After Germany was split in the four different regions, Britain and the US wanted Germany to recover so that it can rely on its own economy while the USSR on the other hand, did not wish to rebuild Germany and was suspicious of what Britain and the US wanted to achieve. But why was the USSR so unforgiving towards Germany? Their inability to accept that the recovery of Germany was the best option for everyone was what indirectly caused the Berlin Blockade.

Since they had a common goal, the British and the US merged their respective parts of Germany, together with the French, to form West Germany. With the help of the Marshall Plan, a major difference in the economy and the quality of living between the East and West can be seen clearly. This resulted in many East Berliners moving over to the West as the quality of life there is much more desirable.

As the German marks were practically valueless, the Allies introduced the Deutschmark in order to rebuild West Germany's economy further. However, after so many East Berliners had moved to the West, Stalin could not take it anymore and declared a blockade on Berlin by shutting down road and rail connections. But why impose a blockade when he can try to improve the economy to win back the East Berliners?

Did Stalin overreact by closing down all forms of communication between West Berlin and West Germany?

Instead of withdrawing, the Allies instead decided to risk their planes and airlift supplies into West Berlin. The airplanes were filled with food and fuel when they left for West Berlin and managed to successfully land there, delivering 5000 tons of the food and fuel a day. Why did Stalin let the planes land in West Berlin and not shoot them down?

In the end, the USSR lifted the blockade and the roads and communication lines to West Berlin were opened. However, tensions between the USSR and the US increased and the Berlin Blockade now serves as a reminder of the strained relationship between the two superpowers. West and East Germany remained divided and the Allies went on to set up NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) which served as an alliance between non-communist states to defend themselves against communism. The USSR went on to set up the Warsaw Pact, which was the communist equivalent of NATO.

So, did Stalin overreact to the Allies' decisions to rebuild Germany which strained their relationship further?

I feel that the USSR had overreacted to the Allies' actions. Even though the USSR had suffered major losses caused by Germany in the past, they did not have to destroy them and make them suffer. The actions the Allies took was to rebuild Germany, but Stalin had viewed it as an attempt to build up a force to attack East Germany, which led to the blockade of Berlin. The Berlin Blockade was Stalin's attempt to try and force the Allies out of West Berlin, leaving Berlin under his control. However, the Allies retaliated by sending in supplies via airlift and Stalin did not shoot the planes down, lest he was blamed for the start of the next world war. In the end, the Allies was seen as heroes who saved the West Berliners while the USSR was humiliated by their efforts. Had Stalin reconsidered his decision and instead tried to accept a few of the reforms, the tension between the US and the USSR would not have rose to such a high level.

After Germany was split in the four different regions, Britain and the US wanted Germany to recover so that it can rely on its own economy while the USSR on the other hand, did not wish to rebuild Germany and was suspicious of what Britain and the US wanted to achieve. But why was the USSR so unforgiving towards Germany? Their inability to accept that the recovery of Germany was the best option for everyone was what indirectly caused the Berlin Blockade.

Since they had a common goal, the British and the US merged their respective parts of Germany, together with the French, to form West Germany. With the help of the Marshall Plan, a major difference in the economy and the quality of living between the East and West can be seen clearly. This resulted in many East Berliners moving over to the West as the quality of life there is much more desirable.

As the German marks were practically valueless, the Allies introduced the Deutschmark in order to rebuild West Germany's economy further. However, after so many East Berliners had moved to the West, Stalin could not take it anymore and declared a blockade on Berlin by shutting down road and rail connections. But why impose a blockade when he can try to improve the economy to win back the East Berliners?

Did Stalin overreact by closing down all forms of communication between West Berlin and West Germany?

Instead of withdrawing, the Allies instead decided to risk their planes and airlift supplies into West Berlin. The airplanes were filled with food and fuel when they left for West Berlin and managed to successfully land there, delivering 5000 tons of the food and fuel a day. Why did Stalin let the planes land in West Berlin and not shoot them down?

In the end, the USSR lifted the blockade and the roads and communication lines to West Berlin were opened. However, tensions between the USSR and the US increased and the Berlin Blockade now serves as a reminder of the strained relationship between the two superpowers. West and East Germany remained divided and the Allies went on to set up NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) which served as an alliance between non-communist states to defend themselves against communism. The USSR went on to set up the Warsaw Pact, which was the communist equivalent of NATO.

So, did Stalin overreact to the Allies' decisions to rebuild Germany which strained their relationship further?

I feel that the USSR had overreacted to the Allies' actions. Even though the USSR had suffered major losses caused by Germany in the past, they did not have to destroy them and make them suffer. The actions the Allies took was to rebuild Germany, but Stalin had viewed it as an attempt to build up a force to attack East Germany, which led to the blockade of Berlin. The Berlin Blockade was Stalin's attempt to try and force the Allies out of West Berlin, leaving Berlin under his control. However, the Allies retaliated by sending in supplies via airlift and Stalin did not shoot the planes down, lest he was blamed for the start of the next world war. In the end, the Allies was seen as heroes who saved the West Berliners while the USSR was humiliated by their efforts. Had Stalin reconsidered his decision and instead tried to accept a few of the reforms, the tension between the US and the USSR would not have rose to such a high level.