Andrea Villalba

Class 20, History

*All information above was taken from the documentary called "Cold War full length
documentary - Berlin (1948-1949) (episode 4)"
Cold War, Berlin
In 1945, British and American pilots bring about lots of destruction in Berlin. Now, in
1948, they were flying again to Berlin, this time they were keeping the city alive.
Berliners were beaten people in 1945, their fates was in the hands of the Russians,
Americans, British and French that conquers.
Germany was divided into four occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French.
Berlin (Russian zone) was linked to the west by a highway and a railway which ran
through the soviets zone. The city itself was divided into four sectors: Soviet, American,
British and French. Berlin and Germany were the only places where the two sides came
into contact, that is Soviet troops and troops from the Allied countries. In the other
places this contacts between the two armed forces couldnt be done, that was one of the
reasons why Berlin become a battlefield for the Cold War.
Berliners were living a precarious situation; huge starvation levels and currency was
worthless, the black market, was king. British foreign secretary understood that and had
a plan for Germany, he believed that European recovery depended on them. He
considered to try and recreate Germany on a democratic bases, given them a chance,
making at the same time secure the security preservation of the rest of Europe and
placing again the integration.
By 1948 Soviet military maneuvers started near Berlin, the soviets wanted a weak
Germany under four power control. America, Britain and France were secretly planning
a new German state in their occupation zones. Spies told the soviet military governor
Marshall Vasily Sokolovsky about the plan. The report stated and the secreted about
Germany was held in London, and everything was discussed there, so Brian Roberts of
the British military government and his American counterparts, general Lucius D. Clay,
had to implement the western plans. The allied control council met regularly in Berlin
exchanging regularly information, but on march 20th 1948 Sokolovsky wanted more, to
know what happened at the meeting in London.
The former allies provoked each other, the west had no intention of budging from Berlin
but the soviets wanted them out. The western allies planned the currency reform in their
zones, making the black marker profiteers by making the old currency valueless and it
will tight Germans to the west. The Russians weren't told.
In the soviet zone, Stalin had most of the socialist and communist parties, the new
grouping, the socialist unity party, was out in strength. The majority of the Berlin city
council, supported by the social democrats and the Christian democrats, believed that
with the currency reform, they would be an immediately upturn in the economy. On the
other hand, the socialist unity party counselors, still incomplete nationalization property,
that belong to the big companies: to war criminals and the Nazi party members.
Generally, all them blamed for supporting Hitler in 1933. The stage was set for
confrontation between the socialist unity party (SUP), and their pro-western opponents.
Andrea Villalba
Class 20, History
*All information above was taken from the documentary called "Cold War full length
documentary - Berlin (1948-1949) (episode 4)"
West German lined up for the new money, called deutschmark (d-mark). The Soviets
retaliated by using their own new currency, which, would include all of Berlin. At that
time, currency and political power were synonymous. The new d-mark was introduced
in the Western sectors on June 23, there were now two currencies in the city. Berliners
discovered that the Western d-marks were worth more, so many people from West
traveled to the East. This infuriated the Soviets, whom Sokolovsky and Molotov,
debated what to do next. Block all major road, rail and canal link between both sides
was the result. Also electricity and gas. The Berlin airlift, to feed Berliners, began at the
end of June, this was agreed by the American general Clay and Ernst Reuter. The
Americans called it "Operation Vittles", the British "Plain Fare".
At the beginning everything worked totally right, thousand of Berliners found jobs
working for the airlift, divided into work gangs supervised by Americans. The British
hired civilian operators to have more airplanes and manage together Germany. America
got interest by sending planes capable of carrying atom bombs to Britain. In August,
Stalin visited an air show near Moscow. He was confident that the Soviet blockade of
Berlin's Western sectors would be enough to force the Allies back to the negotiation
table. The Russians demanded the withdrawal of the Western deutschmark from the
city.
The Soviet blockade didn't prevent West Berliners from moving about freely within the
city. The Russians offered West Berliners the chance to buy food in the Soviet sector.
The Soviets didn't impose a complete blockade, but West Berliners who went to East
Berlin were harassed. Tension among the former wartime Allies was increasing. The
city was splitting apart. On September 6, communist-led activists converged on a full
meeting of the city council in East Berlin. Their aim was to break up the old city
council. But people of Berlin were against the Russians and they stayed together
supporting Western Allies. When the rally was over, the Soviet flag on the Brandenburg
Gate was torn down. East sector police and Soviet soldiers opened fire. Result: the d-
mark stayed and blockade and the airlift went on.
In December 1948, West Berliners voted for a new council to run their half of the city.
The Socialist Unity Party, which dominated the old council in the Soviet sector,
boycotted the elections. Ernst Reuter was now mayor, with Luise Schroeder as his
deputy, but only in one half of Berlin.
The Soviets had failed to drive the British, Americans and French out of Berlin. The
Allied counter-blockade was hurting the Soviet zone. On May 12, 1949, Stalin called it
quits. Many people thought the ending of the Berlin blockade meant an end to the Cold
War. In April 1949, British Foreign Secretary Bevin's dream of a strategic alliance
between Western Europe and North America came true with the signing of the North
Atlantic Treaty. August 29, 1949 the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb. The
American nuclear monopoly was over. The world was now split down the middle by
two competing superpowers. At its heart lay a divided Germany and a divided Berlin.