1. Communism
Communism is a type of government and philosophy. Its goal is to form a society where everything is shared equally. All people are treated equally and there is little private ownership. In a communist government, the government owns and controls most everything including property, means of production, education, transportation, and agriculture.

2. Marx described ten important aspects of a communist government:
No private property
A singe central bank
High income tax that would rise significantly as you made more
All property rights would be confiscated
No inheritance rights
The government would own and control all communication and transportation
The government would own and control all education
The government would own and control factories and agriculture
Farming and regional planning would be run by the government
The government would tightly control labor
History of Communism
Karl Marx is considered the Father of Communism. Marx was a German philosopher and economist who wrote about his ideas in a book called the Communist Manifesto in His communist theories have also become known as Marxism.

3. Actual Results of Communism
The actual results of communism was nothing like the theories of Marxism. The low class people that were supposed to be helped by Marxism, were treated horribly by the leaders of the government. For example, it is estimated that Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin had over 40 million people murdered for the “good of the state”. Stalin created labor camps for anyone who disagreed with the government. He even created famines in order to break the will of the people and gain total control.
Communist states generally have much less freedom. They prevent the practice of religion, order certain people to work certain jobs, and prevent people from moving around or moving to other countries. People lose all rights to ownership and government officials become incredibly powerful!

4. Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift could be called the first battle of the Cold War. It was when western countries delivered much needed food and supplies to the city of Berlin through the air because all other routes were blocked by the Soviet Union.

5. Berlin Airlift Background Information
At the end of WWII the country of Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones. Great Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union each controlled a different zone. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was located in the Soviet Union zone, but control of this city was split into four zones between the four countries.
With the war over, tensions began to mount between the democratic countries of the west and the communist countries controlled by the Soviet union of the east. The west was determined to stop the spread of communism and the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine made this clear. (established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces)
The west also wanted the country of Germany to be united under one democratic government. The Soviet Union didn’t want this; soon the two sides were at odds over the future of Germany. The west introduced a new currency called the Deutsche Mark, but the Soviets refused to use it in their zone.

6. Blocking Berlin
The city of Berlin was an island in the middle of the Soviet controlled zone. The west sent supplies there via railroads and roads. However, the Soviets wanted total control of Berlin. They figured if they cut off berlin from their external supplies and food, then it would fall under their control.
On June 24, 1948 the Soviets blocked all rail and road traffic to Berlin. They cut off the electricity coming from the Soviet part of the city. They halted all traffic going in and out of the city. The only way in was to fly.
When the blockade first started, the city of Berlin had around 36 days worth of food. They also needed tons of coal for energy and other items such as medical supplies.

7. The Airlift
Without going to war or giving up the city of Berlin, the only option the western countries had was to try and fly in all the supplies.
There were over two million people living in the city at the time.
The army estimated that it would take over tons of food each day to keep them alive.
The Soviets did not believe that an airlift would work. They felt that the people of Berlin would eventually give up.
Over the next ten months the US and Great Britain flew around 277,000 flights into Berlin. They carried over 2.3 million tons of supplies into the city. On May 12, 1949 the Soviet Union stopped the blockade and the airlift was over.