Friday, March 02, 2012

BERLIN AIRLIFT

Robin from Swanage said...

Did the Berlin Airlift begin the process of making friends with our European neighbours which developed with the Swanage Town Twinning Association and the Wareham-Hemsbach Society?

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

After the end of WWII it was decided by the Allies to rebuild war torn Europe through gifts of food, medicine, money, materiel and good will. The Berlin Airlift was one such contribution but the Marshall Plan was the starting point. 'Win their hearts and minds' was the goal, a lesson learned from the punitive actions imposed against the defeated after WW1. So, I am sure the Berlin Airlift helped, but the Marshall Plan (which rpedated it) set the tone and began the desire to create linking. No doubt the four sectors of Germany resulted in geographical reasons why those towns have linked with the UK, USA and so on. By offering help during the depths of Soviet threats no doubt ensured that free Germans would turn with gratitude to the West. So my answer is: in some ways, yes, in others, not really.

2/3/12 12:25 pm
Anonymous said...

Town twinning goes back to the early 1900s. There were in fact several twinnings involving UK towns between the end of world war 2 and the Berlin airlift so that would not seem to have any relationship to it. What suggested there is a connection?

3/3/12 6:37 pm

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