Berlin on the Brink: The Blockade, the Airlift, and the Early Cold War

by Daniel F. Harrington

The Berlin blockade brought former allies to the brink of war. Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union defeated and began their occupation of Germany in 1945, and within a few years, the Soviets and their Western partners were jockeying for control of their former foe. Attempting to thwart the Allied powers' plans to create a unified West German government, the Soviets blocked rail and road access to the western sectors of Berlin in June 1948. With no other means of delivering food and supplies to the German people under their protection, the Allies organized the Berlin airlift.

In Berlin on the The Blockade, the Airlift, and the Cold War , Daniel F. Harrington examines the "Berlin question" from its origin in wartime plans for the occupation of Germany through the Paris Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in 1949. Harrington draws on previously untapped archival sources to challenge standard accounts of the postwar division of Germany, the origins of the blockade, the original purpose of the airlift, and the leadership of President Harry S. Truman. While thoroughly examining four-power diplomacy, Harrington demonstrates how the ingenuity and hard work of the people at the bottom―pilots, mechanics, and Berliners―were more vital to the airlift's success than decisions from the top. Harrington also explores the effects of the crisis on the 1948 presidential election and on debates about the custody and use of atomic weapons. Berlin on the Brink is a fresh, comprehensive analysis that reshapes our understanding of a critical event of cold war history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

504 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Maria]

In three short years, the Russians, the French, the British and the Americans went from Allies fighting against Germany to adversaries fighting over Germany, particularly Berlin and currency control. Harrington traces the start of the Berlin standoff that lead to the Airlift and the military, political and economical issues that made this just under a year long confrontation.

Why I started this book: Berlin will always have a special place in my heart.

Why I finished it: Harrington was very clear that the perceptions of the Berlin Airlift have shifted since it was completed successfully. At the beginning it wasn't the solution, the airlift was merely a way to delay decisions, and give diplomacy a little more time to negotiate a solution to the Russia and Allies stand off.

[Gillian Skow]

Detailed, scholarly, examination of the origins, development and results of the Berlin airlift. Primary focus on the western political / military angle.

[rameau]

In his book Harrington offers a more critical view on the Berlin blockade of 1948-1949, the events that lead to it, and of what followed. He supposes that instead of making a clear decision to sustain Berlin through airlift, it was just a way for the Western powers to buy time for a diplomatic solution.

Whatever the authors intention, it's clear that the book title is misleading. It's not strictly about post World War II Berlin. It's about the American and British--but mostly American--approach to the situation in Berlin. The author says so himself in the introduction.

Because Harrington doesn't speak French and Russian fluently, he was unable to include additional sources examining their actions and motivations during those years. I almost put this book down when I read that, but I'm glad I didn't.

The best part of this book is the section explaining the airlift. How the operation was started, what difficulties it had to overcome, and the people who made it work despite wretched conditions and lack of political leadership. It was the small things that made it come alive to me. How the flour and coal dust affected the flying, or how many spare parts the planes went through in a month. Usually these figures came with a commentary comparing their annual consumption.

There was also a brief glance at what life was like for Berliners during the blockade. This was mostly new information to me. The parts directly connected to the airlift operation I might have heard of earlier, but the description of everyday life--as known to the occupying forces--was new. The statistics on caloric intake or how heating was arranged and why, was as fascinating as the comments about women accepting responsibility for feeding their families.

Harrington tries to bring the diplomacy alive through individual people too. He examines a great many people's actions and motivations, and lays them out for the reader. It's basically everything that can be found in English sources.

I wanted more. I wanted to know what the French really thought about the Attee plan and what were their exact reasons for their restraint later. I wanted--would have liked--to know more about what was going on behind the scenes in Kremlin too.

It is unfortunate that Harrington didn't--or couldn't--use a translator to expand the scope of his study. It becomes quite obvious that all this book is really about, is the British and American decision making and approach to the challenges Soviet Union presented them and France with. And if that's all you're really after--a critical, dry study on Truman and the people around him, and how they postponed making the hard decisions indefinitely--then this is a good book for you.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[GONZA]

As a Berlinerin (woman living in Berlin) I really liked this book, even if is the American version of the story and doesn't include the Soviet point of view. I used to know many of the things here written, because when you come to live here you have to study the language and more, you have to pass an exam about German Culture which obiously involve its "strange history" afteer the end of WWII and, even more, from the Mauer (Wall) building, till its destruction. More or less every place depicted I have been and the other I plan to go, so if you are supposed to come, even only as a tourist, this book could be useful to read, and even to understand why Berliner are "not German".

Come berlinese questo libro mi è piaciuto molto, anche se è la versione americana della storia e non include il punto di vista sovietico. Conoscevo parecchie delle cose descritte nel libro, perchè quando devi dare l'esame di tedesco, oltre alla lingua è necessario superare il test di Cultura Tedesca, che ovviamente inlcude la storia delle due Germanie dalla fine della prima guerra mondiale alla caduta del muro. Sono stata più o meno in tutti i posti di cui parla il libro e gli altri vorrei visitarli quindi se avete in previsione di andare a Berlino, anche sono come turisti, questo potrebbe essere un libro utile da leggere, anche per capire come mai i berlinesi sono diversi da tutti gli altri tedeschi.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY FOR THE PREVIEW

[Naomi]

This is the type of history book I love. It is a just the facts maam and loaded down with obviously a ton of research. I understand that the book is primarily from the American perspective and I guess I would have loved to seen it inclusive more of the other countries involved (particularly Russia), but understanding the author's background, I can see why it wasn't. But that is also why I rated it 3 stars versus 4 stars. Although I have read a ton of books on WWII, I have read almost nothing about Berlin after WWII. It was interesting to see the division and how the countries involved interacted with one another. The book was dry at times, I would have loved to seen it propped up a bit (or more exciting) in its' writing. I think if it is going to get nailed anywhere, that is where it will occur. (This is what I happen to enjoy about the book) It does come off as a book that I would see more for the university setting vs. the general public.

[Grant]

A remarkable reconsideration of the first Berlin crisis. Harrington argues that the Allied (especially US) decision to stay in Berlin was not as early or decisively as it was later portrayed to be in memoirs. Instead, Truman, Atlee, et al tried to postpone the final decision to withdraw or go to war as long as possible. The airlift, tentative at first, bought time, though at first virtually no one expected it to do more than extend the Allied powers' ability to remain in Berlin by a few weeks. The success of the airlift allowed time for diplomacy to work.

Harrington balances accounts of inter-Allied diplomacy, negotiations with the Soviets, the conduct of the airlift, and the experiences and agency of Berliners. His research into western archives is impressive, though as he admits, the Soviet side is not explored deeply. Still, well worth reading.