The Cold War• Following World War II the United Nations

was founded• This was a follow up to the League of Nations

but had far more agencies such as UNICEF and the UNHCR

• It was intended that the United Nations would help resolve disputes and have peace keeping forces when required

The Cold War

The Cold War• The United States had been allied with the Soviet

Union during the war but now that it was over they had little in common

• The allied powers decided to divide Germany into 4 regions under their control

• This also applied to Berlin despite it being in the Soviet region

• The Soviets were quick to set up communist governments in areas they had freed such as Poland

The Iron Curtain

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAyXXepUgrE

The Cold War• The soviets and the allies were now pitted

against each other in a battle for Europe• The first area of conflict arose in Berlin• The American president under the Marshall

plan had granted money to countries in Europe to halt the rise of communism

• Stalin viewed this as an attempt to stop Soviet influence and so began the Berlin blockade

The Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade

• The Soviets cut off Berlin from the allied powers

• They were able to achieve this as it was well inside the Soviet region of control

• The only way the allies could supply Berlin was through the air

• This was a huge undertaking and would cost millions to carry out

The Berlin Blockade• The airlift was named Operation Vittles and

was mostly paid for by the Americans• The operation lasted from June in 1948 to

May in 1949• The amount of flights going into west Berlin

was so great that a third airport had to be built

• The operation moved 2.3 million tonnes if supplies at a cost of over £220 million

The Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade• The soviets were forced to lift the blockade as

it was not working• They were never in a position to fire on the

allied aircraft as the Americans still had the advantage of the atomic bomb

• The allies in particular the United States had won the first significant engagement in the Cold War

Results of the Blockade• After the blockade was lifted the western

powers decided to join their regions to form West Germany

• The Soviets countered this by declaring their region to be a separate country which was commonly known as East Germany

• NATO was formed in 1949 by America and its allies

• NATO was a military alliance under which all members agreed to block Soviet expansion

Results of the Blockade• In response the Soviets formed the Warsaw

Pact • This was a military alliance of communist

states to counter NATO• Communism would not be restricted to just

Europe however• The Cold War would be fought out in other

regions such as Asia and the Americas