The Berlin Airlift

The Berlin Airlift By Zachary Rogers and Ashton Milton

Becoming convinced that Stalin wouldn't allow the reunification of Germany, the Western Allies merged their zones of power to create the Federal Republic of Germany.

The western side of Berlin became part of the Allies side of Germany, although it resides in the Soviet zone of Germany (The east), and the Soviets responded by forming the German Democratic Republic in 1949.

Capitalist West Berlin, and Communist East Berlin became symbols of the cold war. Many of the East Berlin citizens/ communists in general fled to West Berlin then booked passage to the Americas.

Stalin closed the escape route by making Western powers abandon West Berlin causing a blockade, threatening food shortages for 2.5 Million people.

While trying not to cause war by using military force to open the blockade, and not give West Berlin to the Soviets, Truman started the airlifts to transport goods into West Berlin.

Over the span of 15 months, over 200,000 flights were made, delivering 13 thousand tons of goods daily.

The Soviets gave up on the blockade in May 1949, the airlift ended the following September. By that time the Marshall Plan helped stabilize the economy in Western Europe and Western Germany. However, Berlin stayed a focal point of East-West conflict.

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The Berlin Airlift By Zachary Rogers and Ashton Milton

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