Causes Of The Berlin Airlift Dbq

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

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

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