Using the source below, explain how Stalin dealt with the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War

In Source A, we are able to depict Stalin as being very angry when facing the Berlin Airlift that took place between June 1948 to May 1949. Stalin himself had created the Berlin Blockade in June 1948, in order to prevent raw materials getting into West Berlin. Stalin believed by blocking entry, that West Berlinners would get angrier towards the Americans, allowing him to seize control and therefore manifest his power. However, as shown by the source, the USA was able to outsmart Stalin by flying raw materials into West Germany by using airforce. By January 1949, the USA was able to fly in 6000 tons of raw materials everyday.Source A shows Stalin looking frustrated with the Berlin Airlift, as West Berlin was prospering when he wanted the opposite. It was gaining so much strength in fact, that East Berlin were getting frustrated with Stalin, hence his anger. Therefore, in June 1969, Stalin called off the Berlin Blockade, as it was causing more damage to himself than the USA and West Berlin.

CM

Related History GCSE answers

All answers ▸

'Fears of the Catholic threat to Elizabeth were fuelled more by events on the continent than at home'. How far do you agree?


What was the greater threat to European peace in the 1930s: the German invasion of the Rhineland or the Nazi-Soviet Pact?


Give two things you can infer from Source A about Hitler’s leadership of the Nazi Party in the 1920s.


Historians have disagreed about the role of Soviet expansion in the origins of the Cold War. What is your view about the role of Soviet expansion in the origins of the Cold War?