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©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)
Social Studies
Name: _______________________________
When World War II came to an end in 1945,
the Allied powers (USA, Britain and the Soviet
Union) held conferences to discuss how
Germany should be divided up upon its
defeat. The first conference was held at Yalta
in February of 1945 and the second was held
at Potsdam in July of the same year. The
agreements ultimately led to the splitting of
the defeated Germany into four “allied
zones” with portions controlled by the Soviet
Union, USA, Britain and France.
The Allied leaders, Winston Churchill (Britain), Franklin D.
After the split, Berlin (the capital of Germany) Roosevelt (USA) and Joseph Stalin (USSR), pictured at the
Yalta Conference.
was located entirely in the Soviet Union
controlled portion of the country. Due to the agreements at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences
Berlin was also split into four portions between the Allied powers.
The Soviet Union was unhappy with this arrangement and sought to control the entire city of
Berlin. Firstly, the Soviet Union had been invaded twice by Germany in recent history and they
had no interest in the promoting the reunification of Germany, which is what the United States,
Britain and France were attempting. As well, the Soviets were concerned about the promotion of
a capitalist city within the middle of their zone. As such, they decided to attempt to capture
control over the entire city of Berlin.
Joseph Stalin (the leader of the Soviet Union at the time) could not forcibly remove the other
Allied powers from Berlin, as he had to acknowledge that the United States had the atomic bomb.
He therefore, in 1948 ordered the closing of all rail lines, canals, and roads that entered West
Berlin through the Soviet sector. This “blockade” of the city effectively cut off West Berlin from
food and fuel supplies.
©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)
As far as the Allies were concerned, withdrawal from the city was not an
option. In particular the United States was afraid that if they withdrew from
Berlin, then communism would run rampant in the rest of Europe. For
example, President Harry Truman declared “We shall stay… period.” Using
military force to strike back against the Soviet blockade was not a wise
decision as it increased the risk of turning the Cold War into an actual war.
Finding another way to re-provision the city seemed to the Allies to be the
only reasonable response.
The only way for the Allies to supply their sectors in Berlin was to fly in supplies. Stalin would not
dare to shoot down Allied planes as he would risk the chance of war with the United States and
its atomic arsenal. This project was code-named “Project Vittles” and became known as the Berlin
Airlift. At the beginning of the operation, the planes delivered about 5,000 tons of supplies to
West Berlin every day; by the end, those loads had increased to about 8,000 tons of supplies per
day. The Allies carried about 2.3 million tons of cargo in all over the course of the airlift. During
the airlift an Allied plane took off or landed in West Berlin every 30 seconds.
By the spring of 1949, when it became clear that the Allies
would stand firm and not give in to Stalin’s tactic, Stalin
decided to lift the blockade. The Allies would maintain
control over their sectors of Berlin.
The legacy of the event was that it increased Cold War
tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union
and made the Soviet Union look to the rest of the world
like a cruel enemy. It also helped the Allied powers solidify
their relationship against the Soviet Union and would
eventually lead to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) the agreement that sought mutual
protection for Allied powers against the Soviet Union.
©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)
Social Studies
Name: _______________________________
Directions: Complete the following based on the information included in the reading.
1. According to the reading, what was the outcome of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences
in 1945?
2. What reasons does the reading provide to explain why the Soviet Union decided to carry
out the blockade of Berlin?
3. How did the Soviet Union attempt to blockade Berlin?
4. How did the blockade affect West Berlin?
5. Why was not backing down to the blockade so important to the Allied nations (especially
the United States)?
6. What details from the reading show how difficult the task of the airlift was for the Allied
nations?
©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)
7. Why didn’t the United States or the Soviet Union attack each other during the blockade?
8. Explain how the blockade ended.
9. How did the Berlin blockade and airlift impact the overall Cold War?
©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)
Teachers Key
Name: _______________________________
Directions: Complete the following based on the information included in the reading.
1. According to the reading, what was the outcome of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences
in 1945?
Germany and Berlin was split into four zones controlled each by the USA, the Soviet Union,
Britain and France.
2. What reasons does the reading provide to explain why the Soviet Union decided to carry
out the blockade of Berlin?
Firstly, the Soviet Union had been invaded twice by Germany in recent history and they had no
interest in the promoting the reunification of Germany, which is what the United States, Britain
and France were attempting. As well, the Soviets were concerned about the promotion of a
capitalist city within the middle of their zone.
3. How did the Soviet Union attempt to blockade Berlin?
It closed all of the rail lines, canals and roads into West Berlin.
4. How did the blockade affect West Berlin?
It caused a shortage of fuel and food to the city and threatened the people living in the city.
5. Why was not backing down to the blockade so important to the Allied nations (especially
the United States)?
The Allied powers (especially the USA) were concerned that if they gave in to the blockade that
communism and Soviet control over Europe would expand unchecked.
6. What details from the reading show how difficult the task of the airlift was for the Allied
nations?
The fact that a plane was landing in or leaving Berlin every 30 seconds shows that the airlift was
a daunting task and required a terrific effort.
©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)
7. Why didn’t the United States or the Soviet Union attack each other during the blockade?
Both were fearful that if they attacked each other then it would lead to a larger, possibly nuclear,
war.
8. Explain how the blockade ended.
By the spring of 1949, when it became clear that the Allies would stand firm and not give in to
Stalin’s tactic, Stalin decided to lift the blockade.
9. How did the Berlin blockade and airlift impact the overall Cold War?
It raised tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union and caused each other to be suspicious
of the other. As well, the event caused the Allied powers to later form NATO as part of an
attempt to protect each other from Soviet aggression.
©Copyright Brodie Millar 2014. (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brodie-Millar)