1. The Berlin Blockade & Airlift
The First Showdown

2. The Partition of Germany
 The lack of cooperation between Stalin and the
west contributed to severe economic hardship
in Germany
 Economic reform and rebuilding was greatly
needed
 By 1948 it looked as though the East-West division
of Germany would be permanent
 The three western powers prepared for the
creation of West Germany

3. Currency Reform
 The western powers initiated economic
cooperation and a new currency, the
Deutschmark, in their sectors
 The Soviets responded with their own new
currency in their sector, including Berlin
 So the west brought the Deutschmark into west
Berlin
 Economic disparity within Berlin
 the west began to improve, the east did not

4. The Blockade
 The Soviets announced that the west had no
business interfering in the east, and they closed
the roads, railways, and waterways that linked
West Berlin to western zones
 But the Americans cannot abandon Berlin –
CONTAINMENT
 If the Truman Doctrine was to be applied
seriously, they must keep Berlin
 The Domino Theory – if Berlin falls, what will be
next?

5. The Airlift
 The USA decided, instead, to begin a massive
airlift to supply West Berlin with everything that it
needed – food, fuel, medicine, necessities
 The only way the Soviets could stop it would be
to shoot down one of the aircraft – an act of
war
 For 15 months, the planes supplied 2.5 million
Berliners with all necessities
 A plane landed in Berlin every 2 minutes
 Stalin concluded the blockade was not working
and backed down

9.  1960s East German Poster about the 1948 Western airlift.
 The text reads: "Air bridge to West Berlin--a peace-endangering
provocation of the imperialist Western powers."

10. The Formation of NATO
April 1949
 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
 The Product of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift
 The Blockade told the Americans that
they had to be at the ready in case of
further military showdown with the
Soviets
 Americans stationed over a million men
overseas and occupied 675 overseas bases

11. Original Members
 Great Britain, France, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal,
Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, and
the USA.