The Berlin Airlift 1948-1949

It was a response from the allies against the Berlin Blockade
Truman saw this as a test of his promise of containment so was determined not to abandon west Berlin so he came up with the idea of an airlift which would keep the city supplied, 8000 tones were delivered a day
it was a peaceful solution to Stalins challenge as the allies did not try to force their way through the barrier which mat have triggered war
it was successful in keeping the city supplied and after 11 months Stalin decided to lift the blockade releasing his failure to force the allies out of Berlin
it showed Truman was serious about making containment work and he did not risk war
it was costly and a convincer that NATO was needed to contain stalin
Stalin was left angry and humiliated so the USSR and USA relations worsened so this was a low point
Now Berlin and Germany were formally divided, west berlin was also in the middle of the soviet zone allowing Stalin to potentially threaten the allies again

Resource summary

	Created by Sophia Hinchliffe over 7 years ago