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.
