But that was the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union were caught up in a political and military rivalry that lasted from the end of World War II until the Berlin Wall came toppling down in 1989. The Berlin Crisis, which ran from 1948 until 1961, was one of the greatest period of the Cold War. In this blogpost I’ll discuss why the Berlin Crisis was important to the overall direction of the Cold War.
Background: The Division of Berlin
After World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, one in each of the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France. Berlin was also divided into four sectors, similarly to the capital of Germany. Over time, ideological differences between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies grew, resulting in the emergence of two separate German states: the Federal Republic of Germany (WestGermany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
Airlift
In reply, the Soviet Union used the Berlin Blockade in 1948 in an attempt to gain complete control of Berlin. In their effort to force the Allies to give up the city, they cut off all road, rail and water access to West Berlin. A months long standoff ensued.
A massive airlift later came in response to the Western Allies – the Berlin Airlift. Meanwhile, planes brought supplies to West Berlin, food, fuel, and what else was needed, almost a year. But the airlift showed the United States wouldn’t stand by and allow Soviet aggression of its allies to continue.
Symbolic, ideological and conflict
Both internationally and in Berlin the conflict between communism and capitalism reached apogee during the Berlin Crisis. West Berlin stood for freedom, East Berlin stood for Soviet controlled communism. The city was split physically, as a means to illustrate the conflict between two incompatible systems.
For the West Berlin represented democracy in ‘the glamour of capitalism and the beauty of Western values.’ Yet the Soviet Union wanted to show that communism was more superior by controlling East Berlin.
Berlin Wall construction
Having solved the problem of the Berlin Airlift, hostilities continued to increase. To stop the mass exodus of East Germans to the more prosperous West, the Soviet Union told East German leaders to build the Berlin Wall in 1961. That wall was a physical thing, a barrier, that separated East and West Berlin, that people could not get from one side to the other, because here was a wall.
During the Cold War the construction of the Berlin Wall made further the divide between the two super powers. Instead, it provided an enduring symbol of the repression and the lack of freedom under communist rule.
Impact on the Cold War
The Berlin Crisis had significant implications on the overall Cold War conflict:
NATO and Collective Security: The Berlin Crisis drew the US more closely into its Western European allies’ bands. In 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was formed, an alliance devoted to collective defence.
Arms Race: The Berlin Crisis made the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop ever more destructive weapons even more intense. Development of both nuclear and pure military capabilities in order to deter possible aggression was conducted on both sides, rapidly augmentation.
Crisis Management: However, during the Berlin Crisis diplomacy and crisis management was ineffective. What it showed was how important it is to have open lines of communication and to not directly wage a war with something that would lead to full blown war.
Decolonization and Proxy Wars: Wars during the global decolonization period would be kind enough to include the Berlin Crisis. Proxy wars fought in former colonies by non-local factions, exploiting disputes between the US and Soviet spheres of control in order to enhance their spheres of power, were often times supported by the United States and the Soviet Union.
Conclusion
The Berlin Crisis was very important to how the Cold War proceeded. This created additional strain and the manifestation of incompatibility in ideas and attitudes symbolized how pressing diplomacy and negotiation are in addressing international conflicts. Berlin became further divided into East and West, with Berlin dividing the Soviet Union and its Western counterparts even further. To understand the import of the Berlin Crisis is to understand the largest context and greatest political ramifications of the Cold War.