Crisis Summary: BERLIN BLOCKADE

Background:
The crisis actors in the first of three international crises over Berlin were the France, the U.K., the U.S., and the USSR. It began on 24 June 1948 and ended on 12 May 1949.

Background and Pre-crisis
Escalation of tension between the Western powers and the Soviet Union centered around the issue of occupied Germany and, especially, Berlin. The Potsdam Agreement of 1945 divided Germany into four zones and Berlin into four sectors, but decreed that the country was to be treated as one economic unit under the Allied Control Council (ACC). The Potsdam rules began to unravel on 6 march 1948 when, during a pause in their Tripartite London Conference, the Western powers issued a communiqué indicating their intention to merge their zones in West Germany. The USSR responded by walking out of an Allied Control Council meeting on 20 march. Then, on 1 April the Russians temporarily restricted Western access to Berlin by the imposition of a "baby blockade." On June 7, the Western powers issued a declaration formalizing their 6 March communiqué, with the stated goal of integrating West Germany into the democratic community of Western Europe. This increased the Soviet perception of threat to communist influence in Europe but not, yet, of the greater likelihood of war. The U.K., the U.S., and France met once more in June.

Summary:
On 7 June 1948 the Western powers published the recommendations of the March 1948 London Conference, to which the Soviet Union had not been invited, to integrate their zones in Germany. This triggered a crisis for Moscow, which perceived a basic threat to its influence in Europe. The USSR responded on 24 June by blockading all Western transportation into and out of Berlin. The Soviets also cut off all electric current, coal, food, and other supplies to West Berlin.

This triggered a crisis for the U.S., the U.K., and France; the future of Germany and, with it, their influence in Europe was at stake. The response by the Western powers, on 26 June 1948, was to step up the airlift to Berlin, which had begun two months earlier, and to continue with plans for the rehabilitation of Germany as part of Western Europe. Talks to break the diplomatic deadlock began in August. By 2l March 1949 the blockade had been almost completely lifted. A full agreement was reached on 12 May, the termination date for all four crisis actors; it left Germany split into two embryonic states -- the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (DDR).

Throughout the crisis, the UN was highly involved in the conflict resolution process but only had limited effect. Following a complaint by France, the U.K., and the U.S. in September 1948, a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for the lifting of the blockade and the resumption of talks was vetoed by the Soviet Union. On 5 October 1948, the Security Council voted to begin discussing the crisis, and a neutral commission, consisting of China, Syria, Canada, Belgium, Colombia and Argentina, was set up to study the currency problem and mediate. However, it failed to achieve an agreement among the Four Powers. Appeals by the UN Secretary-General and the president of the General Assembly also had no effect. Talks were held in the winter of 1949 between the Soviet and U.S. representatives to the UN. The status of Berlin catalyzed a second crisis in November 1958 (see Case #168--Berlin Deadline).

References:
FRUS 1948, vol. 2, 1949; Acheson 1969; Adomeit 1982; Balfour 1968; Bohlen 1973; Bullock 1983; Clay 1950; Davison 1958; Donovan 1977a, 1977b; Fischer 1951; Fish 1991; George and Smoke 1974; Grosser 1964; Jessup 1971, 1972; Kennan 1967; La Feber 1976; Lie 1954; McCullough 1992; Murphy 1964; Paterson 1973; Pogue 1987; Richardson 1994; Rusk 1990; Schoenbaum 1988; Shlaim 1983; Smith 1963, 1974; Sowden 1975; Tanter 1974; Truman 1956; Ulam 1971, 1974; Windsor 1963; Young 1990; Young 1968.

Last Updated: 1/23/2006

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