Berlin on the Brink: The Blockade, the Airlift, and the Early Cold War

452 Pages·2012·4.25 MB·English

by  Daniel F. Harrington

Berlin on the Brink
BERLIN
ON THE
BRINK
The Blockade,
the Airlift,
and the
Early Cold War
DANIEL F. HARRINGTON
Copyright © 2012 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State
University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University,
Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky
University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
16 15 14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1
Maps by Richard A. Gilbreath, University of Kentucky Cartography Lab Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data Harrington, Daniel F.
Berlin on the brink : the blockade, the airlift, and the early Cold War / Daniel F. Harrington.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8131-3613-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8131-3614-1 (ebook)
1. Berlin (Germany)—History—Blockade, 1948-1949. 2. Cold War. I. Title.
DD881.H318 2012
943'.1550874—dc23 2012004169
This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for
Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
To Sylvia, Elizabeth, and Laura,
who bring light and love
to the corridors of my life
Contents
Map of Occupied Berlin
Map of Germany during the Berlin blockade
Introduction
1. Opportunity
2. Willingness
3. “The Danger Point Is Berlin”
4. Prudence and Resolve
5. “Doomed to Failure”
6. “The Next Step”
7. The Moscow Discussions
8. The September Crisis
9. A Necessary Failure
10. “Lieber Pomm als ‘Frau Komm!’ ”
11. An Unexpected Success
12. Dealing Sensibly with Established Fact
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Occupied Berlin
Germany during the Berlin blockade
Introduction
NO PLACE SYMBOLIZES THE COLD WAR more than Berlin. In July
1945, the wartime Allies met on the outskirts of Adolf Hitler’s ruined capital and
barely managed to paper over their differences. Three summers later, Berlin
brought them to the brink of war. Crises in the late 1950s and early 1960s
created a new symbol of their conflict—the Berlin Wall—as Soviet and
American tanks faced each other at Checkpoint Charlie. The city later acted as a
barometer, measuring the change in atmosphere as tensions eased. The 1971
quadripartite agreement ushered in the era of détente, and the opening of the
Wall in November 1989 signified the Cold War’s end.
The tanks at Checkpoint Charlie have only one competitor as an iconic image
of Cold War Berlin: a cargo plane flying over the war-ravaged city during the
Berlin blockade. From June 1948 to May 1949, the Soviet Union isolated the
western half of the city from its normal sources of supply. The other occupying
powers, the United States, Great Britain, and France, sustained their sectors by
flying in coal, food, and other necessities. For generations of Americans and
western Europeans, the contrast between Joseph Stalin’s ruthless blockade and
the West’s humanitarian airlift offered eloquent proof of Arthur Schlesinger’s
contention that Western Cold War policies were “the brave and essential
response of free men to communist aggression.”1 Westerners still find inspiration
in the airlift as the most dramatic mobilization of military technology to save
lives in the twentieth century. Claiming parallels between their actions and Harry
Truman’s, recent presidents have invoked the airlift to bolster support for their
policies.
Although an enormous literature exists about Cold War Berlin in general and
the blockade in particular, aspects of the crisis remain obscure. One noted
historian of the blockade has declared it “one of the most ambiguous and least