed -The Berlin blockade was the first major confrontation of the Cold War -The West created the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in May 1949. Konrad Adenauer became its first Chancellor. In October, the USSR created the German Democratic Republic (GDR) -This resulted in the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 -The risk of war persuaded the USA that they need to commit military forces to Europe -This resulted in the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949 -This alliance was a military alliance -In May 1954, West Germany was also admitted into the NATO -In response, the Warsaw Pact was created in 1955 to unite all the countries of Eastern Europe under USSR |
Rogers & Thomas textbook Questions (p.36-41) |
1. Why was the Berlin Blockade a test for US intelligence?
Because the US had to decide on how to solve the problem. They had to devise a plan on how to prevent the USSR from controlling the whole of Germany and how to send sup[plies to the west Berliners without putting danger and angering Stalin. 2. What were the conclusions drawn at the time? That Germany was permanently divided. A new currency was introduced in west Germany called the Deutschmark. The West created the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the USSR created the German Democratic Republic (GDR) 3. What was the impact of the crisis on US intelligence? The Americans realized that the armies of the two divided states would also be divided. Because of this the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created to unite military forces in Europe 4. What are the value and limitations of using this as a source for finding out about the Berlin Crisis of 1948? We only get the view from one side of the event, the US and UK side. We don't get to read the opinions of the Soviet Union. The text is biased towards the US. |
Causes |
-The USSR was trying to force the US, UK and France out of Germany
-The USSR failed to deliver enough food to the west Germans so the US and UK didn't supply east Germany with coal |
Impact
|
-The trust between the USSR and US was breaking down
-The Soviets blocked west Berlin to force the US out of Germany |
Significance |
-Germany was permanently divided
-The US created the Federal Republic of Germany and the USSR created the German Democratic Republic -The NATO was born to unite the armies of European countries -It was the first time in the Cold war were the the US and USSR were clearly divided |