THE COLD WAR & MODERN DAY

Unit 5

CHAPTER 51 • UN & BERLIN AIRLIFT

Chapter 51

With the death of Roosevelt near the end of the war, the leadership of the United States fell into the hands of then Vice President Harry S. Truman. One of Truman’s first acts as president was to make the fateful decision to drop two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While it did end the war, the awesome power of the atomic bombs convinced Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to quickly gain the technology of this new and powerful weapon. With competing ideologies on how governments and economies should be run, the US and Soviet Union would embark on competition called the Cold War that would lead the world to the very brink of destruction.

THE UNITED NATIONS AND

BERLIN AIRLIFT

After the war, the nations of the world realized the League of Nations was ineffective. A new and better world organization was formed called the United Nations (UN) and headquartered in the United States in New York City. While the purpose of the UN remained the same as the League, to prevent wars and settle conflicts, it would proved to be much more effective than the League of Nations for several reasons. First, the UN would possess a military capable of enforcing its decisions in most cases. Second, the United States would join and become an

THE UN & BERLIN AIRLIFT

❖ The United Nations is formed as a peace keeping organization but this time avoiding the weaknesses that doomed the League of Nations.

❖ When the Soviets blocked roads leading into West Berlin, the US and Great Britain shipped supplies in by plane non-stop for 11 months.

❖ NATO (US) and the Warsaw Pact (Soviets) were formed as alliances in the event of nuclear war.

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SECTION 1

The United Nations

The United Nations was created after World War II as a world peacekeeping organization and a protector of human rights all over the world.

The United Nations

important part of the UN. Finally, all decisions did not have to be unanimous. Only five nations (China, France, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States) had the power to veto a UN

decision. The United Nations helped solve two early Cold War crises in the division of Germany as two nations and the Korean Conflict.

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Above, the United Nations is meeting from their headquarters in New York City, New York. The United States was chosen to host the offices of the United Nations.

The United Nations Replaces the League of Nations

One of the biggest problems in the Cold War was that a geographic area like Korea or Vietnam could almost instantly turn hot causing a showdown between the two superpowers. The first hot spot of the Cold War took place in the divided German city of Berlin in 1948. In an attempt to force western powers out of the city and out of East Germany, Stalin used his Soviet troops to set up the Berlin Blockade, a blockade around the western half of the city.13 He stop trucks and trains from bringing in supplies and prevented people from entering or leaving that section of the city.

He even cut the electrical power to West Berlin.14

The western powers led by the United States and Great Britain were forced to make a decision. With West Berlin

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SECTION 2

Berlin Blockade & Berlin Airlift

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Berliners watching and waiting for a C-54 land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport loaded with food, medicine, fuel and other supplies in 1948.

The Berlin Blockade Forces the US, Great Britain and France to Ship Supplies to West Berlin

located deep inside East Germany there was nothing short of nuclear war they could do to stop Stalin from taking the city by force. In addition, trying to get supplies to the city where the roads and rail lines were cut off would be extremely difficult and expensive.15

But the western powers decided West Berlin was too important to lose to Stalin.  

In a joint effort by Great Britain, France, and the United States, food and supplies were flown in to the city of West Berlin. For 11 months, airplanes landed constantly 7 days a week with food, supplies, and later fuel referred to as the Berlin Airlift. More than 2.3 million tons of food, medicine, and fuel were shipped to West Berlin countering Stalin’s efforts to create a blockade of that portion of the city. Truman warned if aid was stopped to Berlin then communism would run rampant.16

The Berlin Blockade was a massive failure for Stalin and the Soviet Union. It hastened the creation of West Germany by the Western Powers. It increased Cold War tensions and made the Soviets look cruel to the rest of the world. Finally, it motivated the creation of a military alliance against the Soviets by Western nations called NATO.17 Facing the reality the blockade had failed and fearing nuclear war if he took the city by force, Stalin finally backed down in a major Cold War victory for the West reopening West Berlin.18

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From the map above, you can see that Great Britain and the United States played the major role in resupplying the city of West Berlin during the Berlin Airlift.

The Berlin Airlift Ran 7 Days a Week for 11 Months