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Addition to OLLI Brochure: Study Group on Berlin Airlift
The following Study Group will be available when Winter registration opens on November 4, although it is not printed in your brochure. Please feel free to write it in on your registration form if you are interested in joining.
The Cold War Begins: Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948 - 1949
Mondays, January 18 & 25, February 1, 8, 15, & 22, 2016
10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
The Hult Center for Healthy Living, 5215 N Knoxville Ave, Peoria
Although the Allied Powers were victorious over the Third Reich in May of 1945, maintenance of unity and peace in Europe was much more difficult to achieve over the next four years in the aftermath of Germany's political, economic and military collapse. By April of 1948, the first major inter-national crisis of what we now call the Cold War had begun when the Soviet Union prevented the Western Allies access to their zones in the city of Berlin by rail, road and canal.
In this study group we'll discuss conditions in Germany in 1945, the time frame and basics of Cold War conflicts, the Soviet implementation of the Berlin Blockade and the Allied response--the Berlin Airlift, a monumental effort to secure the survival of Germany and Berlin between June of 1948 and May of 1949. Discussion of the airlift will include how it was organized, the airplanes who were its "war horses" and the aviators who flew them.
Guest discussion leaders will include Dr. John Williams, Bradley University Professor of History, specializing in the history of Germany and Colonel William Robertson, Commander of the 182nd Airlift Wing, Illinois Air National Guard in Peoria. Film clips will also be used to stimulate discussion.
Participants are expected to read Richard Reeves' book, Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift---June of 1948-May of 1949 prior to the first day the group meets. That book can be obtained new or used online and/or at local bookstores and libraries. Information from various websites will also be assigned for specific topics; access to the Internet is strongly advised.
$45 - facilitated by Carol May, OLLI Cinema Committee chair and frequent Study Group facilitator.
If you plan on registering online after 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, please visit the OLLI homepage: www.bradley.edu/olli
If you have any questions, please call Bonnie at 309-677-3900.
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