On 24 June 1948 the former capital of Germany was going through the blockade.It lasted for almost a year.The city did not have enough food, fuel and all those household items, without which human life is very difficult.
war ended three years ago, the need has become a familiar state back in its second half, but that was to survive the Berliners, it was not much easier than experienced during the collapse of the Third Reich.The country is divided into zones controlled by the military occupation administration of the USSR, USA, UK and France, while in each sector has its own problems, and operate their own laws.
former allies were on the brink of war.The reason that later received the name "Berlin crisis" was the mutual desire of Western Coalition and the Soviet Union to expand its sphere of influence.These intentions were not hiding, talking about them openly and Truman, Churchill and Stalin.The West feared the spread of communism throughout Europe and the Soviet Union did not want to accept the fact that in the center of the sector allocated to it under the terms of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, is an island of capitalism.
Berlin crisis in 1948 was the first serious clash postwar Stalinist regime with the countries of market economy, and especially with the United States, nearly escalated into a military phase.Each of the parties sought to show his strength, and did not want to compromise.
Berlin crisis began with a fairly routine recriminations.Plan economic assistance to countries affected by the Second World War, known by the name of its initiator George Marshall, then Secretary of State, suggested a number of economic measures, in particular the introduction of a new brand on the territory occupied by the Western allies.Such a "thrifty" behavior irritated Stalin, and the appointment of General William Clayton, known for his anti-Communist views, at the head of the US occupation administration, only added fuel to the fire.A number of clumsy and uncompromising actions of both sides has led to the fact that communication of western Berlin with the sectors controlled by the Western Allies were blocked by Soviet troops.
Berlin crisis reflected the irreconcilable contradictions between the former allies.However, the reason it was a strategic mistake of Stalin in assessing the potential of its potential enemies.They were able in a short time to establish an airlift that supplied the besieged city with all the necessary, up to the coal.At first, even the command of the US Air Force to treat this venture very skeptical, especially because no one knew how far will Stalin in the case of an escalation of the confrontation, he could give the order to shoot down vehicles "Douglas".
But this did not happen.Accommodation in West airfields compound B-29 bombers had a sobering effect, although the atomic bombs on them was not, but, again, it was a big secret.
Berlin crisis is unprecedented, in less than a year pilots, mostly British and the British have committed two hundred thousand sorties, delivering 4.7 million kilograms of aid.In the eyes of the inhabitants of the besieged city, they become heroes and saviors.The sympathies of the world were not on the side of Stalin, who, convinced of the failure of the siege, ordered her to take off in the middle of May 1949.
Berlin crisis led to the unification of all occupation zones of the Western Allies and the establishment in their territories of Germany.
West Berlin remained an outpost of capitalism and its "showcase" for the entire Cold War.It is separated from the eastern part of the city wall, built in thirteen years.Located in the heart of the German Democratic Republic, it causes a lot of complications, notably the Berlin crisis of 1961, also ended a strategic defeat of the USSR.
