COLD WAR I: Berlin Crisis

Major Events

This outline of events is correlated with sections of "The Berlin Crisis" - Parts 1 and 2. Teachers may choose to use this outline for a lecture to prepare students in advance of viewing the video program, or use while showing the video, allowing opportunities to pause the video for discussion and clarification. Part I is 22:34 minutes long. Part II is 23:54 minutes long.

Division of Berlin and the Berlin Wall (Part I, start of video)

After the collapse of Germany in 1945, the Allied Powers of Russia, France, Britain, and the United States divided the city of Berlin among themselves. Each of these powers controlled one zone each of Germany and Berlin. However, by 1946, relations between Soviet and Western powers had already begun to go sour due to disagreements over reparations. As a result, the British, French, and American zones merged in 1947.

Though the goal of the Western powers was to revive Germany, both economically and socially through a united effort, the Soviet Union feared this alliance - partly because the merged zones would have greater power than the Soviet zone, and partly because of continued feelings of hostility and resentment towards Germany. When the Western Alliance introduced a new currency into the merged zone in June of 1948, it became the last straw for the Soviet Union - and the very next day, on June 24, 1948, they instituted the Blockade of Berlin. From that point on, even after the blockade was over, Germany would be divided in two. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, stood until 1989 as a 30-mile-long physical manifestation of the vast philosophical divide between East and West.

Causes of the Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade represented the first heightening of Cold War tensions. Three key events led to the Soviet blockade of Berlin: the Truman Doctrine and the institution of the Marshall Plan for European Recovery; the London Conferences of 1948; and the resulting London Program which called for a separate, economically revitalized West Germany - and currency reform as a means to this end.

The Truman Doctrine (Approximately 7 minutes after start of Part I)

In response to communist revolutions in Greece and Turkey in March of 1947, President Harry Truman announced that America now promised to "support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures (with U.S. military aid)." This policy came to be known as the Truman Doctrine and would have repercussions throughout the rest of the Cold War - not only in Europe, but in Latin America and the Caribbean as well.

The Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan, to a certain extent, was the economic extension of the Truman Doctrine. At the end of World War II, starvation and economic crisis threatened to overtake many European nations. Most peoples' means of subsistence had been totally destroyed. There was a slump in production - and a subsequent disruption in trade relations. The threat of a second Great Depression loomed large, and Germany was one of the hardest hit areas. Most German cities had been all but obliterated, and transportation systems lay in ruins. Routinely, refugees fled from East to West in search of a government stable enough to provide them with even the barest daily essentials.

In a rare move, the Allied victors took it upon themselves to prevent an economic crisis by helping to rebuild the most devastated areas as quickly as possible. This policy was called the Marshall Plan, named in honor of George C. Marshall, then Secretary of State, who first called for Allied participation in the restoration of Europe. The success of this strategy earned Marshall a Nobel Peace Prize.

The London Conferences (Approximately 8 minutes after start of Part I)

In order to address the issue of post-War European recovery and reconstruction, the U.S., Great Britain, and France held a series of discussions in London from February through June of 1948 known collectively as the London Conferences. The result of these discussions was the London Program, the main goal of which was to establish a West German government through a combination of the three western occupation zones and currency reform.

Steps to a Soviet Blockade (Approximately 9 minutes after start of Part I)

In mid-June, the West issued a new currency in their merged zones (although they did not extend it to their zones in Berlin), and the Soviet Union issued a new currency in its zone. The Soviets were threatened by the new currency instituted by the Western Allies, both because the USSR would have no control over it and because it signaled a strengthened West Germany. The USSR, which had been invaded twice by Germany, found the idea of a stronger West Germany particularly alarming. As a result, the Soviets responded by installing a separate new currency in East Berlin just a day later. In a further attempt to stifle economic regeneration, the Soviets imposed a partial blockade of West Berlin in April of 1848.

