West Berlin/Berlin Airlift

The Berlin Blockade beginning from June 1948 to May 1949 is considered as one of the first major international crisis associated with the Cold War. The period is referred to as a Soviet Union multinational occupation of the post Second World War in Germany. In this case, the Soviets blocked the railway, road, and canal access to areas in Berlin that were under Western control. The Soviets noted that despite the fact that Berlin, the German capital, was deep into the Soviet zone, all other Western Allies including, Britain, France, and the US had taken a portion. Therefore, through the blockade, these parties would be unable to get access to food or other supplies eventually driving them out of the city. However, the US and the other allied members did not want to back down from the efforts to reunify the country. This would prompt the Western Allies to devise a plan that enabled the direct provision of supplies into West Berlin via air. The Soviets feared that a unified West Berlin would bring about the rise of a capitalistic city located in the middle of their occupation and be powerfully and aggressively anti-soviet. The Soviets had stated their intent to drop the blockade if the Western Allies would withdraw the newly introduced currency of Deutsche mark that began its use in West Berlin. Then President of the US Harry Truman along with the American military commander emphasized the major threat that would arise if they were to retreat from Berlin. The President stated that Communism would run rampant in Europe and the Western Allies should stay. Open air corridors over the Soviet occupation zone were used to deliver food, fuel, and other goods for the large population in the western part of the city. At the beginning of the operation, the planes delivered 5,000 tons of supplies to West Berlin, but would rise to 8,000 tons and a total of 2.3 million tons during the period. The Berlin airlift ensured that a plane landed or took off every 30 seconds resulting in over 300,000 flights in the entire period that lasted over a year. 

Question on Imperialism 

The Berlin Airlift was an effective measure of preventing the occurrence of imperialism in a world that advocated for democracy and capitalism. It is evident that since the turn of the 20 th Century, the Soviets were actively seeking ways of spreading their political ideal; Communism. However, the majority of the first half of the century, their efforts did not bear fruit due to the lack of recognition in the global population. It was evident that the US was continually spreading its democracy ideal to nations close to the Russian borders. The start of World War II was a wake-up call to the Soviets who experienced numerous attacks from the German troops who wanted to expand into the former’s land as the beginning of their revolution. However, the Soviets would team up with the Western Allies and formed a military force that would give them the super power status. The US did not want this power to exceed further as it would result in an international threat for potential war in the future. Through the Berlin Blockade, the Soviet Union sought to prevent the reunification of Germany. In this case, if West Germany was separated from East Germany, the former would be established as an independent country. Additionally, this would prevent Berlin from becoming the capital city and would guarantee sole rule to the Soviets. The population in East Berlin previously used the blocked routes as an effective means of experiencing political freedom and higher standard of living. In this regard, the Berlin Airlift was not a means of the US exerting imperial power. Rather it protected the remaining victims of the war from dictatorial rule by Joseph Stalin. As the leader of the Soviet Union, the Marxist-Lennist ideologies promoted the use of force to establish similar perspectives among nations that previously held capitalistic views.