What is the Berlin Blockade?

Introduction

The Berlin Blockade was…

•a symbol of the Cold War

•started in 1948 and ended in 1949

•carried out by the USSR to

control the whole of Berlin

Background• After the Second World War, the world was divided into 2

blocs : Capitalist bloc and Communist bloc. • Germany was divided into 4 zones: zones occupied by

Britain, USA and France belonged to the capitalist bloc while the Soviet zone was in the communist bloc.

• Berlin, the capital city of Germany which was located in the Soviet zone, was also divided into 4 parts.

Division of Germany Division of Berlin

Berlin

Development In June 1948 …• The USSR wanted to control the whole of Berlin• In order to force Britain, USA, France to give up West Berlin, the USSR blocked all land routes and canal traffic from western zones of Germany to Berlin, leading to the Berlin Blockade

a placard in West Germany

The Berlin Blockade•In the winter of 1948-49, citizens in West Berlin lived on dried potatoes, powdered eggs and cans of meat. They only had 4 hours of electricity per day.• Britain, USA, France responded by sending supplies to West Berlin by air

from TIME in 1948

The Berlin Blockade• In the Berlin Airlift, 275,000 flights carried 1.5

million tons of supplies. Every 3 minutes, a plane landed in West Berlin.

• In 1949, 12 nations, included USA, Britain, France and Canada formed a military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

• The USSR felt worried and wanted to avoid wars

• Stalin ended the Berlin Blockade

Berliners welcomed the planes which sent supplies to them

Political cartoons on the Berlin Blockade

It was published by Britain in 1948. In the picture, Stalin watches the storks flying to Berlin with food. But he could not shoot them down.

It was published in 1948 by West Germany. In the picture, the two men carry “road closed’’ and “rail closed’’ placard are able to stop the land traffic. But the man who is holding a net on the top is not able to stop the air traffic. It shows that the Berlin Blockade was not successful because of the Berlin Airlift.

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Europe• It increased the fear of communism among capitalist

countries, leading to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by the capitalist states

• To counter the NATO, the USSR formed the Warsaw Treaty Organization with the East European communist state

• 2 opposing military organizations were formed

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Europe

• The tense relationship between the Communist bloc and the Capitalist bloc worsened and threatened war peace

• On the other hand, it led to greater unity among the Western European states, paving the way for the formation of the European Union

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Germany• In May 1949, the western zones of Germany united and

formed the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). It stayed in the capitalist bloc

• In October 1949, the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was in the communist bloc

• Under the strict control of the USSR, East Germany became weaker and poorer than West Germany

• Many people escaped from East Germany to West Germany for a better life

Map of Berlin

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Germany• In order to stop the loss of people, the East German

government built the Berlin Wall in 1961• People in West and East Germany were separated

and they could not have contact with one another• Although passing through the Berlin Wall was not

allowed, many people from East Germany still tried to go to the other side for freedom.

• In 1990, the Berlin Wall fell, Germany was reunited.

Test on the Berlin Blockade

‧The End‧

Duty ListDuties Member(s) in charge

Collecting information Loraine Chung, Mandy Law, Tiffany Tam, Joyce Tsui, Bess Wong

Writing of text Joyce Tsui, Bess Wong

IT production Loraine Chung, Mandy Law

Script Tiffany Tam