The Berlin Blockade (Approximately 14 minutes after start of Part I)

On June 23, the West introduced the new currency into Berlin. In response, the Soviet Union stepped up to a full blockade the very next day, cutting off all land and rail routes into the merged sectors. This action was technically legal since the West and the Soviet Union had never formed a written pact regarding ground access to Berlin. At this point, the merged western sectors of Berlin became dependent on any reserved stocks and provisions brought in by air. As Lucius Clay, the military governor of the American zone of occupied Germany, wrote: "When the order of the Soviet Military Administration to close all rail traffic from the western zones went into effect at 6:00 AM on the morning of June 24, 1948, the three western sectors of Berlin, with a civilian population of about 2,500,000 people, became dependent on reserve stocks and airlift replacements. It was one of the most ruthless efforts in modern times to use mass starvation for political coercion... "

The Airlift (Approximately 15 minutes after start of Part I; also reviewed at beginning of Part II)

Western Allies responded immediately with a huge airlift effort. On July 1, General Curtis LeMay led a re-supply project using C-54s. Called "Operation Vittles" by American participants, the airlift delivered thousands of tons of food, fuel, and other supplies each day.

Surviving the Crisis (Approximately 24 minutes after start of Part I or approximately 1 minute after start of Part II)

The harsh conditions of the Berlin winter presented many challenges to the pilots and to the Berlin ground crews. These difficulties, plus the constant stress of fatigue, caused over 40 crashes 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 sacrificing so much, including their lives, for their former enemies. Many incidents of dangerous harassment caused by the Soviets also made the crisis difficult to survive, but were considered by the Soviets to be "moral" factors to aid the East German position.

Hope During the Crisis (Approximately 31 minutes after start of Part I, or approximately 7 minutes after start of Part II)

Even in the midst of the Airlift, elements of hope began to appear, such as "The Candy Bomber," who parachuted candy to the Berlin children, and the record-breaking achievements of the "Easter Parade." Both were clear messages to the Soviets that the Airlift was succeeding.

The Threat of World War III (Approximately 34 minutes after start of Part I, or approximately 10 minutes after start of Part II)

Despite the achievements of the Berlin Airlift, fears that the Soviet Union might use military force to protect its position in Berlin persisted. When negotiations between the West and the Soviet Union failed, President Truman finally decided to station B-29 bombers, which were capable of carrying atomic bombs, in Great Britain as a threat against the Soviet Union.

The Role of Spies (Approximately 39 minutes after start of Part I, or approximately 15 minutes after start of Part II)

Donald McLean, a senior British government employee, was serving as a Soviet spy during the Berlin Crisis. Unknown to the West, McLean was able to pass on crucial information to the Soviets about the Western strategy for the Berlin Airlift. This information may have convinced the Soviets that their blockade was doomed to failure, which therefore might have helped persuade them to end the blockade of Berlin.

Stalin Backs Down and the Berlin Crisis Ends (Approximately 41 minutes after start of Part I, or approximately 17 minutes after start of Part II)

In the end, the Blockade turned out to be so ineffective that, after a little over a year, Stalin finally lifted it in May of 1949. The atomic bomb capable planes stationed in Britain by the U.S. also played a role in the Soviet decision to end the Blockade. The Berlin Airlift has been called a great humanitarian achievement. To this day, the world wonders what might have happened if the Berlin Crisis had ended another way…

The Second Berlin Crisis (Not presented in video)

From 1949-1961, almost three million East Germans escaped to the West. In July 1961 alone, 30,000 fled, precipitating another Berlin Crisis on August 13, 1961 when East German authorities built a 28-mile-long wall (euphemistically called the "antifascist protective barrier") along the border to prevent East Germans from escaping to the West.

The End of the Berlin Wall (Not presented in video)

The Berlin Wall stood as a real-life symbol of the Cold War until November 9, 1989. Finally, on October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were reunited. The Berlin Wall no longer remains