Effect of the Berlin Airlift on the future of the U.S. Air Force - Term Paper Example

? Effect of the Berlin Airlift on the future of the U.S. Air Force Berlin Airlift emerged in 1948 after the world war II. It became an international operation involving nation and nationalities from all over the place around the globe. The British and Americans combined their zones for economic purposes into a single unified zone called Bizonia. Berlin, being the capital city of Germany, it was located in Soviet Zones therefore they handed over a great deal of the administrative responsibility for running Bizonia to the Germans-in particular to an designated economic council of fifty-two Germans who, under Allied regulation, shouldered the task of economic rebuilding. On July 1 Britain and America freely devoted themselves to the support of the West Berliners. Six months earlier, the Soviets had placed a blockage around the West Berlin that no supplies could come into the city by road, water or even rail. Therefore the U.S Airlift and British planes made round the clock flights into the city, carrying medical supplies, food and other goods. This combined Air-Lift task force was an Anglo-American act. The Berlin Airlift: Breaking the Soviet Blockade By Michael Burgan Capstone, Jan 1, 2008 At some point, Biliners saw their city rise, and for this reason, they gained confidence to the officers running the airlift. The winter eased somewhat and improved technology was making it easier to direct the planes. They had guiding principles in order to conduct airlift and it was observed by all the aircrews and airfields. Berlin Airlifts had some certain precautions. The first rule was that the aircraft would fly at three minutes interval whilst the next rule was that the plane may perhaps not land in Berlin at its first try. In Berlin Airlift, pilots would fly under the similar set of rules at all moment in time. To Save a City: The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949 Roger G. Miller, R Miller, Pro Texas A&M University Press, 2008 Contrary to these, U.S Airforce is a military service that provided air support to the United Nation troops as well as protecting people in other parts of the world by preventing the fight between countries using pilots who were deployed to patrol in the sky. By early 1947, the Air Force became an self-regulating service, tension between the United States Air force and the Berlin airlift led to the change in foreign policy. It was declared that the United States must aid any nations struggling to prevent a Communist takeover. This policy was known as the Truman Doctrine which justified the use of the forces to prevent the spread of Communism. The U.S Air force supported the countries which are trying to recover from the war by providing supportive troops. The U.S. Air Force By Sandra Donovan Lerner Publications, Sep 1, 2004 Effects of Berlin Airlift on the future of the U.S Air force However, the study of crisis is approximately as old as the study of international relations because it has never been systematic. The majority of the commercial aircraft in Berlin, however, flew nonscheduled routes between to the United States. There are several effects that Berlin caused on the U.S Air force that caused debate in the United States economic status therefore coming up with a National Security Act which was established by the security of defense on the air force. To start with, Berlin Airlifts began to detain U.S troop trains bound for their respective trains. This became a threat to the country which led to the call upon the independent U.S Air Force so that it can organize a massive emergency airlift to keep Berlin Airlift away. Berlin Airlift also made the United States Air force officially lifted the blockade that made the Berlin Airlift with a rationale of scarce supplies because troops were no longer sent to Berlin. Blockade of Berlin was one of the most serious immediate problem. As far as the appropriate method for holding Berlin was concerned, airlift was the right choice for the U.S Air force to deploy. The U.S. Air force sent its military forces to Berlin several times thus becoming costly to the economy of the United States. The U.S maintained a firm stand in the present crisis and making decision to stand firm in the present crisis that had occurred between Berlin and them by avoiding war. Meanwhile, the Berlin airlift wanted to use disastrous effects inherent in a precipitate way. The crisis was derived not from any perception of Berlin’s inherent value to the United States but from the inevitable impact of the result on America’s long term status for the resolution. In other words it was the perception of the crisis as a trial of the strength between the two superpowers. The Berlin Airlift in generally had ruined the U.S economy. Workers were scarce particularly troops who were taken away with the planes during the cold war. This also led to 20% of homes had been destroyed and most of them damaged. Economically, counter blockade was more efficient than blockade and it could not be broken by airlift as maintaining of the airlift meant frustration of blockade.Exchange of barter reduced demand on airlift although there was a humanitarian angle that some of the countries were denied supplies. After the blockade, the United States failed to secure access to their sectors. This appeared ironical more so with their Air force region. There were technical problems peculiar to the airlift which led the U.S tension and distrust, arms competition, and the threat of nuclear attach. Tension evolved as the successful similar nations discussed the future which had been physically and economically devastated by the war. In fact, diplomatic negotiations did continue throughout the Airlift.  Although, the during that time Berlin and Berliners were subjected to brutal treatment at the hand of the United States Government . The U.S Air force leaders expected to maintain a short term military and political presence after the war, a presence that would ensure reconstruction. The number of flight in and out of Berlin had increased dramatically after the war with airplanes from several nations involved in and much flying done at night or under a condition of reduced visibility. This denied the U.S Air force need for standard rules and flight patterns. In addition contraction of bridges and they reduced the amount of gasoline need needed. This similar calculation enabled the planners to reduce essential cargo. Also, the interdependence of the sector demonstrated by an incident of bordered on the farcical. The U.S capacity was terribly limited. Despite all these efforts, the airlift would have failed if Berliners had given in to Soviet pressure, and that is the second reason for the West’s narrow escape: Berliners‘ refusal to submit, which had several sources. In some ways, Berliners had endured worse conditions during the war, and they were healthier and better fed in 1948 than in the immediate postwar period. Conditions were not static. At first, when the blockade was not tightly enforced and people believed it would not last long, the situation was relatively easy to tolerate; things worsened in autumn as the Soviets lightened restrictions, unemployment rose, winter loomed, and an end to the crisis receded into the distant future. Winter, though difficult physically, was perhaps less wearing psychologically than the autumn had been; the unusually mild winter weather meant that reality did not match expectations. Life was harder for some Berliners. Economic and class differences mattered, as did where people lived and worked. How much of one's earnings was paid in the more valuable B-mark may have mattered most of all. The poor suffered disproportionately: they were more likely to be unemployed, more likely to receive eastern rather than western marks, more likely to live in substandard housing. But even they, who had the least to lose, proved deaf to Soviet appeals. Strong anticommunist sentiments united the population and helped Berliners endure. So did Reuters inspiring leadership and the symbolic value of the airlift. Reuters call to “look to this city" was answered by the constant drone of engines overhead. "The airlift’s effects on morale were even greater than its material ones. It came to represent a commitment lo the city that inspired Berliners and fostered a new self-image as partners of the West. lt also reinforced “the remarkable shift in German mentalities” away from authoritarian- ism and militarism that had begun in 1945 and that one scholar has described as the turning point of twentieth-century European history.’ In all this confusion, the Western powers were assuming a commitment in Berlin. As in the case of the airlift, we cannot point to a single conscious decision. That is paradoxical, because of all the American commitments in the Cold War, none seemed more tangible and explicit than the one to west Berlin. The Cuban missile crisis was so stressful for John F. Kennedy and his advisers partly because they feared the Soviets would respond in Berlin. Thomas Risse-Kappen writes that “U.S. decision-makers identified with Berlin as they did with no other place in the world,” regarding it as virtually an "American city for which American soldiers were sup- posed to die.”'° Eight months later, the president obliterated national distinctions when he proclaimed himself citizen of Berlin. One account calls Berlin America's Cold War “city on a hill," a place of almost mythic importance Reference Michael Burgan. The Berlin Airlift: Breaking the Soviet Blockade, New York. Capstone, Jan 1, 2008 Read More