The Cold War: The Berlin Airlift

Overall, the Battle of Berlin was a very costly battle for all parties involved, but ultimately a necessary one. The Germans were weak compared to how they were positioned earlier in the war. It was the ideal time for the Soviets, and the Americans to strike them down. The atrocities that Germany, under the lead of Hitler, were committing had to be put to an end then and there. It was also in the best interest of the leader of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, that the war was ended before sooner than later. He had to keep the morale of his people high, and the morale of the Germans low. The victory of the Soviets in Germany was turned into a huge source of propaganda, and created a very large amount of pride for the citizens of the USSR. The good news was also sent around the world that the evil Nazis of Germany led by Adolph Hitler had been defeated once and for

Berlin was known as the centerpiece of the Cold War. Being the capital city of Germany, the desire to have power over it was extremely high. Germany was split into two, the East, taken over by the Soviet Union, and the West, taken over by the United States, Britain, and France. Tensions rose between each country on who would be able to have power over Berlin. Since the city was on the east side and up to 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled East Germany, the Soviets had power; However, the West would not allow them to take over the capital city so easily. (Dearden)

One characterizing feature of the military in the 80 's was the Cold War which lasted from 1983-1988. The most notable product of the Cold War was the Berlin Wall built in 1961 some time after the Second World War. The function of this wall was to divide Germany among the allies. The eastern half went to the Soviet Union, and the western half went to the United States, Great Britain and France. This wall would stop the flow of refugees from the communist east Germany to the west. The wall fell (metaphorically speaking) on November 9, 1989. East Berlin 's Communist Party 's spokesperson announced that citizens of East Germany were free to cross the border and that all gates at the checkpoints would

The separation of berlin was the first initial step towards the beginning of the Cold war, as the relations between these various nations started to drift apart.

Their motives were to keep the Western fascists out of East Berlin. This division caused a panic to boths sides of Berlin as it would if any other country split into two because of their political views: communism vs. capitalism. As said in “Document B”, the US, being capitalists, wanted to support their allies and stop any trace of communism and soon became involved in the Berlin division. West Berlin received help from the U.S. and succeeded in their fight against communism when the wall between the two societies was torn

When viewing the map on Document B, it is evident that “In 1948, Western Berlin was a pro-American island in a Soviet Union because West Berlin is in the middle of the Soviet zone.” Since the West Berlin was in the middle of the Soviet zone, they were on their side not the Americans. Also, according to Document B, it appears that, “ On June 27, 1948, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union decided to blockade any shipments (including food) coming into West Berlin, this was like an example of fatalism. On May 12, 1949, Stalin removed the blockade.” Blockade means the isolating, closing off, or surrounding of a place, as a port, harbor, or city, by hostile ships or troops to prevent entrance or exit, so Stalin and the Soviet Union were incensed and didn’t let anyone else get more shipments and goodies, but was later discarded. Therefore, the Soviets blocked the shipments because they had expensive tendencies and they wanted to expand it. During the blockade, in Document B, it says, “America and its allies decided to support the West Berliners by air, flying in supplies for the over two million people for nearly a year. Everything from food to coal as provide.” They did survive from the food the Americans had provided so they didn’t starve to death when they ran out of food. This document doesn’t really demonstrate the American Policy of Containment because the airlift contained the Soviets and they spread

The first line of defense was that they sent their troops down to guard the wall. The second was the command to shoot anyone who was escaping on sight, which is why there were hundreds of casualties. The West Berliners desperately tried, again, to get the help of the U.S. The following quote is President John F. Kennedy’s response to the cries of help, “A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.” When he realized that this aggravated the West Berliners, he made a speech near the wall and tried to comfort them by saying, “Ich bin ein Berliner!” which translates to “I am a Berliner!”... or so he thought. It actually translates to “I am a jelly donut!”, but JFK had no idea

The Berlin Conference is an example of leaders coming together to form political boundaries. Since this happened it shows how many things were affected. This includes people, countries, resources found in that place. The biggest thing is it has a large affect on the future of everyone and everything. Before discussing how it really affected things, I’ll say why people decide to make political boundaries in the first place.

The JFK Library and Museum in Boston on scenic Columbia Point, is an ode to one of the most charismatic presidents the United States has ever seen, John F. Kennedy. Most of the exhibits consist of items donated to the museum by his wife, Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the location itself was chosen by Jackie. The JFK museum represents a rare time of bipartisan cooperation in American history, and the untimely death of a great American leader.

The significance that the Treaty of Versailles had on Germany was that, first off, Germany was blamed for starting the war by the other countries involved in World War I. France, Russia, and Italy all agreed that Germany was to blame for starting the war. Therefore, they made Germany pay reparations. These reparations affected Germany greatly. Not only did the Treaty of Versailles blame Germany for starting the war, but the Treaty of Versailles also led to a great depression and to the rise of Adolf Hitler.

The US tried to contain communism and the the Soviet Union tried to spread it.he Soviets wanted to isolate West Berlin from the the West and take them over. The United States saw this as a threat and took it seriously. They wanted to stop it. The United States, Britain, and France decided to save West Berlin with an airlift (Berlin Map). They flew in supplies that fed millions of people for nearly a year (Berlin Map). The Policy of Containment was shown because it kept Berlin from being added to the communist sphere of influence. The Berlin Airlift contained communism. The United States helped the Communist surrounded Berlin so it did not have to surrender to the Soviet Union(Berlin Map). The United States ' help made Berlin stay away from communism because it was blockaded by communist Soviets and helped by democratic United

The Berlin Wall was built to separate the Communist east from the Democratic west. This ominous divider was was twelve feet of concrete that stretched for one hundred miles around West Berlin. The infamous symbol of the Cold War was guarded by electric fences and guard posts stationed along it. This boundary was built in 1961 and fell in 1990, after a decree was put into place by the East Germans to open the wall in 1989. Ronald Reagan’s speech “Tear Down this Wall” was one of the events that lead to the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War era. This speech took place on the edge of the berlin Wall on the seven hundred fiftieth anniversary of Berlin and was directed towards anyone who was listening and affected by the separation the wall caused. The speech given by Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1987 is memorable because of the use of logos and pathos throughout the entire speech.

This west-ward migration came to a legal end with the collapse of the Berlin wall on the 3rd of October, 1990. As well as denoting and representing the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe this event led to the reunification of Germany. The East German deliberation allowed the Chancellor of West Germany, Helmut Kohl, to reunite Germany under Western conditions. This meant a consolidated Germany would join NATO and the European

East Berlin was controlled by the communists and West Berlin was controlled by the U.S and supported by the Western Powers. The Soviet Union was concerned because it’s East Germans were fleeing to the new democratic West Berlin. In order to stop any more from leaving, Stalin completely isolated Berlin with large iron walls called the Berlin Wall- also referred to as the Iron Curtain. Now that The Berliners were isolated from the world, they couldn’t get any supplies and the sectors only had enough coal to last 45 days and food to last just 36 days. West Berlin relied entirely on their allies to transport supplies into the capital or city or something. The Western Powers generally transported supplies by ways of trucks and railway. Democracy was becoming too strong so the Soviet Union thought that they could drive the Western Powers out of West Berlin. They thought that if they could block any way of the allies from coming into West Berlin by land, they would eventually give up and stop supporting them. In order to do this, Stalin built a blockade on roads, railways, and rivers between the three allied sectors of West Germany and West Berlin. Stalin soon realizes that

Purpose – This article’s purpose is to explain what the Wall meant, not only to the people in Germany, but to the rest of the world. Its purpose is to question common beliefs about the Berlin Wall.