The Berlin Crisis 1948 – 1949 was a period of an escalation in tensions between the western powers of USA and Britain and the Soviet Union. The presence of two separate German states: West Germany, or the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR) and East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic (GDR) coexisting caused major clashes of ideologies in the years leading up to the Cold War, the most hostile years of the Cold War and the years that followed the Cold War. The events of the Berlin crisis with the most prominent being the Berlin blockade and the Berlin airlift culminated in the construction of the Berlin Wall on the night of the 12th August – 13th August 1961. The original wall was built of barbed wire and cinder blocks but was soon replaced …show more content…
As president Truman described in his Truman doctrine, “at the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life” this in an extremely reliable viewpoint as it comes directly from the president. The president of the United States, as leader of a major superpower would have very strong and extensive knowledge of the global climate at this time as he would have had a whole team monitoring the situation and feeding him the findings and key information, meaning he would be very well informed. The Berlin blockade was the first of major international crises of the Cold War period. The Berlin blockade refers to the period of time, 24th June 1948 to 12th may 1949, in which the soviet leader, Joseph Stalin cut off all land and river transit routes between West Berlin and West …show more content…
It is argued by some historians such as Gerhard Wettig that Stalin did in fact want to keep close relations with the western powers, “he also saw acceptance, or at minimum acquiescence, by his western allies as essential.” This temperament for a civil relationship between east and west was reflected by Stalin’s counterpart the president of the United States Franklin Roosevelt who said in august 1941 that “Stalin is not that kind of man…I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask nothing from him in return…he wont try to annex anything and will work for me for a world of democracy and peace.” This shows that the two superpower leaders shared a united goal of achieving a peaceful world. The fact that this is a quote directly from the president of the United States of America makes it relatively reliable as he would have ad extensive and first hand knowledge of on the government’s foreign policy. Winston Churchill, the British prime minister agreed with the two superpowers stating at the Yalta conference in February 1945 that, “the peace of the world depends upon the lasting friendship of the three great powers” this shows that he too was striving for peace not conflict and favoured a united approach to foreign affairs in order to preserve the peace and civility of the world. This quote is useful as it supports the temperament that president Franklin Roosevelt outwardly displayed in
The tension however did not diminish with the years following Khrushchev as the following leaders of the URSS did nothing to minimize the tensions between east and west berlin, which were represented by the Berlin wall, whose construction was commanded by Nikita in 1961, two months before the crisis at Checkpoint
The US, Great Britain, and France were not in compliance with what Stalin wanted so Stalin blocked railroads coming into Berlin “in a doomed attempt to avert a permanent division” (Hunt 93). Stalin was trying to rebuild his side by not letting the western side completely take over. At this time the US had no way of getting supplies to the people there. The US response to this was to send B-29 bombers in order to send supplies. Our help was known as the Berlin airlift.
Reagan said in his speech that daunting tasks like that of rebuilding nations, lives and governments were ahead. But he also said that, “the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They built a new Europe together.” This shows the willingness and determination of those to make Europe more peaceful and better for all, even their enemies. He stated that there first occurred a great forgiveness between the Allies and the Axis, all whom have suffered immensely.
It was soon decided that Germany were to be broken up into four zones, the Allied powers making up the Western portion while the East would be controlled by the Soviet Union. The Berlin Airlift, also known as the Berlin Blockade, was an operation orchestrated by the U.S. aiding those in Berlin with supplies needed to keep the city running. Berlin was completely surrounded by Soviet zones; Russia closed all highways, railroads, and canals that led west Germany to west Berlin. This move was put into place in order to make food and other such supplies entirely feasible to those who lived in Berlin. Their hopes were to eventually take capitalist influences (Britain, France, and the U.S.) out of the city in order for it to be overrun by communist control.
On June 12, 1987, President Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate ,a background most dreary visible behind him, to give a speech to not just the people of Berlin, but also to the people of the world. Through his speech, Reagan sought to undermine the Soviet Union by raising support against it from the people of Berlin, a people who would have felt the effects of the Soviet Union very much. Their city was divided by a wall which separated not just East from West, but family from family, friend from friend, and freedom from oppression. And he not only attacked the Soviet Union, but also communism as a whole and any totalitarian state. And he ultimately sought to bring about the end of the Berlin Wall, which would have unified Berlin and
After the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill stated that, “this is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace” (Document A). The US knew that the, “Soviet policy... [would] be directed toward weakening of power and influence and contacts of advanced Western nations” (Document B) and that something had to be done to stop the spread of communism. The US felt that communism could be a threat to the peace of the world and capitalism so they needed to show that they would take any measure to stop the spread of communism. This led to efforts such as the Berlin Airlfit where the US sent supplies to thousands of East Berliners who were suffering to drum up support for the US in a communist state.
