Yalta & Potsdam Decisions
After World War II, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences were both held to try to sort out reparations. One of the main decisions made was to divide Germany into four different territories: British Germany, French Germany, United States Germany, and Soviet Germany. The Soviet Union was the only eastern European superpower that was included, and they were not happy about it. The Soviet Union wanted to get rid of any British, French, or Americans that were living in East Germany. In order to do this, they created a plan to blockade their German territory and build a wall. According to the Potsdam Conference of 1945, ''there shall be uniformity of treatment of the German population throughout Germany'' and ''certain essential central German administrative departments shall be established.''
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Berlin Airlift
The western powers tried to find a solution to the blockade; their decision was to deliver essential supplies by air into East Germany. Their plan was nicknamed Operation Vittles, but we know it as the Berlin Airlift today. Starting on June 26th, 1948, the United States flew in supplies each day and dropped them in the East Berlin. The operation, directed by Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner, dropped about 2.3 million tons of supplies into Berlin over its almost year-long period. At its height, 8000 tons of supplies were brought in each day. The airlift was successful because the Soviet Union did not want to start a war. They did not interfere due to their poor economy and did not want to lose money by starting a war. They ended the blockade on May 11th, 1949 because they wanted to stop any tensions between the east and west.
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