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Causes Of The Berlin Airlift Dbq

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The Berlin Airlift was composed of American and British pilots who flew more than 2.3 million tons of supplies to West Berlin in 277,569 flights covering more than 92 million miles. During this time President Truman sent bombers and nuclear weapons to England. From June 24, 1948, to May 12, 1949, the US airlifted supplies into West Berlin. Only 101 airmen lost their lives in crashes. In document A it states, “In 1946 the Soviets stopped delivering agricultural products from their zone in eastern Germany. It was under this premise that the Soviets, in an effort to force the other Allied powers to cede control of their sections of Berlin (and eventually Germany as a whole) decided to blockade all road and rail links into West Berlin.” This shows …show more content…

In document A it states, “The Berlin Blockade of June 24th 1948 to May 11th 1949 was one of the first major international Cold War crises.” (Document A). The Soviets had a strong hold beginning the war showing their communist and authoritarian side to the West. Stalin, still leader of the Soviets, had an idea that would weaken and potentially give the Soviet control. As for Stalin's idea, “Stalin’s goal was to force the western powers to rely upon the Soviet section of Germany to supply Berlin with food and fuel, thereby giving the Soviets eventual control over the entire city.” (Document A). Unfortunately for the Soviets the Western allies showed their Capitalism and Democracy. The West followed the Truman Doctrine, which fought against the spread of communism. There was limited government control, allowing the free-market system to regulate most of the economy’s activity.. The people were allowed to have freedoms and not be kept under tight rule. The West side got the Berlin Airlift on their side from the American and British Air Forces. Considering the West was Democratic, they were not going to lose their land to the Soviets by no means. The Soviets thought they could take over all of Germany, but they could not. This was because the Americans and the British helped to support West Berlin and Germany all throughout the war. Unfortunately though Germany was known under the Soviets, “In …show more content…

In Document B, there's a picture of German children waiting for the American pilots during Operation Little Vittles. Each child in the photo looks happy, excited, and ready with their hands up. The Americans found a way to make the children happy during the war. In Document C, there’s a photo of German children pretending to be American Pilots during the Berlin Airlift. The three children sitting on cement blocks seem intrigued and happy at the kid who's flying the airplane. The child flying the plane looks extremely happy. The Americans had a huge impact on making the children extremely happy during the Berlin Airlift. As seen in the picture in Document D, an American Pilot is dropping goodies into West Berlin. This is another example of how the Americans treated the children with such care, by dropping in some yummy treats for them to eat. Especially if the children behaved there may be more, “As a goodwill gesture, he handed out his only two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum, and promised that, if they did not fight over them, the next time he returned he would drop off more.” (Document E Operation Little Vittle). This shows that when the children behaved they would receive even more goodies. The Americans helped to keep a safe and secure environment for West Berlin and Germany by: “Allied planes prepare to deliver 7 million

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This weakness could naturally cause some jealousy from the part of West Berliners towards East Berliners. Indeed, as the world saw during Stalin’s blockade, the city was very vulnerable, and, although the planes managed to

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The Soviet Union wanted the allies to surrender West Berlin and give up the idea of reunifying Germany. The Soviets decided to block supplies from the western sector of Germany from entering

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They transported food, coal, medical supplies,steamrollers, power plant machinery, soap, and newsprint. They took more than 2.3 million tons of cargo, and 277,685 flights before the Soviets gave in and lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949. “I believe the Berlin Airlift was good although it could have caused a was between us and the Soviets,”(Hart, Ben). Even though it was another difficult decision for Truman to make, he was confident and and knew he had the ability to execute them. Some people might disagree and argue that it was a waste of money since it was not part of the U.S. and it was ran by the Soviets at the

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After the introduction of a new, stronger currency by the allies, the Soviet Union blocked all rail and road access to Western Berlin. Truman was left with a choice, combat the Soviet Union or back down and withdraw the new currency for the older weaker Reichsmark, that the Soviets wanted. To the surprise of the Soviets, Truman ordered the airlifting of supplies and food into Berlin essentially beginning the peace through strength policy. This became quickly known as the Berlin airlift, and it lasted from June of 1948 to September of 1949, when the Soviets removed the blocks. The Berlin airlift is seen as the first major conflict of the Cold War and established the precedent of peace through strength that would be exemplified throughout the Cold War.

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The blockade was an effort by the Soviet Union to seize control of the entire city of Berlin and drive the Western forces out of the city, which was located deep inside of East Germany. In an effort to keep the city alive and operating, the Western Allies responded by airlifting supplies into West Berlin, including food, fuel, and other needs. More than 2.3 million tons of supplies were airlifted into the city during the operation, which ran from June 1948 to May 1949, with planes landing every few

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