Berlin Blockade

Author : Daniel F. Harrington
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 635 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2012-06-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813140643

Get Book

Berlin on the Brink by Daniel F. Harrington Pdf

The Berlin blockade brought former allies to the brink of war. Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union defeated and began their occupation of Germany in 1945, and within a few years, the Soviets and their Western partners were jockeying for control of their former foe. Attempting to thwart the Allied powers' plans to create a unified West German government, the Soviets blocked rail and road access to the western sectors of Berlin in June 1948. With no other means of delivering food and supplies to the German people under their protection, the Allies organized the Berlin airlift. In Berlin on the Brink: The Blockade, the Airlift, and the Cold War, Daniel F. Harrington examines the "Berlin question" from its origin in wartime plans for the occupation of Germany through the Paris Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in 1949. Harrington draws on previously untapped archival sources to challenge standard accounts of the postwar division of Germany, the origins of the blockade, the original purpose of the airlift, and the leadership of President Harry S. Truman. While thoroughly examining four-power diplomacy, Harrington demonstrates how the ingenuity and hard work of the people at the bottom—pilots, mechanics, and Berliners—were more vital to the airlift's success than decisions from the top. Harrington also explores the effects of the crisis on the 1948 presidential election and on debates about the custody and use of atomic weapons. Berlin on the Brink is a fresh, comprehensive analysis that reshapes our understanding of a critical event of cold war history.

Author : Barry Turner
Publisher : Icon Books
Page : 215 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2017-10-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781785782558

Get Book

The Berlin Airlift by Barry Turner Pdf

Acclaimed historian Barry Turner presents a new history of the Cold War's defining episode. Berlin, 1948 – a divided city in a divided country in a divided Europe. The ruined German capital lay 120 miles inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. Stalin wanted the Allies out; the Allies were determined to stay, but had only three narrow air corridors linking the city to the West. Stalin was confident he could crush Berlin's resolve by cutting off food and fuel. In the USA, despite some voices still urging 'America first', it was believed that a rebuilt Germany was the best insurance against the spread of communism across Europe. And so over eleven months from June 1948 to May 1949, British and American aircraft carried out the most ambitious airborne relief operation ever mounted, flying over 2 million tons of supplies on almost 300,000 flights to save a beleaguered Berlin. With new material from American, British and German archives and original interviews with veterans, Turner paints a fresh, vivid picture the airlift, whose repercussions – the role of the USA as global leader, German ascendancy, Russian threat – we are still living with today.

Author : Michael Burgan
Publisher : Capstone
Page : 50 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Berlin (Germany)
ISBN : 9780756534868

Get Book

The Berlin Airlift by Michael Burgan Pdf

Discusses the hardships West Berlin residents faced during a period in which Western Allies (United States, United Kingdom, France) attempted to deliver aid to a city devastated by war and political turmoil. The success of the airlift kept Berlin free from total Soviet occupation until the eventual reunification of Germany. Features include journal entries, letters, and personal interviews.

Author : Benn Steil
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 624 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2018-02-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781501102394

Get Book

The Marshall Plan by Benn Steil Pdf

Winner of the 2018 American Academy of Diplomacy Douglas Dillon Award Shortlisted for the 2018 Duff Cooper Prize in Literary Nonfiction “[A] brilliant book…by far the best study yet” (Paul Kennedy, The Wall Street Journal) of the gripping history behind the Marshall Plan and its long-lasting influence on our world. In the wake of World War II, with Britain’s empire collapsing and Stalin’s on the rise, US officials under new Secretary of State George C. Marshall set out to reconstruct western Europe as a bulwark against communist authoritarianism. Their massive, costly, and ambitious undertaking would confront Europeans and Americans alike with a vision at odds with their history and self-conceptions. In the process, they would drive the creation of NATO, the European Union, and a Western identity that continue to shape world events. Benn Steil’s “thoroughly researched and well-written account” (USA TODAY) tells the story behind the birth of the Cold War, told with verve, insight, and resonance for today. Focusing on the critical years 1947 to 1949, Benn Steil’s gripping narrative takes us through the seminal episodes marking the collapse of postwar US-Soviet relations—the Prague coup, the Berlin blockade, and the division of Germany. In each case, Stalin’s determination to crush the Marshall Plan and undermine American power in Europe is vividly portrayed. Bringing to bear fascinating new material from American, Russian, German, and other European archives, Steil’s account will forever change how we see the Marshall Plan. “Trenchant and timely…an ambitious, deeply researched narrative that…provides a fresh perspective on the coming Cold War” (The New York Times Book Review), The Marshall Plan is a polished and masterly work of historical narrative. An instant classic of Cold War literature, it “is a gripping, complex, and critically important story that is told with clarity and precision” (The Christian Science Monitor).

