Download Berlin After WWII

NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
netw rks
Geography and History Activity
The Cold War Begins, 1945–1960
Berlin After World War II
In February 1945 with the Allies nearing their goal of defeating Germany, the leaders of
the Allied nations met at Yalta, a Soviet resort on the Black Sea, to discuss the shape of
postwar Europe. The leaders agreed to divide Germany into four zones. Great Britain,
the United States, the Soviet Union, and France would each control one zone. The same
four countries would also divide the German capital city of Berlin into four zones, even
though Berlin was located in the Soviet zone. The Soviet Union also wanted Germany to
pay heavy reparations for the war damage it had caused. After some negotiation, the
Allies agreed that Germany would pay reparations with trade goods and products
instead of cash, and that the Allies would be allowed to remove industrial machinery,
railroad cars, and other equipment as their armies advanced into German territory.
After the war, tensions developed between the Soviet Union and the United States,
Britain, and France. U.S. officials accepted that Western Europe’s prosperity depended
on Germany’s recovery, but the Soviet Union still wanted Germany to pay war
reparations. By early 1948 U.S. officials were convinced that the Soviets were trying to
undermine Germany’s economy. In response, the United States, Great Britain, and
France announced that they were merging their zones in Germany into a single country,
West Germany. They also agreed to merge their zones in Berlin and to make West
Berlin part of West Germany.
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UNITED
KINGDOM
Baltic
Sea
North
Sea
N
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E
Elb
S
e
R.
NETHERLANDS
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6 mi.
6 km
Berlin
West
Berlin
Rhine
R.
BELGIUM
area of
inset
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East
Berlin
Allied Occupation
Zones, 1945 –1949
American
British
French
Soviet
Present-day
Germany
Uncertain border
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
FR
FRANCE
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AUSTRIA
SWITZ.
200 miles
200 km
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Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection
The decision to create West Germany convinced the Soviets that they would never get
the reparations they wanted. In late June 1948 the Soviet Union put in place a blockade
of West Berlin, cutting all road and rail traffic to West Berlin. President Truman
responded by ordering the air force to fly supplies into Berlin. The Berlin airlift began in
June 1948 and continued through the spring of 1949, bringing more than two million
tons of supplies into West Berlin from air bases in West Germany. The Soviet Union,
having failed to starve West Berlin, lifted the blockade in May 1949, almost a year after
putting it into effect.
United States History and Geography: Modern Times
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
The Division of Germany, 1945
NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
netw rks
Geography and History Activity Cont.
The Cold War Begins, 1945–1960
Directions: Answer the questions below in the space provided.
Understanding Concepts
1.
What challenges do you think would face a city divided like Berlin was?
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2.
What convinced the Soviet Union that it would not receive the reparations it wanted?
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Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
3.
In the chart below, name the four regions of Germany and what happened to each
in 1948.
American Zone
British Zone
French Zone
Soviet Zone
Applying Concepts
4.
Why do you think Berlin was divided into four zones even though the city was
located in the middle of the Soviet zone of Germany?
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5.
What do you think the Soviet Union hoped to gain from its blockade of West Berlin?
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6.
Why do you think the Soviet blockade failed to achieve its goal?
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United States History and Geography: Modern Times