THE BERLIN BLOCKADE AND AIRLIFT, 1948–1949 Term paper

On 24 June 1948, the Soviet authorities closed all rail, road, and water routes from western Germany to West Berlin, which was located deep within East Germany. The Soviet Union blockaded Berlin primarily to protest plans by the United States, Britain, and France to establish a West German state. The currency reform of 21 June 1948, which called for the introduction of a new deutsche mark, formed the specific catalyst for the blockade. The Soviet Union not only hoped to block the formation of a West German state but also believed it might force the other Allies out of Berlin.

The U.S. military governor of Germany, General Lucius D. Clay, suggested the use of an armed convoy to challenge the blockade. Other advisors of President Harry Truman convinced him not to try the plan. Instead President Truman approved the idea of supplying the city by air. On 26 June the United States began Operation Vittles, an airlift meant to supply the more than 2 million inhabitants of Berlin and the Allied personnel stationed there. Britain began a similar effort shortly thereafter.

The airlift, one of the great logistical feats of the century, began as a “cowboy operation,” lacking in organization and coordination. It quickly became clear that good intentions were not enough. Major General William H. Tunner, beginning on 1 August 1948, brought much-needed order and planning to the effort. The amount of goods delivered increased dramatically. American and British airmen flew more than a quarter of a million flights to Tempelhof Airport in the American sector and Gatow Airport in the British sector. During the airlift Tegel Airport was constructed in the French sector and brought into use. At least seventy-eight Americans, British, and Germans died in connection with the airlift.

In December 1948 the Soviet Union hinted it was ready to negotiate an end to the impasse. Agreement was reach in May 1949, with the blockade ending formally at one minute past midnight on 12 May. As a precautionary measure, Operation Vittles continued until 30 September 1949.

The willingness of the more than 2 million Berliners in the western zones to endure considerable hardship contributed enormously to the success of the Allied resistance. Their courage became a source of pride to Germans everywhere. The experience also led to a very different relationship between Germans and Americans.

The blockade and airlift form a crucial event in the Cold War. Western Europe and the United States took heart from the successful resistance to Soviet pressures and established a formal military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). West Berlin remained an outpost of democracy over the next forty years. Suggestions for Term Papers
1. Behind the Berlin Blockade lay differing U.S. and Soviet ideas about how Berlin and the rest of Occupied Germany should be treated. Investigate Soviet occupation policies and comment on the major objectives of those policies (see Suggested Sources).
2. One result of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift was a change in American opinions of Germans. Read the coverage of the Berlin Airlift in contemporary American newspapers and trace the development of this change in opinion.
3. Ernst Reuter, mayor of Berlin during the blockade, contributed in an important way to the determination of Berliners to resist Soviet pressures. Write a profile of Reuter that might be used as a three-minute segment on a radio broadcast covering the blockade and airlift. Begin with From Shadow to Substance, 1945–1963 (see Suggested Sources).
4. Imagine that you are a German boy or girl living in Berlin. Write a story or play that reflects your experiences during the blockade.
5. The Berlin Blockade and Airlift is an integral part of events leading to the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Follow the process by which West Germany took form in 1948 and 1949 and determine why the United States decided to promote the formation of a new German state. Begin with From Shadow to Substance, 1945–1963 (see Suggested Sources).
6. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) appeared a few months after the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany. Examine Soviet policies in 1948 and 1949 with regard to their occupation zone and determine why they decided to form the Democratic Republic of Germany.

Research Suggestions

In addition to the boldfaced items, look under the entries for “The Yalta Conference, 1945” (#36), “The Marshall Plan (The European Recovery Act), 1948–1951” (#44), and “The Berlin Wall, 1961” (#59). Search under Secretary of State George C. Marshall, Josif Stalin, V. V. Molotov, Ernst Reuter, Walter Ulbricht, and West Berlin. SUGGESTED SOURCES

Primary Sources

Clay, Lucius D. Decision in Germany. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1950. General Clay’s memoirs of his service as military governor of Germany, with chapters on the Blockade and the airlift.

U.S. Department of State. Office of Public Affairs. Germany, 1947–1949: The Story in Documents. A selection of important documents related to the Berlin Blockade and Airlift.

Secondary Sources

Bark, Dennis L., and David B. Gress. From Shadow to Substance, 1945–1963. Oxford: Blackwell, 1989. Vol. 1 of A History of West Germany.A solid and comprehensive discussion of the emergence and development of West Germany.

“The Berlin Airlift and the City’s Future” [commemorative section]. Foreign Affairs 77, no. 4 (July/August 1998): pp. 147–94. A helpful collection of articles.

Eisenberg, Carolyn. Drawing the Line: The American Decision to Divide Germany, 1944–1949. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. A provocative study of U.S. policy with regard to Germany.

Gimbel, John. The American Occupation of Germany: Politics and the Military, 1945–1949. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1968. The best study of the American occupation of Germany.

Haydock, Michael D. City under Siege: The Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948–49. Dulles, Va.: Brassey’s, 1999. A recent and dependable history of the two events.

Parrish, Thomas. Berlin in the Balance, 1945–1949: The Blockade, the Airlift, the First Major Battle of the Cold War. Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley Longman, 1998. Useful for setting the blockade and airlift in historical context.

Public Broadcasting System. The Berlin Airlift. 1998, 60 minutes. Distributed by Unapix/Miramar. A fascinating account of the Berlin Airlift featuring contemporary footage and interviews with some of the participants.

Shlaim, Avi. The United States and the Berlin Blockade, 1948–49. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. The leading study of the Berlin Blockade.

Smith, Jean Edward. Lucius Clay: An American Life. New York: Henry Holt, 1992. The major biography of General Clay. World Wide Web

“Berlin, 1948–1949.” http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/04. Based on CNN’s Cold War documentary series, the Web site includes background, documents, a transcript of the program, and other features.

“The Berlin Airlift.” http://www.whistlestop.org/study-collections/berlin_airlift/large/berlin_airlift.htm. A superb Web site. Filled with documents and photographs.