The Berlin Blockade

Pretend it is June, 1948 and the blockade has just started. Your group serves as a national security advisors to President Harry S. Truman. How should the US respond to this Soviet act of aggression? Should the US respond with force? Should we focus on diplomacy? Should we walk away? Using what you’ve already learned about the relationship between the US and the USSR in the years leading up the Blockade, what should President Truman do?

The Berlin Blockade1. Each group will make one proposal to

President Truman. It will include:– 1/2 - 1 page summary based on evidence that

supports the strategy choice. Include Soviet and American perspectives; the potential costs and consequences of the strategy; guidelines for determining whether the strategy is successful

2. One person from each group will share their group’s strategy with the class

At the end of the war Germany was partitioned into four zones:

The Soviet Union occupied Eastern Germany and the US, France, and Great Britain occupied Western Germany.

Berlin had also been divided. The city is located in Eastern Germany, which was controlled by the Soviet Union.

 

Stalin moved to take control of all of Berlin. He tried to force the Allies out of the western half of the city by sealing off all railways, rivers, and highways

The US and its allies began a massive airlift to West Berlin  

Food and supplies flown in by plane for over a year

Planes would land in Berlin every three minutes bringing supplies

Soviet Union could not halt air traffic without starting a war. Eventually the blockade failed