Berlin Airlift/Blockade

After World War II, the victorious allies, the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France, decided to split Germany into separate sections which would be controlled by each ally country. Each section had its own government. The Soviets controlled the eastern half of Germany and the western half was controlled by the rest of the victors. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into four parts even though it was in the middle of Eastern Germany which was controlled by the Soviets. Each country had a different approach to rebuild Germany but the United States, France, and Great Britain had generally the same idea. The Soviets on the other hand had a totally different approach to rebuilding Germany. The allies were not in agreement with regards to Berlin, so Stalin wanted the other countries out. How would Stalin get all the other countries out of Berlin? He decided to put Soviet guards on all the possible entries into Berlin so the western powers could not drop off the necessary supplies that the Berliners needed. The Soviets goal of cutting off the supplies from the other countries was to enable them to control the whole city however the Soviets did not have enough resources and the western countries knew that. Many ideas were proposed but the one that the western countries decided on was to supply Berlin by air. This idea was thought up by British Commander Sir Brian Robertson. Many thought this plan would not work including the Soviets, but there was no other choice and President Truman stated that abandoning Berlin was out of the question. On July 1, 1948 the first airlifts took place. Everyday, tons of supplies were flown over Berlin and dropped before the Soviets could do anything. The operation became so big that they had Maj. General William H. Tunner command the airlifts. General Curtis E. LeMay, commander of USAFE called him "The transportation expert to end all transportation experts." Eventually the Soviets decided to end their blockade and let the Western powers enter Berlin easily.
The Berlin Airlift was the result of the blockade the Soviets made, so did the Soviets benefit from either the airlifts or the blockade? One thing that they benefited from these events was that since the Western powers decided to supply the Berliners with food and resources, it made the Soviets look like they were the strong supporters. The rest of the events made the Soviets seem like they were a weak country. The first thing that made the Soviets look weak is that they made a blockade but supplies were still getting brought in by air. The Berlin Airlift also showed that the Soviets were incapable to supply a city with the basic necessities one needs to live a healthy life. It also showed that the Soviets could be easily defeated because they eventually decided to stop the blockade since it was not working. The most significant thing about the Berlin Airlift and Blockade was that it signaled the beginning of the Cold War.

509