Berlin Blockade - Subsequent Events

Subsequent Events

Operational control of the three Allied air corridors was assigned to BARTCC (Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center) air traffic control located at Tempelhof. Diplomatic approval was granted by a four-power organization called the Berlin Air Safety Center, also located in the American sector.

Tegel was developed into West Berlin's principal airport. In 2007 it was joined by a re-developed Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport in Brandenburg. As a result of the development of these two airports, Tempelhof was closed in October 2008, while Gatow is now home of the Museum of the German Luftwaffe and a housing development. During the 1970s and 1980s Schönefeld had its own crossing points through the Berlin Wall and communist fortifications for western citizens.

The Soviets' contravention by the blockade of the agreement reached by the London 6-Power Conference, and the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948, convinced Western leaders that they must take swift and decisive measures to strengthen the portions of Germany not occupied by the Soviets. The Blockade also helped to overcome any remaining differences between the French, British and Americans regarding West Germany, leading to a merger of all three countries' occupation zones into "trizonia".

These countries also agreed to replace their military administrations in those zones with High Commissioners operating within the terms of a three-power occupation statute. The Blockade also helped to unify German politicians in these zones in support of the creation of a West German state; some of them had hitherto been fearful of Soviet opposition. The blockade also increased the perception among many Europeans that the Soviets posed a danger, helping to prompt the entry into NATO of Portugal, Iceland, Italy, Denmark, and Norway.

Animosities between Germans and the western Allies, Britain, France and the United States, were greatly reduced by the airlift, with the former enemies recognizing common interests, shared values and mutual respect. The Soviets refused to return to the Allied Control Council in Berlin, rendering useless the four-power occupation authority set up at the Potsdam conference. It has been argued that the events of the Berlin Blockade are proof that the Allies conducted their affairs within a rational framework, since they were keen to avoid war. An anonymous pundit noted that Berlin in 1950 had only two shortages: 1. Visible SED Party members, i.e., the Communist Party and 2. instructors qualified to teach English to meet the surge in demand.