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1、BerlinBlockadeTheBerlinBlockade(June21,1948toMay11,1949)becameoneofthefirstmajorcrisesofthenewColdWar,whentheSovietUnionblockedrailroadandstreetaccesstoWestBerlin.ThecrisisabatedaftertheSovietUniondidnotacttostopAmerican,BritishandFrenchairliftsoffoodandotherprovisionstotheWestern-heldsecto
2、rsofBerlinfollowingtheSovietblockade.PostwardivisionofGermanyWhenWorldWarIIendedinEuropeonMay8,1945,SovietandWestern(U.S.,British,andFrench)troopswerelocatedinparticularplaces,essentially,alongalineinthecenterofEurope.FromJuly17toAugust2,1945,thevictoriousAlliedPowersreachedthePotsdamAgreem
3、entonthefateofpostwarEurope,callingforthedivisionofadefeatedGermanyintofouroccupationzones(thusreaffirmingprincipleslaidoutearlierbytheYaltaConference),andthesimilardivisionofBerlinintofourzones.Becauseofthecity'slocation,theFrench,American,andBritishsectorsofBerlinweresurroundedbytheSoviet
4、occupationzone.ThethreeWestern-heldsectorsofBerlinquicklybecameafocalpointoftensionscorrespondingtothebreakdownoftheU.S.-Sovietwartimealliance.(SeeColdWar(1947-1953))ThedisputeoverBerlinTheBerlinblockadehaditsrootsin1945and1946,whenthebreakdownoftheFourPowerAlliedControlCouncilrenderedthere
5、unificationofpostwarGermanyimpossible.TheSovietssoughttocreateaunifiedbutdemilitarizedGermanyundertheirtutelage,orasSovietForeignMinisterVyacheslavMolotovtoldU.S.SecretaryofStateJamesF.Byrnesin1946,aunitedGermanythatcouldbeneutralizedafterRussiareceivedindustrialreparationsfromGermany.Thiss
6、trategywasaresponsetoa150-yearhistoryofrepeatedWesternassaultsonRussia,includingWorldWarIandNapoleon's1812invasion.StalinconsidereditessentialtodestroyGermany'scapacityforanotherwar,whichconflictedwiththeU.S.desiretorebuildGermanyastheeconomiccenterofastableEurope.(StalinassumedthatJapanand
7、GermanycouldmenacetheSovietUniononceagainfollowingtheirpostwarreconstruction.)TheUnitedStates,however,stressedthatpostwarreconstructioninWesternEuropedependedonGermaneconomicandindustrialrecovery.TheU.S.stancewasthatifitcouldnotreunifyGermanywithSovietco
