How was Joseph Stalin involved in the Berlin Airlift?
He was the reason the Berlin Airlift took place. Berlin was in
the Soviet sector of post-war Germany, but Berlin itself was
divided much like the country. Stalin was upset with the Western
alliance (U.S., Britain, and France) for producing the London
Programme. The London Programme outlined the creation of a Western
German state. Stalin stopped all rail, water and road traffic to
and from Berlin in hope that the London Programme would be halted.
This was legal because the Western alliance did not put in writing
the free access to their respective sector of Berlin. The choices
were to use military forcce to break the blockade of airlift all
the supplies. Since no economy could support another world war they
chose to airlift all the goods to Berlin. This disheartened Stalin
and he eventually lifted the blockade of Berlin.