On 24 June 1949 the Soviet blockaded Berlin in attempt to isolate West Berlin, as an island surrounded by the East. Stalin’s plan was to force the Western allies to leave Berlin. He hoped that the allies- especially the United States- were forced to break their promises to West Berlin, the rest of the Western Europe would begin to distrust the United Stats. There were three key events which led to the Soviet blockade of Berlin: the Truman Doctrine and the institution of Marshall Plan for European Recovery, which both apposed communism and supported countries under Soviet control, and the currency reform. The Soviets stopped trade and travel across its borders. After the blockade the West decided to support West Berlin by air which was the only way to reach it. Hundred of aircraft were used to fly in a wide variety of cargo items , including more than 1.5 million tonnes of coal. At the height of the operation, on April 16, 1949, an allied aircraft landed in Berlin every minute. But the harsh conditions of the Berlin winter presented many challenges to the pilots and to Berlin ground crews. These difficulty, plus the constant stress fatigue , causes over 40 crashed during the blockade and 78 deaths. The Berliners experienced terrible hardships of hunger, cold, and fear, but appreciated the fact that the western Allies were scarifying so much, including their lives, for their former enemies. The airlift led to a change in the relationship between west Berliners and the western Allies, who were now no longer seen as “occupying” but rather as “protecting forces”. During the blockade a war between the USSR and the USA seemed a real possibility. At the height of the crises, the western power formed NATO , a 12-nation alliance , aimed to protect its members against the Soviet Union and its allies. The Soviets saw that the Airlift was succeeding and everything turned sourer for them. On 11 May 1949, at midnight the Soviets lifted its blockade. However, the airlift did not end until September 30, as the western nations wanted to build up sufficient amounts of supplies in West Berlin in case the Soviets blocked again. The Berlin Blockade was a result of the two different aims for what the USA and USSR wanted to do to Germany. Stalin wanted to destroy Germany, and the USSR had been stripping east Germany of its wealth and machinery. On the other side, Britain and America wanted to rebuild Germany’s industry to become a wealthy trading partner. The difference between the Western and Soviet policy were such that conflict was bound to break out there sooner or later. It also represented the first heightening of the Cold War tensions. This event reflected the situation outside Berlin, for example the deteriorating relationship of the Soviet Union and the West.
After the division of Berlin the citizen of Berlin were allowed to move freely between all the sectors. However, as the Cold War developed movement became restricted; the border between East and West Germany was closed in 1952. Construction of a wall around the three western sectors began on the August 13, 1961 in East Berlin. It first consisted of barbed wire, which was later replaced by the actual wall. The wall physically divided the city and as it surrounded West Berlin, it effectively turned the Western Sector into an island in the eastern territories again. The latest attempt of the Soviets were to maintain control of its east European satellites. East Germany claimed that it was an “antifascist wall of protection”, intended to avoid aggressions from the West. The West claimed that the wall was created to prevent the citizens of East Germany from entering West Berlin and West Germany. The majority of the professionally skilled workers were already leaving the east, as East Germany did not yet completely control traffic between west Berlin and the rest of West Germany. During the construction of the wall NVA and KdA soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to flee. Even though a few east Germans managed to escape to West Berlin at least 100 people died trying to cross the border. During the years of division, the two parts of the city developed completely separately. There was hardly any official contact between East and West at all. The living standards were totally different between the two Berlins. East Germans could see that their friends on the other side had shops full of goods, great freedom, great wealth and great variety, until 1985 as Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union. He recognised that the Russian economy was very weak in this time, because they spent too much money on the arms race with America. In summer of 1989, the Berlin Wall became irrelevant when Hungary decided to pull down the iron curtain and allowed East Germany to pass through Hungary on their way to Austria. In the fall of that year , the East German regime was o the verge of collapse, and on November 9, private citizens began to demolish whole sections of the Wall without interference from the government officials. On October 3, 1990 East Germany reunited with West Germany as on nation, the Federal Republic of Germany. With the fall of the Berlin Wall the relationship between Russia and America in Berlin as well as in the world became less tense. This shows how Berlin reflect or represent the situation in the world.
To judge whether or not the Cold War was getting hot one has to look at Berlin, the focal point of the Cold War, as was shown in the events between 1945-1990. This was mirrored in the currency reform, Berlin Blockade and Berlin Wall, which were caused by the international affairs between America and Russia.. The difference between the Western and Soviet policy were such that conflict was bound to break out there sooner or later. The aims of both counties were too different to together. Every time if there were tensions or disagreements between the two powers something happened in Berlin, as the only place where they were face to face.
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