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Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want . They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty . They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive. “President Truman”.
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The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive. “President Truman”
Berlin, in Russia's zone, was also split into 4 zones. But Berlin was entirely within - and surrounded by - the Russian zone.
On Friday, February 21, 1947, the British Embassy informed the U.S. State Department officials that Great Britain could no longer provide financial aid to the Greece and Turkey. American policymakers had been monitoring Greece's crumbling economic and political conditions. The United States had also been following events in Turkey, where a weak government faced Soviet pressure to share control of the Dardanelle Straits. When Britain announced that it would withdraw aid to Greece and Turkey, the responsibility was passed on to the United States.
Marshall Plan Countries This map shows the countries that were part of the Marshall Plan. Almost all European nations outside the Soviet bloc were members of the plan from the beginning. The two exceptions were Spain, which as a dictatorship under Franco was not invited to participate, and West Germany, which was under Allied occupation and did not become a full member until 1949, after a significant measure of self-government had been restored. Graphs on the map compare agriculture, industry, and foreign-trade levels in 1950, the midpoint of the Marshall Plan, with prewar production in 1938.
Berlin Blockade The Soviet's goal was to gain control over the whole city of Berlin and to eliminate western troops stationed there.They frequently interrupted traffic between West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. This culminated on June 24th 1948 when the Soviets blocked the access to West Berlin. All traffic by train, ship or on the Autobahn was stopped on the inner German border. It marked the first day of the Berlin Blockade.
What was the response to this blockade?
The massive effort to supply the 2 million West Berliners with food and fuel for heating began in June, 1948, and lasted until Sept., 1949. The Russians lifted the blockade in May of that year. During the around-the-clock airlift some 277,000 flights were made, many at 3-min intervals. By spring, 1949, an average of 8,000 tons was being flown in daily. More than 2 million tons of goods—of which coal accounted for about two thirds—were delivered.
It was determined that the city's daily food ration would be 646 tons of flour and wheat; 125 tons of cereal; 64 tons of fat; 109 tons of meat and fish; 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes; 180 tons of sugar; 11 tons of coffee; 19 tons of powdered milk; 5 tons of whole milk for children; 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking; 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables; 38 tons of salt; and 10 tons of cheese.
In total, 1,534 tons were needed daily to keep the over 2 million people alive. That's not including other necessities, like coal and fuel. In fact, the largest quantity of anything required was coal. It wasn't needed to heat homes as much as it was necessary for industry. In addition, there was limited electricity, because the city's power plant was located in the Soviet sector, so that was cut off, too. It was determined that in total supplies, 3,475 tons would be needed daily. In order to supply the people of Berlin, C-47's would have to make 1000 flights each day.
In the 12 years between the establishment of East Germany in 1949 and the construction of the wall, over 2.7 million East Germans fled to West Berlin. This shift in population severely depleted the work force and caused other economic problems in East Germany, so the Soviet Union took drastic measures, including the Berlin Wall, to prevent further loss. After the wall was built, more than 80 people were shot and murdered in attempts to emigrate to West Berlin, and countless numbers were imprisoned. There were only two openings in the wall, both of which were heavily guarded, fortified checkpoints.
Berlin Wall— Eastern side 1961
For more than 28 years the wall was a major symbol of both the Cold War and the oppressive Soviet regime, but it became obsolete in 1989 when Hungary opened its borders to East Germans. With Hungary open, emigrants could pass through to West Germany with little difficulty. In a desperate last attempt to restore stability, the East German leader Egon Krenz decided to grant passage through the Berlin Wall itself. On November 9, 1989, East Germans poured into West Germany, partially destroying the wall on the way, while communist officials watched their regime crumble. In West Germany, the immigrants were welcomed with a gift of 100 marks ($50), as their East German money had become worthless. East and West Germany then worked together to remove the wall and reunite themselves as the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.
