The Berlin Blockade

Germany rapidly became a sparring ground for the Cold War. After having politically reorganised their occupation zones in defeated Germany, the British and Americans wanted to revive the economy, which implied radical monetary reform. On 20 June 1948, the Western Allies introduced a new unit of account. The German mark, the Deutsche Mark (DM), was introduced in all the Western zones and replaced the Reichsmark, which had lost all its value. This monetary reform enabled the shops to be filled once again with goods that had, until then, only been obtainable on the black market. While the Communists took over nearly all the command posts in the Eastern zone, the ideas of the former Allies about the economic and political organisation of Germany became daily more at odds with each other.

Hoping to keep Berlin united in the heart of the Soviet zone, and denouncing what it called the Anglo-American policy of acting without consultation, the USSR reacted to this initiative on 24 June 1948 by imposing a total blockade of the Western sectors of Berlin. The city lay in the Soviet zone, but the Americans, the British and the French were established in their respective zones. Access to Berlin by road, rail and water was impossible until 12 May 1949. Food supplies and electricity were cut. The introduction of the DM in the Western sectors of Berlin was the official cause, but the Soviet Union probably wanted to capture the capitalist island in their occupation zone by making the British, French and Americans leave Berlin. The latter reacted swiftly: the Allied airlift, introduced by General Lucius D. Clay, was to be the appropriate American countermeasure.

Each day, thousands of aircraft (more than 270 000 flights in total) brought food, fuel and other essential goods to the beleaguered city. In all, over 13 000 tonnes of goods were delivered every day. Berlin became one of the main areas of confrontation between East and We st. The division of Europe into two blocs was confirmed. The city became a symbol of freedom for the West. The inhabitants of the city were no longer thought of as former Nazis to be punished but as victims of the Soviet threat. When, on 12 May 1949, Stalin decided to lift the blockade, the political division of the city was firmly established. Two municipal administrations were put in place, and the Soviets began to merge the Social-Democratic and Communist Parties. In contrast, democratic elections were held in West Berlin in December 1948. The outcome was a victory for the anti-Communist Social Democratic Party. The success of the Berlin Airlift enabled Western opinion to accept the inevitable partition of Germany. On either side of the Iron Curtain, the divided city of Berlin became the showcase for the Western and Soviet models. Confronted with the Soviet threat, the idea of German rearmament and its integration into a united European structure became more and more vital in Western eyes.

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cold war – a state of political hostility and military tension between two countries or power blocs, involving propaganda, subversion, threats, economic sanctions, and other measures short of open warfare, esp that between the American and Soviet blocs after World War II (the Cold War)

The Cold War is the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War Two. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred - the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin being just some. For many the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue.

Do note that USSR in 1945 was Russia post-1917 and included all the various countries that now exist individually (Ukraine, Georgia etc) but after the war they were part of this huge country up until the collapse of the Soviet Union (the other name for the USSR).

Logic would dictate that as the USA and the USSR fought as allies during WW2 their relationship after the war would be firm and friendly. This never happened and any appearance that these two powers were friendly during the war is illusory.

Before the war, America had depicted the Soviet Union as almost the devil-incarnate. The Soviet had depicted America likewise so their ‘friendship’ during the war was simply the result of having a mutual enemy – Nazi Germany. In fact, one of America’s leading generals, Patton, stated that he felt that the Allied army should unite with what was left of the Wehrmacht in 1945, utilise the military genius that existed within it (such as the V2’s etc.) and fight the oncoming Soviet Red Army. Churchill himself was furious that Eisenhower, as supreme head of Allied command, had agreed that the Red Army should be allowed to get to Berlin first ahead of the Allied army. His anger was shared by Montgomery, Britain’s senior military figure.

So the extreme distrust that existed during the war, was certainly present before the end of the war……..and this was between Allies. The Soviet leader, Stalin, was also distrustful of the Americans after Truman only told him of a new terrifying weapon that he was going to use against the Japanese. The first Stalin knew of what this weapon could do was when reports on Hiroshima got back to Moscow.

So this was the scene after the war ended in 1945. Both sides distrusted the other. One had a vast army in the field (the Soviet Union with its Red Army supremely lead by Zhukov) while the other, the Americans had the most powerful weapon in the world, the A-bomb and the Soviets had no way on knowing how many America had.

So what exactly was the Cold War?

In diplomatic terms there are three types of war.

In diplomatic terms there are three types of war.

Hot War: this is actual warfare. All talks have failed and the armies are fighting.

Warm War: this is where talks are still going on and there would always be a chance of a peaceful outcome but armies, navies etc. are being fully mobilised and war plans are being put into operation ready for the command to fight.

Cold War: this term is used to describe the relationship between America and the Soviet Union 1945 to 1980. Neither side ever fought the other - the consequences would be too appalling - but they did ‘fight’ for their beliefs using client states who fought for their beliefs on their behalf e.g. South Vietnam was anticommunist and was supplied by America during the war while North Vietnam was pro-Communist and fought the south (and the Americans) using weapons from communist Russia or communist China. In Afghanistan, the Americans supplied the rebel Afghans after the Soviet Union invaded in 1979 while they never physically involved themselves thus avoiding a direct clash with the Soviet Union.

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