Cold War - Berlin Blockade 1949

>Whilest the Soviets were ********* there zone of all resourses the Western victors, USA, Britain and France, were pumping their zone with money.

>East and West Germany also had different currencys, the West had the DEUTSCHMARK introduced by the US, Britain and France, whilst the USSR introduced the OSTMARK.

>The blockade cut off ALL Road and Rail links so the US would be unable to get an supplies to East Berlin.

>The idea was that the US would surrender East Berlin because they didnt want their people to die and then Stalin would have the whole of Berlin to himself.

>Stalin wanted to remove Britian, France and America because he didnt like that their was a small pocket of capitalism amoung his communist zone. This was because it meant that people were able to work and make a good profit in West Berlin but live in East Berlin and not have to pay for anything like a house.

>24th June, 1948 - USSR stopped all road, rail and canal links between Berlin and Western Germany.

>26th June, 1948 - First plane landed in Berlin, they needed to be bringing in a minimum of 5000 tons of food and other essential supplies a day.

>2nd July, 1948 - Flights were properly underway, they were landing a plane every 90 seconds. By September planes were flying in 4600 tons a day

>Winter 1948 - The winter weather wasnt too bad and by January Stalin knew his plan had failed.

>Spring 1949 - Airlift continued through spring and reached its peak on 16-17 April when 1398 flights landed and nearly 13,000 tons of supplies in 24hrs landed, Stalin was seeking a way out.

>12th May, 1949 - The USSR ended the blockade and Berliners put on evening dresses and danced around the streets to celebrate that evening.

>He removed it because he knew he had failed in January 1949 when the Americans had survived the winter, so he had to stop as not to embarrasse himself anymore.

>It was also embarrasing for Stalin that whilst West Berlin were in the state they were in only 3% moved to East Berlin.

>And by April 1949, the Allies were supplying more food to West Berlin than Stalin was to the East. 13,000 tons were landed in 24 hrs.

>This was further a propaganda disater for Stalin as the Allies were able to supply more food than the Soviets were, and throughout the whole blockade only 3% of Berliners moved from West To East Berlin.

>However, the West could use it as propaganda because it shows that people prefer the West to the East even when it is being weakened. It also excentuates the generosity from the US, which shows the 'Soviets Sphere of influence' and the rest of the East that the US arnt an evil capatlisit country.

>1949 - US joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisiation), along with UK, France, Italy ect.

>1949 - USSR created comecon, which was a way of tying all the European Communist parties econemys together, therefore giving Stalin more power.

>In May 1955, West Germany were accepted into NATO, on condition that they had no biological, chemical or atomic weapons and that Britain and the US maintained forces there.

>The Warsaw pact was a response to the West joining NATO and partially rearming. On 14th May 1955, 8 communist counties agreed to unify armed forces under the control of the USSR, including East Germany, Bulgaria and Poland.

>The Warsaw pact allowed the USSR to store their armed forces across Eastern Europe and provide further mechanism to keep the Eastern countires in line.

>Soviet officers were ALWAYS commanders-in-cheif and depuities, for the 3 separate branches of the armed forces.

>Western powers encouraged political activity and held elections for mayor of Berlin in June 1947, of which ERNEST REVTER won.

>In May 1949, formal poliitical unification of Western zones took place with the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, with the basic law providing the basis of a new country.                

>The first National elections took place August 1949 and Konrad Adenauer became Chancellor

>1951, West Germany Foreign office was creatd. And in May 1955, they joined NATO.

>In October 1951, German Democratic Republic (East), based upon the poeple council; which was formed in 1948 in the Soviet zone.

>East Berlin became apart of East Germany and became its capital.

>NOW NO CHANCE OF THE 4 ZONES BEING UNIFIED.

>August 1949, USSR successfully created and tested an atomic weapon.

>The superpower cooperation that had successfully defeated the Axis powers and developed a model for post- war world, had turned into a cold war.