Talk:1948: Berlin backfire

The west was scaling back their forces at the time. If the Soviets invaded West Berlin, the Americans, British, and French would be quickly overwhelmed. The main reason the Soviets allowed the airlift to succeed was because they didn't want the label of WWIII starter and also that they were still behind the US in having a mobile nuclear force. About a nuclear war, since the Belrin Airlift is seen as one of the teetering moments in the Cold War, it is conceivable that if the Soviets began invading west Germany/Berlin that Truman would back down, as he was seen as being soft on communism, but with the election coming he'd probably try his best to stand tough. With a situation as tense as this it seems that everything is up in the air. There was growing pro-communist movements in Allied Germany because with the situation so nerve racking, American and British administrators were trying to tranfer out. Truman had failed to prevent the Soviets form occupying Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria; so maybe he does allow Germany to fall to Soviet control. I'd expect some sort of desperate negotiations would be made but I don't know how agreeable the Soviet negotiators would be if they saw their blockade was working. Maybe they'd get away with just handing over Berlin itself to USSR control. I don't have much insight on the Cold War so I'm hesitant to make sure predictions.--TEAKAY 15:03, 27 October 2008 (UTC)