Sustaining the Island: Western Aid to 1950s West Berlin

In: Cold war history: a Frank Cass journal, Band 3, Heft 3, S. 1-22

Abstract

The city of West Berlin was of supreme importance to the US & the Federal Republic of Germany in their effort to fight the Cold War during the 1950s. Only by utilizing billions of dollars & (later on) Deutschmarks could the city survive in its isolated position east of the Iron Curtain. The reasons for, & the particulars of, American aid during the first years after the Berlin airlift are described in this paper as well as the West German aid, which began to replace direct American support in the mid-1950s. Adapted from the source document.