In his Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate speech in June of 1987, former President Ronald Reagan addresses the issue of the separation between European nations due to conflicting ideals of governments. This issue is most prevalently seen in in the city of Berlin, Germany, where the speech is addressed. This is due to a huge wall that runs directly through the city which divides the Communist East and Democratic West Berlin, more famously known as the Berlin wall. Nearing the end of the Cold War, President Reagan made a bold statement that was a catalyst for the end of the war, and a beginning to nuclear disarmament. This risky statement, which called out Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, was a cry for peace; not just for the people of Berlin, but for the world.
In response, the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall to keep citizens from escaping into the West. Construction of the Berlin Wall caused conflicts for many, and in 1987, President Ronald Reagan planned to
RONALD REAGAN AND THE BERLIN WALL THESIS STATEMENT Ronald Reagan’s speech at the Berlin wall challenged Gorbachev to tear down the wall because communism supported by Soviet Union divided the Germans and caused the Berlin wall. Berlin wall The Berlin Wall, one of the key symbols of the Cold War conflict, was constructed by the Soviet-influenced East German state in August 1961 to stop East Berlin residents from fleeing west. For nearly three decades it reminded the world of the division between East and West, between the Communist and the western countries.
Roosevelt was supported in these efforts by a dramatic transformation in public opinion away from the ideals of isolationism and non interventionism common in the 1930s and toward overwhelming agreement that the United States should play a leading role in the postwar order and in a collective security organization to keep the peace. Roosevelt made it the responsibility of the United States to ensure that the world would remain at peace. In a congressional address, Roosevelt said, “The United States now exerts a tremendous (vast) influence in the cause of peace (throughout all the world)... We (It) will continue to exert that influence, only if we are (it is) willing to continue to share in the responsibility for keeping the peace.” In order to fulfill his goal of being an international peacekeeper, Roosevelt pushed for the use of democracy
(Dearden) On August 13, the Berlin Wall, also known as the Iron Curtain due to its thick and heavy appearance, was constructed to create the division know for West and East Berlin. United States,
The Soviet Union requested substantial reparations from Germany, but the United States recalled the reason that World War II started was because of post World War I reparations. In March and April 1947, the United States, British, French, and Soviet officials met in Moscow to arrange Germany’s future, but failed. After the conference, the Western Allies unified their German occupation zones to create West Germany. In response to this, Soviets built the Berlin Blockade, cutting off railways, highways, and waterways into West Berlin. To counteract this, the United States airlifted food and supplies to the residents, until Soviets finally realized their blockade was not achieving their goals, and tore it down in May 1949.
Roosevelt states, “...the tempo of modern warfare could bring into our very midst the physical attack which we must eventually expect if the dictator nations win this war” (15). Roosevelt says this in the way he did because at this point in time he didn’t want to physical fight but he knows if the country needs to we will. Roosevelt knows that wars do not solve the problem which is why he simply wanted to aid countries and not physically fight with them, causing the loss of many lives. Roosevelt had four basic freedoms that he wanted to be conserved and saved.
During the beginning of the “Cold War”, Berlin was an area where Europeans were able to relocate to without having to cross the international borders of Europe. In response to this east Germany, authorities thought it would be best to build a “wall” that surrounded West Berlin. After the East German government had given permission to stop the immigrants from moving into Germany the premier decided that he wanted to close its border forever. The Wall was completed within a night and day and was built with barbed wire and concrete block, it divided Berlin from one side to the other. For years after West Berlin became the hot end of the “cold” war as nuclear weapons faced off across the wall.
At the end of the second world war there was an argument about who was more responsible for the cold war the Soviet Union or United States. Many people thought that the Soviet Union was responsible because the ruling insecure the nation. The Soviet Union wanted to expand and influence the world wide. " Instead of continuing Roosevelt