The Berlin Blockade
Causes
The fusion of the zones
o 1947 – Britain & USA fuse their 2 zones into a single administrative unit – Bizonia
o 1948 – France is added to form Trizonia
Constitution set up (Allies planning to set up an independent state)
Russians Alarmed – did not want a strong, rich Germany. As it raised the possibility of another attack on Russia (1914, 1941)
o Western Allies also join their sectors of Berlin
Contrast of lifestyles evident in Berlin (People from German Berlin could freely go into the western sectors. )
The Differing Economies of East and & Germany
o Marshal Aid
o Reduction of Unemployment
150, 000 new jobs
Reduction of unemployment by 20 of the labour force by 1953
Deterioration of Working conditions in the east
o Wages cut by 40 %
o Rising Food Prices
o Currency Reform – Deutschmark
Based on American Credit
o Strong & Valuable
Germans remembered the inflation of 1923 and embraced the reform.
The new currency was difficult to keep out of the Berliners as they could travel freely.
Immigrations
o Total emigration from East to West Germany Exceeded 178, 000 annually between 1952 and 1959
Jun 1948 – East Berlin introduces new currency
Events
June 1948 Stalin intends to Starve west Berlin to surrender. He Blockades Berlin claiming that there are “technical reason.”
26 th of June – USA decided to Airlift supplies.
o Airlift pilots required each pilot to fly an exact route at predetermined speed and altitude.
At its peak, planes had to supply after every 3 minutes.
If an arriving plane was unable to make a landing at Berlin on its first attempt, it had to return to its base in West Germany.
Adding to the routine dangers facing airlift pilots was
Soviet harassment in the form of
o jamming radio channels,
o directing searchlights at aircraft taking off at night,
o the “buzzing” of cargo planes by Russian fighters, and
o barrage balloons allowed to drift into the air corridors.
245, 315 TONS of supplies were airlifted to the blockaded city.
This enabled the allies to provide enough food and fuel to the 2. 5 million living in West Berlin.
12 of May Stalin admits defeat and lifted the blockade.