ABSTRACT
The first time that war between Russia and America became a possib-ility was during the Berlin blockade. Stalin’s response to the fusing of the western zones of Germany, the end of de-Nazification, the resurrection of German industrial power and the introduction of the German mark (Deutsche Mark or DM) in June 1948 was defensive. His advisers had not envisaged that West Berlin could be supplied by air so he felt confident that the western allies would eventually be forced to leave West Berlin. Stalin’s goal was to ensure communist control over all Berlin and end access by the western powers, as had been agreed by Russia, America, Britain and France in 1945. The Russians began interfering with traffic to West Berlin but on 24 June imposed a ban on all traffic flows. In response, the American military in West Germany advocated the use of military force to clear the routes to Berlin. There were those in the US air force who did not believe that West Berlin could be supplied by air.
