What did Stalin do in 1948 How did the Western Allies respond?
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The blockade of Berlin was the first serious crisis of the Cold War. By 1948, the Western allies began moving towards consolidating their occupation zones in Western Germany into a single independent German state. As part of that process, the U.S., France and Britain took steps to reform the currency in the parts of Germany they occupied, in order to promote economic recovery. The new currency, over which the Soviets would have no control, was also to become legal tender in the Western sectors of Berlin. The USSR, which had been invaded twice by Germany, was alarmed at the prospect of a strong Germany. The Soviet leadership responded to the Western allies' currency reforms by installing their own new currency in East Berlin just 24 hours before the West mark was to go into circulation. They also imposed a blockade on West Berlin, cutting off all land and rail routes into the Western sectors. 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 6:00AM 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... " Initially the Soviet authorities thought the plan was working. "Our control and restrictive measures have dealt a strong blow at the prestige of the Americans and British in Germany. " The Soviet authorities reported. But the Western Allies responded immediately by mounting a tremendous airlift. Under the leadership of General Curtis LeMay, ten-ton capacity C-54s began supplying the city on July 1. By the fall the airlift, code-named "Operation Vittles "and often referred to as "LeMay's feed and coal company ," was bringing in an average of 5,000 tons of supplies a day. Not only did the blockade turn out to be totally ineffective, it ended up backfiring on the Soviets in other ways. It provoked genuine fears of war in the West. And instead of preventing the establishment of an independent West Germany, it accelerated the Allies plans to set up the state. It also hastened the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an American-Western European military alliance. In May 1949, Stalin had little choice but to lift the blockade. On July 20, the day Clay flew to Washington to consult with President Harry Truman, 2,250 tons were airlifted in to Berlin, and more than 50 larger capacity C-54s had joined the fleet. But that was still only half what Berlin required, and Clay told Truman he needed upwards of a hundred more C-54s. Truman's military advisers balked, but the president overruled them, and by early August four more squadrons of C-54s had arrived in Germany. On August 12, the U.S. and Britain combined ran 707 flights into Berlin and broke the 4,500 threshold for the first time. The airlift was well underway, and the arrival of General William Tunner as its new operational head had resulted in a number of improvements designed to maximize efficiency. But the notoriously fierce German winter had yet to make an appearance; that might prove the airlift's toughest test.While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style Copy CitationShare Share Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/event/Berlin-blockadeGive Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Your Feedback Submit FeedbackThank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites
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By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Table of ContentsBerlin blockade and airlift See all media Date:June 24, 1948 - May 12, 1949...(Show more)Location:Berlin Germany...(Show more)Participants:France Soviet Union United Kingdom United States...(Show more)Context:Cold War...(Show more)Key People:Lucius D. Clay Ernst Reuter Harry S. Truman...(Show more) See all related content → Berlin blockade, international crisis that arose from an attempt by the Soviet Union, in 1948–49, to force the Western Allied powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) to abandon their post-World War II jurisdictions in West Berlin. Witness the astounding airlift of food, fuel, and vital supplies by the U.S. and British for West Berliners during the Berlin blockade in 1948–1949 See all videos for this articleIn March 1948 the Allied powers decided to unite their different occupation zones of Germany into a single economic unit. In protest, the Soviet representative withdrew from the Allied Control Council. Coincident with the introduction of a new deutsche mark in West Berlin (as throughout West Germany), which the Soviets regarded as a violation of agreements with the Allies, the Soviet occupation forces in eastern Germany began a blockade of all rail, road, and water communications between Berlin and the West. On June 24 the Soviets announced that the four-power administration of Berlin had ceased and that the Allies no longer had any rights there. On June 26 the United States and Britain began to supply the city with food and other vital supplies by air. They also organized a similar “airlift” in the opposite direction of West Berlin’s greatly reduced industrial exports. By mid-July the Soviet army of occupation in East Germany had increased to 40 divisions, against 8 in the Allied sectors. By the end of July three groups of U.S. strategic bombers had been sent as reinforcements to Britain. Tension remained high, but war did not break out. Cold War Events keyboard_arrow_left  Truman Doctrine March 12, 1947 Marshall Plan April 1948 - December 1951 Berlin blockade June 24, 1948 - May 12, 1949 Warsaw Pact May 14, 1955 - July 1, 1991 U-2 Incident May 5, 1960 - May 17, 1960 Bay of Pigs invasion April 17, 1961 Berlin crisis of 1961 August 1961 Cuban missile crisis October 22, 1962 - November 20, 1962 Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty August 5, 1963 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 1969 - 1979 Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions October 1973 - February 9, 1989 Korean Air Lines flight 007 September 1, 1983 Reykjavík summit of 1986 October 11, 1986 - October 12, 1986 collapse of the Soviet Union August 18, 1991 - December 31, 1991 keyboard_arrow_right Understand the Soviet Union's blockade of Berlin with the introduction of the Deutschmark in West Berlin See all videos for this articleDespite dire shortages of fuel and electricity, the airlift kept life going in West Berlin for 11 months, until on May 12, 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the blockade. The airlift continued until September 30, at a total cost of $224 million and after delivery of 2,323,738 tons of food, fuel, machinery, and other supplies. The end to the blockade was brought about because of countermeasures imposed by the Allies on East German communications and, above all, because of the Western embargo placed on all strategic exports from the Eastern bloc. As a result of the blockade and airlift, Berlin became a symbol of the Allies’ willingness to oppose further Soviet expansion in Europe. How did America respond when Stalin closed Berlin to the West?The United States and United Kingdom responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany. The crisis ended on May 12, 1949, when Soviet forces lifted the blockade on land access to western Berlin.
How did the Soviet Union respond to the Allies occupation of part of Berlin in 1948 Brainly?How did the Soviet Union respond to the Allies' occupation of part of Berlin in 1948? try to take control of the entire city of Berlin. Why did Poland, Hungary, and East Germany join the Warsaw Pact? They were Soviet satellites that had little choice.
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