The Berlin Blockade

In late June 1948, USSR decided to block off Eastern Berlin from Western Berlin in an attempt to force the Western powers out of Berlin and allow the USSR to gain control over the whole city. By preventing them from carrying supplies to West Berlin, it would have no choice but to turn to the USSR, causing them to become dependent on USSR.

This cartoon/comic shows the amount of people trying to escape east germany to west germany via berlin.

Photo URL: http://scottthong.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/redprimer13.jpg

The USA, faced with this scenario, had 3 choices.

1. It could choose to ignore the blockade, and drive right through it using their tanks. However, this would probably be the reason USSR was looking for to engage the USA in a full-scale war. Thus, this choice was a highly risky one.

2. It could let the USSR have its way and pull out of Western Berlin. Although this would prevent any possible war from occurring, it would hint that the USA was giving in to the USSR. This would be disadvantageous for the USA. Furthermore, most of the Western Berliners would starve to death if supplies did not arrive quickly.

3. It could choose to lift supplies to Western Berlin by air. Although this was a solution to the problem, it was dangerous because it could also be potentially viewed by the USSR as a reason to engage the USA in war. Their planes could also be shot down, causing a potential loss of supplies.

Out of the three choices, the third choice was the best choice to the USA. It did not pose as much of a threat as the first choice, for it was far less likely to be deemed as a possible reason for war. It could effectively send supplies into Western Berlin as well. And thus, the USA chose to act upon the third choice.

After almost a year of delivering supplies via airlift, the USSR had no choice but to lift the blockade, for they could see that the airlift was clearly working. A potential war had been avoided.

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