Question

HELP!!! 37 POINTS!!!!

In June 1948, Stalin attempted to drive American, British, and French forces out of Berlin, which had been divided among the four powers, by cutting off railway and highway access to the city. In response, U.S. forces used airplanes to drop food and medical supplies to the residents of West Berlin. These airdrops delivered millions of tons of supplies in 1948 and 1949, and the “Berlin Airlift” was hailed as a victory over the U.S.S.R. In 1949, Stalin reopened access routes to Berlin.


In April 1949, at the urging of European nations and in response to concern about communist expansion, the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Portugal formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The NATO charter pledged that an attack on one of the member nations constituted an attack on all of the members.


In May 1949, the occupation zones controlled by the U.S., Great Britain, and France officially became the Federal Republic of Germany, which remains the government of Germany today. (East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic, remained within the Soviet bloc until reunification in 1990.)


The United States had demonstrated the strength of its nuclear weapons to the world with the atomic destruction of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, it would not remain the world's sole nuclear power for long. On August 29, 1949, the U.S.S.R. conducted a test of its own A-bomb. A nuclear arms race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. commenced, with both countries pouring tremendous resources into increasing the quantity and quality of their nuclear weapons. While neither side ever actually used its bombs against the other, both sides amassed enough of them to completely destroy each other and the rest of the world many times over.



How did these postwar events reflect changes in U.S. foreign policy?

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

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Stalin tried to drive the capitalist nations out of Berlin by cutting off supplies from the whole of Western Europe. This was countered using the Berlin Airlift. This is to show that the U.S will never back down against a communist threat no matter the cost and no land would be lost to Communism.

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Again the creation of NATO was clearly to stop the expansion of the USSR and even NATO denied the acceptance of USSR when they had applied as they felt that the USSR's motives were to weaken the alliance. Overall, they were rejected as they did not follow the same Democratic pathway just like the other NATO members. Again, it is to stop the threat of Communist expansion into Western Europe so they do not hold more influence in Europe.

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They were a main part of containing the Communist threat as they bordered USSR allied countries and even allowed Western Germany to join NATO as this is the first step of containing the Communist threat in entering Western Europe. Western Germany would especially be weak if they were split into different countries which the USSR can capitalize on meaning the unification of the occupation zones were to stop the USSR from capitalizing on this.

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Once again, it is to show how the U.S will not back down no matter what even it would mean that the bombs could destroy the world many times over. It was more than USSR vs U.S but more like Democracy vs Communism. Whoever were to win the Arms Race would be a step close to being the #1 World Power as long as they are able to contain Communism to the borders of Russia. Neither of them used the bombs due to the doctrine M.A.D (Mutually Assured Destruction) where if one superpower were to fire nukes on the other, the other country would retaliate causing a nuclear winter. Neither side wanted this. It was just a safety precaution or an asset to keep both powers in check.

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Overall, the reasons of these postwar events were due to stopping Communism from developing past the borders of Russia (containing it) and maybe even stopping Communism as a whole.

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