The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis

IMPORTANT EVENTS/DATES
1. January 1947
  1. Britain and the USA join their two zones together
2. December 1947
  1. London Conference: America, Britain and France meet to discuss Germany's future. Russia is not present.
3. January 1948
  1. Russia starts to stop western literature being sold in the Soviet zone.
4. March 1948
  1. The USA offers Marshall Aid. Stalin forbids Cominform countries to take part.
5. April 1948
  1. Russia imposes a partial blockade of west Berlin
    1. Allied transport into the city has to apply for a permit and is inspected
6. 1st June 1948
  1. America, Britain and France announce they wanted to create a new country of West Germany
7. 23rd June 1948
  1. America, Britain and France introduce a new currency
    1. This causes economic chaos in the Russian zone
      1. Everyone tries to get rid of their old money and change to the new currency
SUMMARY
1. 1. In 1945, the Allies decided to split Germany into four zones of occupation
  1. Berlin, was also split into four zones
  2. USSR took huge reparations from its zone, but the other three zones tried to improve conditions in their area.
    1. USSR were trying to cripple Germany
      1. To prevent future attacks
2. 2. In June 1948, Britain, France and America united their zones into a new country
  1. "West Germany"
3. 3. 23 June 1948, UK,US, FR introduce a new currency
  1. To help trade
4. 4. 24 June 1948, Stalin creates the Berlin Blockade
  1. Cutting off all rail/road links to West Berlin
    1. West sees this as an attempt to starve Berlin into surrender
      1. They decided to supply West Berlin by air
5. The Berlin Blockade lasted 318 days
  1. 275,000 planes transported 1.5 million tons of supplies and a plane landed every three minutes at Berlin's Templehof airport
  2. 5. 12 May 1949, Stalin abandons the blockade
RESULTS
1. Germany was divided until 1990
  1. WEST : Federal Republic of Germany
  2. EAST : Democratic Republic of Germany
2. Iron Curtain became permanent
3. Official "Cold War" breaks out
  1. Arms Race begins
4. In 1949, the Allies set up the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
  1. A military alliance to resist Soviet Russia
    1. Many Western countries end up joining
How is the Berlin airlift is a good example of the Cold War?
1. Stalin made the Berlin blockade (closing the land route into the city) his open, provocative, and threatening rejection of all the Allied agreements made during WWII
CAUSES
1. Western Allies encouraged the economic recovery of their zones in Germany
  1. Created the new currency
  2. Western zones received large quantities of Marshall Aid
2. Stalin wanted to keep Westerners out of Berlin as it was well into the Soviet portion of Germany
  1. Western countries were determined to remain in Berlin to observe Soviet activity on the opposite side of the Iron Curtain
  2. He did not want his people to see the capitalist way of life
    1. Was fearful of opposition from his people
BERLIN AIRLIFT
1. Following the airlift, the city of Berlin was divided in half
  1. East Germany eventually built the Berlin Wall to keep people from leaving to go to the West
2. To help with moral in the city, pilots would drop candy attached to little parachutes over Berlin.
  1. This was called "operation little vittles".
    1. Over three tons of candy was dropped by the end of the airlift.

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