The first heightening of Cold War tensions occurred in 1948 when the Soviets imposed a partial blockade of Berlin in April, and then a full blockade in June. Understanding the events that led to the imposition of the blockades is the key to understanding the later division of Berlin in 1961 by the Berlin Wall, and the division of the German state that had occurred earlier in 1949 when separate west German (Federal Republic of Germany) and east German (German Democratic Republic) states were established.
There are three key events that led to the Soviet blockades of Berlin: the institution of the Marshall Plan for European Recovery; the London Conferences of winter and spring of 1948; and the resultant London Program which called for a separate West Germany and currency reform as a means to reach this end.
In light of the communist rebellions in Greece and Turkey in March of 1947, President Harry Truman announced the Truman Doctrine, which stated that America promised to “support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures (with U.S. military aid).” Three months after this policy announcement, the Marshall Plan was introduced to serve as an economic and financial extension of the Doctrine.
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