alternatehistory.com

Every student of history knows well the events of June 1948. The Soviet Union, unknowing of the provocation of the revelation of Klaus Fuchs' spying, institutes a blockade of Berlin. Just 24 hours later, the Soviet Union was given what we now know of as "The Ultimatum"--the Soviet Union was given 24 hours to agree that the blockade of Berlin would be totally ended, and that the Soviet Union would permit free and open elections in the Eastern European countries they had occupied. If this were not done, the United States would drop an atomic bomb on one Soviet city, followed by bombs on two Soviet cities 24 hours later, followed by three 24 hours after that, until the Soviets agreed to the terms.

We know that Truman's anger drove him to this after the discovery in early June 1948 of Klaus Fuchs' spying for the USSR--that was the final straw that caused him to explode, as written in the famous biography Truman--"I've had enough of that duplicitous bastard--sooner or later they're going to learn that when they play with fire they're going to get burned." So when, unknowing of Truman's anger because the arrest of Fuchs was kept secret, the USSR began the blockade of Berlin...Truman had truly had enough, saying, as he did to Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the time..."...it's time we used our hammer. I'm no longer willing to let them oppress people as they please for fear of war. They're either going to back down here, AND permit free elections in Eastern Europe, or they're going to get blown to cinders until they do."

Given the naked threat of nuclear destruction at the hands of the United States--and with the knowledge they had from data Fuchs had already passed--that the USA had ~175 atomic bombs in its arsenal--a weapon they had no response to--Stalin felt he had no choice but to accede to Truman's ultimatum...the humiliation of which, combined to the effects of withdrawal of the blockade, and of the free elections held throughout Eastern Europe in December of 1948, led to the deterioration of his power until his death from a stroke in the Kremlin in March of 1949, just as a plot by the leaders of the Soviet Army to overthrow the government was about to come to fruition.

The question is, though--what happens if Stalin turns down The Ultimatum--tells Truman to go scratch. Do you think Truman was bluffing? He always refused to answer the question before his death. How do you thnk our world would have changed, and what would history have been like if Stalin had declined?

Conversely, what happens if Truman decides to try supplying blockaded Berlin by air instead of issuing the Ultimatum?
Top