One of the most brutal conflicts in recent history, World War II devastated 113 countries from six continents. Beginning in 1939, the Allied forces — primarily Britain, Russia and the USA — sought to stop Nazi Germany in its conquest for European domination.
In the six years that followed, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party devastated Europe and wreaked violence against many social minority groups. By 1945, Western Europe had been ravaged, an entire race of people had come close to extinction and the dynamic of power in several affected countries had been forever changed. Hitler committed suicide in May 1945, and the Nazi regime collapsed. Japan surrendered in August. Even after peace was declared, the world felt the political and economic repercussions for
decades. Following the war, a defeated Germany was divided into four sections, each of which was to be occupied by one of the Allied Powers. The Soviet Union took control of the eastern part of Germany, while France, Great Britain and the United States took control of the western part. The German capital of Berlin was also divided into four sections, even though Berlin itself was in the middle of the Soviet-controlled part of Germany. Although they had been allies during the war, the
United States and the Soviet Union clashed philosophically on many issues. The superpowers disagreed about how to rebuild Germany, and tensions quickly rose, resulting in what later came to be known as the Cold War. Fearing that the Soviets would try to extend their communist philosophy to other countries, the United States adopted a policy of “containment,” which involved rebuilding war-torn Europe and promoting democracies to halt the spread of communism. In March 1948, Britain, France and the
United States decided to combine their sections of Berlin into one unified West Berlin, angering the Soviets further. In June 1948 the Soviet Union, whose territory fully surrounded the capital, cut off all ground traffic into and out of West Berlin in an attempt to force the Allies to abandon the city. The blockade of Berlin had begun. President Truman suddenly faced a crisis. The citizens of West Berlin were quickly running out of food, supplies and time. Truman’s advisors suggested
several options. They could evacuate the citizens of West Berlin, try to negotiate with the Soviet Union with the support of the newly-formed United Nations, figure out a way to get supplies into the city or simply abandon Berlin altogether. Their decision would determine exactly how involved the United States would be in Berlin - and in rebuilding post-war Europe. Ultimately, Truman determined that it was of utmost importance that the United States remain a presence in Berlin. He and the
remaining Allies began the Berlin Airlift, an operation that carried food, fuel and other supplies into West Berlin by plane. The effort required a lot of careful planning and many resources, but the Airlift allowed the United States to keep a foothold in post-war Germany. Was the Berlin Airlift the best option to address the Berlin Blockade, or would a different option have better served the USA’s interests?Background
Key Question
Directions
Materials
Documents to be examined:
- Letter from Philip Johnston to Harry Truman, September 12, 1948
- Memo for the National Security Council: U.S. Military Courses of Action with Respect to the Situation in Berlin, July 28, 1948
- Letter from Matthew Connelly to Michael Disalle, July 26, 1948
- Former President Truman speaking on the blockade of Berlin, 1964 [audio]
- Universal International Newsreel on the Berlin Airlift, 1948 [video]
- Telegram from Alfred Bingham to Harry Truman, June 25, 1948
- Typed Diary of Harry Truman, July 19, 1948
- Classified Messages between Berlin and Washington, April 1948
- Outtakes from “Operation Vittles,” 1948 [video]
- “Yup Sonny” Cartoon by Jake Schuffert, 1948
At the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided between the four Allied powers: France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union. Its capital, Berlin, suffered the same fate with the added complication that West Berlin became an enclave within the Soviet zone.
Two years later, tensions mounted between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, primarily over the reconstruction and monetary reform of Germany. At this point, the Soviet Union began impeding communications between the Western Allies, West Germany and West Berlin.
Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, imposed the Berlin Blockade from 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949, cutting off all land and river transit between West Berlin and West Germany.
The Western Allies responded with a massive airlift to come to West Berlin’s aid.
One of the first major international crises of the Cold War period, the Berlin Blockade exposed the deep ideological differences separating East and West.