Berlin Airlift

Week in Review:

Match

Match the following

• Containment

• NATO

• Marshall Plan

• Truman Doctrine

• Warsaw Pact

Stop the spread of communism

Alliance of democratic western nations

Billions of dollars in aid to Western Europe

US gives $400 mil to Turkey and Greece

Alliance of communist countries

• Stop the spread of communism

• Alliance of democratic western nations

• Billions of dollars in aid to Western Europe

• US gives $400 mil to Turkey and Greece

• Alliance of communist countries

Berlin 1945-1947

The City of Berlin:

●Western Powers were allowed access by road,

rail and ‘air corridors’

●The USSR saw the Allied presence in Berlin

as a threat, because:
○They had a base within the Soviet zone
○Capitalism was on show

●The Western powers wanted to be there:

○To prevent the USSR controlling the Capital

○To observe Soviet activity behind the ‘Iron Curtain’

The Battle over Berlin:

West v. East

East

(USSR/COMMUNISM)

● Feared that a strong

democratic, Germany
would be hostile

● The new currency will

spread into the Soviet
zone and undermine
Soviet control

● Accuses West of

interference in it’s
zone and cuts off all
road, rail and canal
traffic into West Berlin

West (US, France, Britain-
Democracy/Capitalism)

● Frustrated with Soviet

objections to an
economic revival.

● So they merged the US

and British zones into
one economic unit and
introduced the
Marshall Plan (bizone)

● Introduce a new

currency into Western
zones

Open Ended

Examine the newspaper clip from June 1948.

1. What actions are the Russians taking in Berlin.

2. Explain WHY they might be doing this.

Draw

Annotate the image to find its meaning. Circle anything of significance.

Berlin Blockade

Date 24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949 (323 days)

●USSR wanted to take control of the city

of Berlin in an attempt to spread communist influence. .

●Aimed to starve West Berlin into submission

The Allied Response: The Berlin Airlift

Jun 28, 1948

The Airlift

●The British and American organized a round the

clock airlift of essential supplies

●In 11 months a total of 275 000 flights delivered

around 4,000 tons of food/supplies per day

●The US stationed B29 bombers with atomic

bombs in Britain

●Despite shortages West Berliners supported the

Allies and rejected Soviet pressure

●ON 12th May 1948 the USSR re-opened routes

○ WATCH THE VIDEO ON THE NEXT SLIDE!

Open Ended

Explain the truth of this statement using information from the video:

The Berlin Airlift was a successful attempt at containment.

Results: The Airlift led to…..

Berlin

Two Germany’s

Joint control ended
in 1949

The 3 Western
Zones became an
anti-Communist
state

Soviet Zone
became a one
party state under
Communist control

Warsaw Pact

A counter move by the
Soviets to NATO

Aims:- To support each
other if attacked

Joint command
structure set up with
Soviet supreme
commander

NATO

A Western defensive

alliance

An attack on one

member is an attack

on all

Two Germany’s

Open Ended

EXIT SLIP: Explain the historical circumstances that led to the situation in this map.