The Berlin Airlift
To Begin; “The Berlin Crisis”
The Division of Germany
1948:
The US believes that the Soviets (through harsh reparations) are trying to undermine the economic rebuilding of Germany.
In response...
The Allies Combined Their Zones.
Two Nations are Established:
Two Countries:
1. East Germany
2. West Germany
West Germany is not allowed to have a military, but is otherwise allowed to govern itself. In most respects, it is an independent nation.
(Its self-defense will be ensured by Allied troops which are now stationed there.)
A Divided Berlin
The city, like the nation, is divided in two
The Situation:
Note: Berlin is entirely in the Soviet sector.
West Berlin
(in a simplified diagram)
West Germany
Berlin
East Germany
W E
West Berlin
(in a simplified diagram)
West Germany
East Germany
Berlin
W E
When West Germany is established, the Soviets realize that they will never get the reparations from Germany that they had hoped. (They cannot take from West Germany.)
They decided to ‘blockade’ West Berlin (block all entry from the outside). The intent was to force the USA to either:
A . Reconsider their stance on reparations
--OR--
B . Abandon West Berlin to the Soviet Union
The Blockade of West Berlin
Berlin
East Germany
W E
West Germany
roads
railways
canals
The Blockade of West Berlin
Any road/railway going into West Berlin was blocked,
in an attempt to ‘starve the city’ into submission...
Berlin
East Germany
W E
West Germany
What to do??
The Answer:
The Berlin Airlift!
Berlin Airlift: Impressive Facts:
(For every kid in the Arapahoe gym at the last assembly, there would be over 1,000 citizens � needing food, clothing, medicine, cars, gasoline, newspapers, coal, etc.
Does it work?
Freedom Prevails!
The Berlin Airlift: Jun 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949
Video Clips
Fast-Forward in Time …
The Berlin Wall ??
About a decade after the Berlin Crisis, tired of people defecting to West Berlin, the Soviets would build a massive wall separating the two halves of the city.
It was known as ‘The Berlin Wall’. �
(The objective was to keep East Berliners in Soviet-controlled East Berlin)
Escape to Freedom:
Approximately 5,000 people were able to cross from East Berlin to West Berlin while the wall was in place. 138 people would lose their lives trying to escape.
A refugee runs during an attempt to escape from the East German part of Berlin to West Berlin by climbing over the Berlin Wall on October 16, 1961.
East Berliner Jumps to Freedom and Crosses the Berlin Wall
Escape to Freedom:
Perhaps the most famous of these escapes was made by 19-year-old guard Conrad Schumann on August 15, 1961, just the third day of the wall's construction. Since the “wall” was really just piles of barbed wire at that point, Schumann jumped over the wire in his uniform while toting his machine gun. A photographer caught Schumann’s flying leap, and the jump to freedom became an iconic Cold War image. Schumann eventually settled in the southwestern state of Bavaria and worked as a machine operator. He died in 1998.
Optional
Fast-Forward Again …
The Berlin Wall Comes Down
On the 9th of November, 1989, the Berlin Wall is opened after nearly three decades keeping East and West Berliners apart.
Berlin; From Space August 2013
A satellite image has revealed enduring divisions between the east and west of Berlin, with the eastern half of the city much less brightly illuminated at night. The image from space highlights the higher levels of commercial activity in the west, over two decades after the fall of the Wall.