The Berlin Airlift

Germany After WWII

At the end of World War II, Germany was divided into four sectors between the US, Britain, and France in the West, and the Soviets in the East. Despite being 100 miles into Soviet-occupied East Germany, Berlin was divided in a similar manner. During the early post-war years, the differing ideologies of both sides escalated tensions between the East and the West, helped in large part due to the creation of the Iron Curtain and the Truman Doctrine.

The escalating tensions ultimately culminating in an Allied effort to create a West German state - a violation of the original goals established during the war of eventually reunifying Germany. In addition, the Allies aimed to create a new currency: the Deutschmark. The Allies hoped that the creation of the Deutschmark would eliminate the issues created by the hyper-inflated Reichsmark, the previous German currency, and act as a catalyst in the area's economic recovery.

The Soviet Union, enraged at the Western Allies' violation of the original agreements during the war, as well as fearful of losing economic control to the Deutschmark, withdrew from the Kommandatura, the Allied Council governing Germany; created their own currency to use in East Berlin, the Ostmark; and created the Berlin Blockade by destroying all highways and railroads to West Berlin, effectively cutting it off from West Germany.

In response to this situation, President Truman was presented two options by his generals: retreat from West Berlin, thus allowing West Berlin to become a Communist state and contradicting the message sent by the Truman doctrine, or fight through Soviet territory to regain access to West Berlin- an act of war. Instead of choosing these two disastrous options, Truman decided on a third option: to send supplies to West Berlin through an airlift.

The airlift was initially meant as a short-term solution, only delivering 5,000 tons of supplies a day. However, because Stalin refused to end the blockade, the Berlin Airlift, also known as Operation Vittles, continued for almost a year, eventually delivering 8,000 tons of supplies a day, with planes landing every 45 seconds at its peak - though some sources have reported planes landing once every 30 seconds.

Soon, it became clear that the Berlin Blockade had failed. Not only did it fail to drive the Allies out from West Berlin, but it also created the risk of political upheaval in East Germany as a result of the Allied Counter-blockade, to which the Soviets weren't nearly as effective in addressing as their Western counterparts. Finally, in May 1949, 11 months after the Berlin Blockade was first established, the Berlin Blockade was lifted, although the Berlin Airlift continued until September 1949 to stockpile supplies in case the Soviets decided to reinstate the blockade.

In addition to failing for the aforementioned reasons, the Berlin Blockade had also failed in other ways. It hurt the reputation of the Soviet Union, turning it from the country that had helped defeat Germany and liberate East Europe into a cruel state that had no qualms about starving millions of people. In addition, it had escalated tensions in the Cold War, fueling the divisions between East and West Europe, as well as speeding up the creation of West Germany and inspiring the creation of NATO.


Sources:
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/berlin-airlift
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-airlift