Berlin Blockade

• When did the Berlin Blockade start?


  June 1948
• What Stalin order to be cut off from West Germany?


  Road, rail and canal links to the outside world
• Why did Stalin blockade Berlin?


  • Reliance on food - East Germany grew most of what West Berlin ate
  • Transport access - People had to travel through Soviet Ger,many to access West Berlin
  • Presence of the Red Army - The Soviet Union had 4.5 million soldiers in Germany
• What were the issues of West Berlin being blocked?


  • They only had enough food for 36 days
  • They lacked important resources like fuel and medicine
  • The Allies would not be able to send supplies without access to it
• What did result did Stalin want from the Berlin Blockade?


  The Western powers would give up West Berlin and the Soviet Union would take control of the whole of it and so he would be able to spread propaganda about the triumph of communism over capitalism