Author : Avi Shlaim
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 478 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2023-04-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780520337343

Get Book

The United States and the Berlin Blockade 1948-1949 by Avi Shlaim Pdf

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.

Author : Daniel F. Harrington
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 434 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2012-05-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813136134

Get Book

Berlin on the Brink by Daniel F. Harrington Pdf

This study examines the 'Berlin question' from its origin in wartime plans for the occupation of Germany to the Paris Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in 1949. Tracing the blockade's origins, it explains why British and American planners during the Second World War neglected Western access to post-war Berlin and why Western officials did little to reduce Berlin's vulnerability as Cold War tensions increased.

Author : Roger G. Miller
Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
Page : 147 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2015-11-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781786252487

Get Book

To Save A City: The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949 [Illustrated Edition] by Roger G. Miller Pdf

Includes 30 Illustrations In this expert survey Air Force Historian Robert Miller explores the Epic story of the Berlin Airlift, the confrontation of Democracy and Communism as the world teetered on the brink of the Third World War. The Berlin blockade (24 June 1948;–12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under allied control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutschmark from West Berlin. In response, the Western Allies organised the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin. Aircrews from the United States Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing up to 8,893 tons of necessities daily, such as fuel and food, to the Berliners. Neither side wanted a war; the Soviets did not disrupt the airlift. By the spring of 1949 the airlift was clearly succeeding, and by April it was delivering more cargo than had previously been transported into the city by rail. On 11 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin. The Berlin Crisis of 1948–1949 served to highlight competing ideological and economic visions for post-war Europe, particularly Germany. The clash ultimately led to the division of that country into East and West and to the division of Berlin itself.

Author : Thomas Parrish
Publisher : Da Capo Press, Incorporated
Page : 424 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 1999-05-06
Category : History
ISBN : NWU:35556030487169

Get Book

Berlin In The Balance by Thomas Parrish Pdf

In June 1948, Soviet authorities in Germany announced a land blockade of the American, British, and French sectors of Berlin. Isolated more than one hundred miles within Soviet-occupied territory, western Berlin was in danger of running out of coal, food, and the courage to stand up to Joseph Stalin.As Berlin in the Balance recounts, this crisis was a turning-point for U.S. policy. Just three years earlier, the Soviet Union had been an ally and Berlin the target of American bombers. In 1946 Winston Churchill had ignited protests by calling for an Anglo-American alliance against the USSR. The Berlin blockade made Churchill's ”iron curtain” through Europe an inescapable reality.Led by Harry S. Truman, the Western Allies refused to back away from Berlin. Instead, they took to the air, packing passenger planes with coal, potatoes, flour, and other necessities. Not even the commanders of the year-old U.S. Air Force believed this fleet could supply western Berlin for long. Its main airport was squeezed among apartment buildings. Autumn would bring blinding fogs. And nobody had ever tried to supply a city of millions by air. Berlin in the Balance tells the full, gripping story of this critical conflict—how it developed and how it played out. Noted historian Thomas Parrish shows us the crisis through the eyes of Truman, Stalin, and other leaders. We hear Berliners cheer the arrival of each ”raisin bomber”; the planes' roar was assurance that the democratic powers had not abandoned them. Through sources made available only after the fall of the USSR, we learn how Soviet leaders planned their strategy to drive out the West, what they feared, and what they hoped to achieve. Berlin in the Balance spotlights a different kind of air force heroism—flying heavy transport planes in weather so bad ”the birds walked,” harassed by Soviet fighters but never firing a shot. Under the decisive leadership of General William H. Tunner, crews took off every three minutes around the clock. Soldiers rushed to maintain the airplanes and runways, master a new radar system, even build a new airport. The operation depended on support from Frankfurt to London to Montana, on the sacrifices of German civilians and the boldness of French saboteurs. Using archives and fresh interviews, Parrish details the full scope and success of ”Operation Vittles.”The Berlin airlift stopped Stalin's expansion in Europe. It helped Truman win his upset election in 1948. And it set the course of East-West conflict for the next forty years. More than sixty U.S. and allied fliers died in this great operation, keeping a besieged city fueled, fed, and free. Berlin in the Balance is a masterful chronicle of this crucial, stirring saga.

