Understanding the Berlin Crisis of 1948: Key Events and Impacts
Classified in History
Written on in 
English with a size of 2.48 KB
Summary of the Berlin Crisis: In 1945, the Allies decided to split Germany into four zones of occupation. The capital, Berlin, was also split into four zones. The USSR took huge reparations from its zone in eastern Germany, but Britain, France, and America tried to improve conditions in their zones.
In June 1948, Britain, France, and America united their zones into a new country, West Germany. On 23 June 1948, they introduced a new currency, which they said would help trade.
The next day, Stalin cut off all rail and road links to West Berlin - the Berlin Blockade. The West saw this as an attempt to starve Berlin into surrender, so they decided to supply West Berlin by air.
The Berlin Blockade lasted 318 days. During this time, 275,000 planes transported 1.5 million tons of supplies, and a plane landed every three minutes at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport.
On 12 May 1949, Stalin abandoned the blockade.
Causes and Results of the Berlin Crisis of 1948:
January 1947: Britain and the USA joined their two zones together into Bizonia.
December 1947: London Conference: America, Britain, and France met to discuss Germany's future. Russia was not present.
January 1948: Russia started to stop Western literature from being sold in the Soviet zone.
March 1948: The USA offered Marshall Aid; Stalin forbade Cominform countries from taking part.
April 1948: Russia imposed a partial blockade of West Berlin - Allied transport into the city had to apply for a permit and was inspected.
June 1948: America, Britain, and France announced they wanted to create a new country of West Germany.
23 June 1948: America, Britain, and France introduced a new currency - this caused economic chaos in the Russian zone as everyone tried to get rid of their old money and change to the new currency.
Results of the Berlin Crisis 1948:
- Germany was divided into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany) until 1990.
- The Iron Curtain became permanent.
- The Cold War broke out into open confrontation, and the two superpowers began an arms race.
- In 1949, the Allies set up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a military alliance to resist Soviet Russia.