Berlin Blockade

 

 

The Berlin Blockade (1 April 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War.

During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under allied control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutschmark from West Berlin. In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the numbers of people in West Berlin. This would be a tough task because of the numbers of people living in West Berlin.

Aircrews from the United States Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing up to 8,893 tons of necessities daily, such as fuel and food, to the Berliners.

Neither side wanted a war. The Soviets did not disrupt the airlift.

39 British and 31 American airmen lost their lives during the operation.

  

Berlin Airlift Monument in Berlin-Tempelhof with inscription "They gave their lives for the freedom of Berlin in service of the Berlin Airlift 1948/49"