The document summarizes the Berlin Blockade and Airlift that occurred in 1948. It describes how the Soviets cut off access by road and rail to West Berlin in response to the western allies introducing a new currency. In response, the US initiated an massive airlift to supply West Berlin by plane. Over 15 months, planes delivered necessities to the city's 2.5 million residents every 2 minutes. This airlift showed Soviet attempts to isolate West Berlin would not work, and they eventually backed down and lifted the blockade. The blockade and airlift demonstrated the need for a unified western military alliance, leading to the formation of NATO in 1949.

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.