What is the Berlin Blockade?

Introduction The Berlin Blockade was… a symbol of the Cold War started in 1948 and ended in 1949 carried out by the USSR to control the whole of Berlin

Background After the Second World War, the world was divided into 2 blocs : Capitalist bloc and Communist bloc. Germany was divided into 4 zones: zones occupied by Britain, USA and France belonged to the capitalist bloc while the Soviet zone was in the communist bloc. Berlin, the capital city of Germany which was located in the Soviet zone, was also divided into 4 parts. Division of GermanyDivision of Berlin Berlin

Development In June 1948 … The USSR wanted to control the whole of Berlin In order to force Britain, USA, France to give up West Berlin, the USSR blocked all land routes and canal traffic from western zones of Germany to Berlin, leading to the Berlin Blockade a placard in West Germany

The Berlin Blockade In the winter of , citizens in West Berlin lived on dried potatoes, powdered eggs and cans of meat. They only had 4 hours of electricity per day. Britain, USA, France responded by sending supplies to West Berlin by air from TIME in 1948

The Berlin Blockade In the Berlin Airlift, 275,000 flights carried 1.5 million tons of supplies. Every 3 minutes, a plane landed in West Berlin. In 1949, 12 nations, included USA, Britain, France and Canada formed a military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) The USSR felt worried and wanted to avoid wars Stalin ended the Berlin Blockade Berliners welcomed the planes which sent supplies to them

Political cartoons on the Berlin Blockade It was published by Britain in In the picture, Stalin watches the storks flying to Berlin with food. But he could not shoot them down. It was published in 1948 by West Germany. In the picture, the two men carry “road closed’’ and “rail closed’’ placard are able to stop the land traffic. But the man who is holding a net on the top is not able to stop the air traffic. It shows that the Berlin Blockade was not successful because of the Berlin Airlift.

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Europe It increased the fear of communism among capitalist countries, leading to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by the capitalist states To counter the NATO, the USSR formed the Warsaw Treaty Organization with the East European communist state 2 opposing military organizations were formed

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Europe The tense relationship between the Communist bloc and the Capitalist bloc worsened and threatened war peace On the other hand, it led to greater unity among the Western European states, paving the way for the formation of the European Union

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Germany In May 1949, the western zones of Germany united and formed the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). It stayed in the capitalist bloc In October 1949, the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was in the communist bloc Under the strict control of the USSR, East Germany became weaker and poorer than West Germany Many people escaped from East Germany to West Germany for a better life Map of Berlin

Impact of the Berlin Blockade on Germany In order to stop the loss of people, the East German government built the Berlin Wall in 1961 People in West and East Germany were separated and they could not have contact with one another Although passing through the Berlin Wall was not allowed, many people from East Germany still tried to go to the other side for freedom. In 1990, the Berlin Wall fell, Germany was reunited.

Test on the Berlin Blockade

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Duty List DutiesMember(s) in charge Collecting informationLoraine Chung, Mandy Law, Tiffany Tam, Joyce Tsui, Bess Wong Writing of textJoyce Tsui, Bess Wong IT productionLoraine Chung, Mandy Law ScriptTiffany Tam