Berlin Blockade

The Berlin blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) is one of the first major international crises of the Cold War.

During the multinational occupation of post–Second World War Germany, the Soviet Union blocks the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control.

Their aim is to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food, fuel, and aid, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city.In response, the Western Allies organize the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin.

Aircrews from the United States Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force fly over 200,000 flights in one year, providing up to 4700 tons of daily necessities such as fuel and food to the Berliners.

By the spring of 1949, the effort is clearly succeeding and, by April, the airlift is delivering more cargo than had previously been transported into the city by rail.

The success of the Berlin Airlift brings embarrassment to the Soviets who had refused to believe it could make a difference.

The blockade is lifted in May 1949 and results in the creation of two separate German states.

The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) split up Berlin.

In remembrance of the airlift, three airports in the former western zones of the city will serve as the primary gateways to Germany for another fifty years.

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