Why did the Soviets block off access to West Berlin and what was the result of this action?

Background

Ever since the Yalta Conference, it had been clear that Berlin was going to be a flash point in the Cold War, and this came to a head in 1948.

• Germany had been divided into four zones of occupation each controlled by one of the Allies.
• The German capital, Berlin, lay inside the Russian zone and was also divided into four zones of occupation.
• Access to Berlin for the Allies was by way of road, rail and canal, and via three specific air corridors.

Stalin wanted Germany to remain weak, as a strong Germany could represent a threat to the Soviet Union. The Western Allies disagreed and were encouraging Germany to rebuild in the Western sectors. This angered Stalin who decided to force the Allies out of Berlin. It is also important to note that at this stage the USSR had not yet developed its own atomic weapons.

What were the Western Allies doing in Berlin that made Stalin so upset?

1. Under the Marshall Plan, the USA supplied goods to German shops for workers to buy. This was a nice way of showing the communists that America’s capitalist economy was flourishing.
2. At a meeting in London in January 1948, Britain and the USA joined their zones together to create ‘Bizonia’ and make it easier to administer them. (France would later join and they’d change the name to West Germany).
3. Using money from the Marshall Aid programme, the Allies were helping the Germans to rebuild their economy. This meant a new, stable currency and more jobs for workers in the Western sectors. The day after the new currency was introduced; the blockade was put in place.

On 24 June 1948, Stalin cut all land access to Berlin for the Allies. This became known as the Berlin Blockade. Stalin hoped the effect of the blockade would be to make West Berliners leave and join the East, or that America might even withdraw from Berlin all together, completing the communist take-over of the Eastern block.

What did the Berlin Blockade mean for West Berlin?

1. Berlin could now only be accessed by air, resulting in a restriction on the freedom to travel outside Berlin for all Germans.
2. A shortage of food - West Berlin only had enough food for 36 days.
3. A lack of basic goods like fuel and medicines.

The Berlin Blockade was the first real test for the American policy of containment. As forcing their way into the city by land could have led to another war, the Allies decided that their sectors of Berlin would be supplied by air. This became known as the Berlin Airlift and it lasted for eleven months until the Blockade was lifted in May 1949.

At the height of the Berlin Airlift, a plane landed at Berlin’s Templehof Airport every minute. Keeping West Berlin supplied in this way cost the USA $350 million and Britain £17 million.

Stalin was powerless to stop the Berlin Airlift. To shoot down the planes could have provoked World War Three, and at this stage, unlike the USA, the USSR did not have nuclear weapons. As the air corridors had been agreed at Yalta, the USA were doing nothing wrong as long as they stuck to the boundaries of the three air corridors.

The aftermath of the Berlin Blockade

1. Berlin would remain a source of tension in Europe for the duration of the Cold War.
2. In April 1949 the USA, Britain and France officially announced the formation of the German Federal Republic (West Germany).
3. Elections in the Germany Federal Republic in August 1949 resulted in victory for the anti-communist politician, Konrad Adenauer, and the Christian Democratic Union.
4. Stalin responded to the formation of NATO with the Warsaw Pact in 1955, after West Germany were admitted to NATO – the Warsaw Pact was an alliance of the communist countries of Eastern Europe for their mutual defence.
5. Finally, on 29 August 1949, the USSR exploded its first atomic bomb. The USA no longer had a monopoly on nuclear weapons.

Revision tip

Generally, all Western actions were matched by the USSR. Learn the pairs and their dates!

Politics: Truman Doctrine (1947) vs Cominform (1947)

Economics: Marshall Plan (1948) vs Comecon (1949)

Military: NATO (1949) vs Warsaw Pact (1955)