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Section IV (Change in the Modern World): The Cold War 1945-1991
Quick questions on Berlin Blockade and NATO 1948-1949: HSC Modern History Cold War
10short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is background, 1945 to 1948?Show answer
The four-power occupation agreed at Yalta and Potsdam had left Berlin, 110 miles inside the Soviet zone, divided into four sectors. The Allied Control Council was supposed to govern Germany jointly; in practice the zones evolved separately. The American and British zones merged into Bizonia on 1 January 1947 to reduce occupation costs and rebuild West German industry. France joined on 8 April 1949, creating Trizonia.
What is the Berlin Blockade, 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949?Show answer
Stalin's calculation: about 2.5 million West Berliners depended on outside supply; without surface access, the Western Allies would have to abandon Berlin or abandon the new currency and West German state.
What is the Berlin Airlift?Show answer
The three air corridors agreed in November 1945 (Hamburg, Hanover, and Frankfurt to Berlin) provided guaranteed access at 10,000 feet. Soviet interference with the corridors had not been agreed and was never attempted (although harassment and shadowing did occur).
What is nATO, 4 April 1949?Show answer
The Brussels Pact (17 March 1948) between Britain, France, and the Benelux had created a defensive alliance after the Czech coup. The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by 12 founders: the Brussels Pact five, plus the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, and Portugal. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952; West Germany joined in 1955, prompting the Warsaw Pact (14 May 1955).
What is two German states?Show answer
The Parliamentary Council under Konrad Adenauer drafted the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) at Bonn, adopted on 8 May 1949. The Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed on 23 May 1949. Adenauer was elected first chancellor on 15 September. Federal elections (14 August 1949) gave the CDU and CSU 31 per cent.
What is the Soviet bomb?Show answer
The USSR tested its first atomic device ("First Lightning," at Semipalatinsk) on 29 August 1949. The American monopoly of four years had ended. Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. The geopolitical position at the start of 1950 was unrecognisable from 1945.
What is historiography?Show answer
The orthodox view (Schlesinger, Feis) treats the blockade as Soviet aggression defeated by Western resolve. Revisionists (Kolko, Gaddis in his early work) argue Western currency reform forced Stalin's hand. Vladislav Zubok's A Failed Empire (2007), using Soviet archives, treats the blockade as a Stalin improvisation rather than a planned offensive, made in the belief the Western position in Berlin was untenable.
What is treating the Airlift as a tactical success only?Show answer
It was a strategic and ideological victory that legitimised long-term American presence in Europe.
What is forgetting currency reform was the trigger?Show answer
Without the Deutsche Mark, no blockade.
What is misdating NATO?Show answer
4 April 1949, signed during the blockade but before it was lifted on 12 May. NATO was decided before the outcome.