Author : Walter Phillips Davison
Publisher : Ayer Company Pub
Page : 423 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 1980-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0405129637

Get Book

The Berlin Blockade by Walter Phillips Davison Pdf

Author : Gerry van Tonder
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2017-04-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781526708281

Get Book

Berlin Blockade by Gerry van Tonder Pdf

When the world held its breath It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europewith the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Berlin.Allied agreements entered into at Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam for the carving up of postwar Berlin now meant nothing to the Soviet conquerors. Their victory had cost millions of Russian lives troops and civilians so the hammer and sickle hoisted atop the Reichstag was more a claim to ownership than success. Moscows agenda was clear and simple: the Western Allies had to leave Berlin. The blockade ensued as the Soviets orchestrated a determined program of harassment, intimidation, flexing of muscle, and Socialist propaganda to force the Allies out. Truman had already used the atomic bomb: Britain and America would not be cowed. Historys largest airborne relief program was introduced to save the beleaguered city. In a war of attrition, diplomatic bluff and backstabbing, and mobilizing of forces, the West braced itself for a third world war.

Author : Ann Tusa,John Tusa
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 636 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2019-07-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781510740624

Get Book

The Berlin Airlift by Ann Tusa,John Tusa Pdf

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Author : Helena P Schrader
Publisher : The History Press
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2011-09-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780752468037

Get Book

The Blockade Breakers by Helena P Schrader Pdf

On 24 June 1948 the Sovient Union abrubtly closed all land and water access to the Western Sectors of Berlin. Over 2 million civilians, dependent on the surrounding territory and the West for food, fuel, and other basic goods, were suddenly cut off from all necessities of life. The Western Allies had the option of withdrawing their garrisons and allowing the Soviet Union to take control of the entire city, or of trying to supply the city by air. Never in history had 2 million people been supplied exclusively by air before. None of the senior military commanders believed it could be done. But the political leadership in London and Washington insisted that it must be done. A withdrawal from Berlin would discredit the West at a critical moment in history, when the Soviet Union was expanding aggressively across Europe. Worse, it would endanger the political stability and economic recovery of all of Europe. So the largest and most ambitious Airlift in history was set in motion. It began without the West really knowing what the Berliners needed in order to survive - much less how much those supplies weighed. It was launched despite a lack of airlift expertise in theatre or a unified command structure, an almost complete absence of aircraft and aircrew resources in Germany and serious inadequacies in airfields and air traffic control. But once it took wing, it flew and turned into something that not even its originators and advocates had ever imagined or expected.

Author : Roger G. Miller,Us Air Force History &. Museums Program
Publisher : Military Bookshop
Page : 138 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2013-07
Category : History
ISBN : 1782664262

Get Book

To Save a City by Roger G. Miller,Us Air Force History &. Museums Program Pdf

Author : Manfred Wilke
Publisher : Berghahn Books
Page : 374 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2014-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781782382898

Get Book

The Path to the Berlin Wall by Manfred Wilke Pdf

The long path to the Berlin Wall began in 1945, when Josef Stalin instructed the Communist Party to take power in the Soviet occupation zone while the three Western allies secured their areas of influence. When Germany was split into separate states in 1949, Berlin remained divided into four sectors, with West Berlin surrounded by the GDR but lingering as a captivating showcase for Western values and goods. Following a failed Soviet attempt to expel the allies from West Berlin with a blockade in 1948–49, a second crisis ensued from 1958–61, during which the Soviet Union demanded once and for all the withdrawal of the Western powers and the transition of West Berlin to a “Free City.” Ultimately Nikita Khrushchev decided to close the border in hopes of halting the overwhelming exodus of East Germans into the West. Tracing this path from a German perspective, Manfred Wilke draws on recently published conversations between Khrushchev and Walter Ulbricht, head of the East German state, in order to reconstruct the coordination process between these two leaders and the events that led to building the Berlin Wall.

Author : Eric Morris
Publisher : Hamish Hamilton
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015013935716

Get Book

Blockade: Berlin and the Cold War by Eric Morris Pdf

Bog om Berlin i efterkrigstidens Kolde krig og bla. om russernes blokade af byen i 1948. Andre emner er den daværende berlinmur, Marshall-planen og spændingerne øst-vest.