Some advisers though that the Western powers have to give way because the 2 million people in West Berlin would starve as long as the roads out of Berlin remained blocked. Another view was that tanks should blast a way through the blockade. General Clay, the leading military American expert was keen to send his troops down the autobahn towards Berlin. This could easily lead to a full scale war with the USSR. So they decided on a middle course: to keep the city supplied by aircraft. To people in the West Stalin seemed to be acting with great aggression and the attack on Berlin looked like the first step towards a communist march westwards. To President Truman it was a test of the new policy of containment: the USSR would not be allowed to take over West Berlin. In May 1949 the Soviet authorities called off the blockade. The airlift was a triumph for the American and British air forces. During the airlift British and US planes flew nearly 200,000 missions to Berlin. Over 1.5 million tons of food, fuel and equipment was sent to Berlin. By the spring 1949, aircraft were landing in West Berlin every 3 minutes and 8000 tonnes of supplies were being flown in a day. 79 British and American pilots were killed in accidents costly to the allies in financial and human – terms. Ended the ill feeling between USA and Germany. West had shown how determined it was to resist communism. GO CONTAINMENT! A divided Germany: Western zones, including West Berlin = Federal Republic of Germany (formed in May 1949) USSR zone with a communist government = German Democratic Republic (formed in October 1949) NATO! The blockade accelerated moves towards a powerful, pro-Western in most of Germany. West Germany held its elections in august 1949, where the Christian Democrats won the majority. Its leader Konrad Adenauer hated communism and believed very strongly in linking West Germany to the USA and Western Europe. This was the last think Stalin wanted the idea of a powerful capitalist German state made – him feel très insecure. NATO The Western allies formed the Atlantic Treaty Organisation in April 1949.
Some advisers though that the Western powers have to give way because the 2 million people in West Berlin would starve as long as the roads out of Berlin remained blocked. Another view was that tanks should blast a way through the blockade. General Clay, the leading military American expert was keen to send his troops down the autobahn towards Berlin. This could easily lead to a full scale war with the USSR. So they decided on a middle course: to keep the city supplied by aircraft. To people in the West Stalin seemed to be acting with great aggression and the attack on Berlin looked like the first step towards a communist march westwards. To President Truman it was a test of the new policy of containment: the USSR would not be allowed to take over West Berlin. In May 1949 the Soviet authorities called off the blockade. The airlift was a triumph for the American and British air forces. During the airlift British and US planes flew nearly 200,000 missions to Berlin. Over 1.5 million tons of food, fuel and equipment was sent to Berlin. By the spring 1949, aircraft were landing in West Berlin every 3 minutes and 8000 tonnes of supplies were being flown in a day. 79 British and American pilots were killed in accidents – costly to the allies in financial and human terms. Ended the ill feeling between USA and Germany. West had shown how determined it was to resist communism. GO CONTAINMENT! A divided Germany: Western zones, including West Berlin = Federal Republic of Germany (formed in May 1949) USSR zone with a communist government = German Democratic Republic (formed in October 1949) NATO! The blockade accelerated moves towards a powerful, pro-Western in most of Germany. West Germany held its elections in august 1949, where the Christian Democrats won the majority. Its leader Konrad Adenauer hated communism and believed very strongly in linking West Germany to the USA and Western Europe. This was the last think Stalin wanted – the idea of a powerful capitalist German state made him feel très insecure. The Western allies formed the Atlantic Treaty Organisation in April 1949. NATO
The%20Cold%20War%20Revision%20booklet.docx