In October of 1917, the Russian people
overthrew the monarchy of Czar Nicholas and the country fell under the
control of the Communist Party. It's leaders quickly squelched all
political opposition, resulting in it becoming the only political
party. It established a new government. It was based on the
experimental Communist system whereby all land, factories, and other
property were owned and controlled by the government, which was run by the
Communist Party. Although there were elections, voters could only
choose from one candidate, that chosen by the Communist Party. For
all practical purposes the CommuniAll government officials were .
Joseph Stalin soon became it's absolute ruler. He used his power
ruthlessly and forced an alliance of adjacent and nearly nations into what
became known as the Soviet Union. Economically, it was a backward
country.
The United States, on the other hand, was a well
established country, based on a democratic form of government, whereby
political officials were elected to office. rose to become The
Communist party had total control of power and s
In the Spring of 1945, three armies converged
on Germany. From the east, the Soviet forces were on the outskirts
of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. American and British
forces were over a hundred miles west of it. Allied Commander
Dwight D. Eisenhower saw no point in racing toward the city simply to
spend lives to capture. It's fate was sealed, so he permitted it to be taken by the Soviet
Union.
Germany surrendered on --------. The
Soviet armies then occupied Poland, Checkslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and
the eastern half of Germany. France, Belgium, and the Netherlands
had been liberated by the Allies. Their forces occupied the western
half of Germany. One result of this decision was the division of Germany into East and
West, controlled by the Soviet Union and the Allies respectfully.
Berlin was located in East Germany, surrounded by Soviet-occupied East
Germany. The Allies divided the city into four sectors, each
administered by a different country: Britain, France, the United States
and the Soviet Union.
The Communist party ruled the Soviet Union.
It's leader, Joseph Stalin, was a ruthless dictator. Under the
Communist system, the government owned all property and tightly controlled
the lives of citizens. The Allies were democracies that had popular
elected leaders. They were capitalistic. Property was owned by
individuals and companies. The economy was characterized by free
enterprise. Thus there were two fundamentally different systems of
government.
World War II had been far devastating to the
Soviets than it had the allies. Many of it's cities had been
destroyed and over twenty million people had been killed.
For many years, the Soviets had watched America and British
companies The
On June 22, 1948, the Soviet Union imposed a
blockade, cutting off all ground routes for the Allies to enter or leave
Berlin. It was clearly an act of defiance and test of Allied
resolve. It seems as if the Allies would have no choice other than
to evacuate the city. The Strategic Air Command prepared for
war.
A squadron of the 301st Bombardment Group was
then TDY with its B-29s at Furstenfeldbruck, West Germany. SAC
immediately ordered the group's other two squadrons to Goose Air Base
Labrador to prepare for immediate deployment to Germany. The 307th
and 28th Bombardment Groups were placed on alert and ordered to be ready
to deploy within three and twelve hours respectively. The remainder of
the SAC bomber force was placed on 24-hour alert status.
General Curtis LeMay was then commander of the
U.S. Air Force Europe. He saw the crises as an opportunity to
demonstrate American air power. He believed that the Allied forces
could be supported by air. He turned Major General William H.
Tunner, who had been an airlift commander in the Hump - the aerial
resupply of China from India during World War II, and put him in command
of the operation. The Army Air Corps called it Operation Vittles,
the British called it Operation Plainfare, but to the world it
became famous as the Berlin Airlift. Within a few days, a
fleet of army transport planes were flying supplies into the besieged
city.
Within a few weeks, the other 301st Bomb Groups
squadrons had joined the first. Later in July the 28th Bombardment Group
left Rapid City AFB, South Dakota for RAF Scampton, England. The
307th Bombardment Group left MacDill AFB Florida for RAF Marham and
Waddington England.
A month after the blockade was imposed, On July
22, 1948, three B-29s from the 43rd Bombardment Group departed
Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona in an attempt to fly around the world.T
he Russians were undoubtedly surprised by the
American resolve. had no idea of how many of these B-29s
carried atomic bombs. By quickly asserting its force, SAC blunted
any thoughts that the Soviets might have had for pushing their armies into
Europe. |
