How the Cold War began

Elizabeth|January 25, 2018

Tattered group of Berliners standing in ruins of building at the edge of Tempelhof Airfield, looking up at a C-47 cargo plane bringing them food during the Berlin airlift to break blockade of overland routes imposed by Soviet cordon. (Photo by Walter Sanders//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Tattered group of Berliners standing in ruins of building at the edge of Tempelhof Airfield, looking up at a C-47 cargo plane bringing them food during the Berlin airlift to break blockade of overland routes imposed by Soviet cordon. (Photo by Walter Sanders//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

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 How did the Cold War begin?

 

The Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945. At the end of World War II the country of Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones .Great Britain, France , the United States, and the Soviet Union each controlled a different zone. The capital of Germany, Berlin was located in the Soviet Union zones but control of this city was also split into four zones between the four countries

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                                                           Tensions Between the East and West

With the war over, tensions began to amount between the democratic countries of the West and the communist countries controlled by the Soviet Union of the East. The West was determined to stop the spread of communist and Marshall plan and the Truman Doctrine made this clear.

The West also wanted the country of Germany to be united under one democratic government. The Soviet Union didn’t want this. Soon the two sides were at adds over the future  of Germany. The West introduced a new currency called the Deutsche Mark, but the soviets refused to use it in their zone.

 

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The Airlift

 

Without going to war or giving up the city of Berlin, the only option the Western countries had was to try and fly in all the supplies. This was a huge task. There were over two million people living in the city at the time. The army estimated  that it would take over 1500 tons of food each day to keep then alive.

Building the Wall

 

The Soviets and the East German leaders had enough, On August 12th and 13th of 1961, they built a wall around Berlin to prevent people from leaving. At fist the wall was just a barbed wire fence.

https://youtu.be/naqS-BlpfU4

 

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/berlin-airlift

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-airlift

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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