Cold War: Berlin Blockade, Airlift, and Arms Race

Why Berlin?

• Heart of Nazi power: Berlin was the symbolic capital of Germany.
• Race for Berlin: At the end of WWII, the USA, USSR, and others raced to capture Berlin.
• Geographical location: Both USA and USSR wanted central European military bases.
• Power and prestige: Both the USA and USSR wanted influence in Berlin.

Problems with Berlin

• Location: Berlin was deep inside the Soviet sector but divided among the four Allied powers (USSR, USA, Britain, France).
• Control: Germany was run by a Joint Allied Control Commission, and Berlin was run by a Joint Allied Kommandatura.

Who Controlled Germany?

• West Germany

Why Was There a Crisis in Berlin?

• Tensions grew between the USSR and the USA, Britain, and France.
• Stalin's aims:
  • Wanted to keep Germany weak to prevent future invasion.
  • Wanted to force the Western Allies (Britain and France) out of West Berlin.
• The Berlin Blockade:
  • In June 1948, Stalin blocked all routes in and out of Berlin.
  • Road, rail, and canal routes were all cut.
  • All surface transport links were severed.

The Berlin Airlift

• The choice to fly supplies in was made.
  • This meant the Western Allies wouldn't give in to Stalin but also wouldn't provoke a war.
  • It placed pressure back on Stalin, as he couldn't just shoot down planes.

How Were the Berliners Kept Alive?

• For eleven months, food and other supplies were flown into Berlin by British, French, and U.S. planes.
• Conditions in West Berlin in 1948:
  • Inhabitants lived on dried potatoes, powdered eggs, and cans of meat, with just 4 hours of electricity per day.
• Scale of the Airlift:
  • 275,000 flights carried in 1.5 million tons of supplies.
  • At its peak, one plane landed every few minutes.
• Cost:
  • The airlift cost over 100 million, together with the lives of 79 service men who died in accidents.

Was the Airlift a Success?

• In May 1949, Stalin called off the blockade.
  • Stalin later had the Berlin Wall built, highlighting the divisions between East and West and making the divisions more permanent. The wall lasted until the 1990s.

Result of Airlift

• Cold War worsened; war almost broke out.
• Germany was split into West and East Germany.
• Arms race: Both sides focused on building conventional and nuclear weapons.
• NATO and the Warsaw Pact were set up as defensive alliances.

After the Blockade

• In May 1949, the Western Allies set up the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) – West Germany.
• In October 1949, the USSR responded by creating the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Problems After the Berlin Airlift

• Berlin as a problem for East Germany:
  • It was an escape route to the West. Between 1945 and 1961, 1/6 of the East German population had fled to the West. These were young, well-qualified people – exactly those East Germany didn't want to lose.
• New USSR leader Khrushchev, like Stalin, wanted the West out of Berlin.
• Both sides accused the other of spying (which was accurate).
• The Soviets continued to see Western influence in Berlin as dangerous and troublesome.
• Khrushchev hoped that the issue would be resolved at the Paris Summit of 1960, but this collapsed due to the U-2 spy plane incident. Tensions thus again rapidly grew between East and West Germany.

The Berlin Wall

• Containing the East Berliners:
  • In August 1961, Berliners woke up to find their city divided in half. The construction of the Berlin Wall had begun.
  • East German guards patrolled the wall and shot anyone trying to escape over it.

Cold War Arms Race (1949-1989)

• Competition between the United States and USSR in the development of their weapons.

People Involved and Their Roles

• John F. Kennedy: US President (1961-1963)
• Richard Nixon: US President (1969-1974)
• Nikita Khrushchev: USSR President (1953-1964)
• Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs: Contributor to the development of nuclear weapons.

Countries Involved

• Directly: United States and Soviet Union
• Indirectly: Turkey and Cuba

Timeline of Events

• 1945: First A-Bomb
• 1949: First USSR A-Bomb
• 1952: US tests H-Bomb
• January 1954: Massive retaliation doctrine
• August 21, 1957: First USSR ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile)
• July 9, 1959: US develops ICBM technology
• May 1960: U-2 incident
• October 1961: Soviets detonate Tsar Bomba
• October 16, 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
• March 23, 1983: Strategic Defense Initiative

Social Effects

• US focused on science and math education.
• Academic competition between US and USSR.
• Constant alert, leading to worry and unease.
• Strengthened military in the United States.
• Public schools held civil defense classes, including "duck and cover" drills.
• Food stockpiles were created.
• Underground facilities, bomb/fallout shelters, and emergency broadcast systems were developed.

USSR

• Public training
• Food stockpiles
• Fallout shelters

Operation Postmaster

• A covert mission by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE).
• Creation of Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

Introduction

• Date: January 14-15, 1942
• Location: Fernando Po (part of Equatorial Guinea)
• Aim: To capture Italian and German ships from a neutral Spanish harbor.
• Importance: A strategic mission to disrupt Nazi supply lines and logistics.
• Special mission assigned directly from British PM Winston Churchill.

Background

• Nazi ships were using neutral harbors to avoid Allied attacks.
• The SOE aimed to interrupt these activities without breaching international law.

The Planning

• Operatives led by Major Gus March-Phillipps.
• Plan: Steal Italian and German vessels without engaging Spanish authorities.

The Operation

• Date: January 14, 1942
• Tactics: SOE operatives infiltrated the harbor and seized the ships (Duchessa and a German Tug).
• The ships were towed to Lagos, Nigeria.
• The plan was to have no shots fired, minimizing resistance, but it did not fully go to plan.

Success and Impact

• A major SOE success with international political implications.
• Embarrassed Nazi powers and strained Spanish-Axis relations.
• Boosted morale for Allied operations in Africa.
• First use of spies in both on land and at sea operations.

Legacy

• Operation Postmaster remains a celebrated SOE mission and set a precedent for future covert naval operations.