Berlin Blockade and Airlift of 1948 was part of the cold war in the world history. It concerned Soviet’s plan to sever the connection between Western Europe and Berlin through building the Berlin wall, which was an incredible story of freedom fight by United States, Britain and other western countries. In regard to this, this blog post is going to concentre on giving historical details, as well as explaining reasons and impacts of the event known as the Berlin Airlift, and tactics used in this operation.

1. The Causes of the Berlin Blockade

The split of Germany into two, East and West Germany after World War II formed the basis of the Berlin Blockade. Berlin, although located deep within Soviet-controlled East Germany, was also divided into four zones, each controlled by one of the four Allied powers: the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain and France.

The main reason for the blockade was that the Soviet Union was not satisfied with currency reform by the Western Allies in their zones. The use of the Deutsche Mark in the western zones was to advance the economic stability of West Germany, and thus likely pose a threat to the power of the U.S.S.R in East Germany.

2. The Blockade Begins

In an effort to coup d’état and deny western powers access into Berlin, the Soviet Union put the blockade in place on the 24th of June in 1948. It was a disaster having communication by roads, rail and water transport all closed down.

2.1 The Impact on Berlin

In the following, the effects of the blockade are discribed more detailed, starting directly with the people of Berlin. Stores of food started running low, even basic needs such as coal and fuel or any resource that was needed was scarce. Things had come to a head:the city was in crisis, and the only answer was to act fast in order to avoid a catastrophe in which hundreds of thousands of people might lose their lives.

3. The Berlin Airlift

The blockade led to the Berlin Airlift where the United States, Britain, and other western powers responded to it in an organized manner. Non-stop planes started on June 26, 1948, and continued for sixteen months – up to September 30, 1949 – delivering necessary provisions to the city. This was a gigantic collection and the task displayed the unstoppable resolve of the western countries to help their friends and keep freedom in Berlin.

3.1 Operation Vittles

The Berlin Airlift was code named by Americans as operation Vittles. this was a huge transport aircraft, which was bringing in supplies to the area at the drop of a hat. The planes started to land on the Tempelhof, Gatow, and Tegel’s temples by dropping the necessities needed for the community of Berlin.

3.2 The Candy Bomber

The famous pilot during Berlin Airlift was Gail Halvorsen also called the Candy Bomber. He began to drop small parachutes filled with candies for children in Berlin — some type of comfort in a difficult period. His actions received a lot of coverage and this human asset of this historic event was captured.

4. The End of the Blockade

However, the Berlin Blockade was only ended on 12th May 1949 when Soviet Union agreed to removed the barriers. In this case, although the blockade did not perform the desired task of preventing food exports, the blockade imposed indirect effects.

4.1 The Birth of Two Germanies

This paper explores how the Berlin Blockade brought increased animosity between the Soviet Union and Western Allies and consequently led to formation of two separate Germany. During the year 1949, two German states was founded such as Federal Republic of Germany also known as West Germany and the German Democratic Republic also known as East Germany.

5. The ‘Legacy of the Berlin Airlift’

Historically, the Berlin Airlift cannot be regarded as minor event. That symbolized the western powers’ determination to defend freedom and liberties of democratic choices. It also proved that humanitarian actions could be quite efficient and useful on such a large scale.

5.1 Lessons Learned

Other benefits include learning of the crucial role played by cooperation in dealing with times of economic crises, and also grim experiences that reveal the high level of tenacity in humans. It was observing that the conflict escalation had to be averted and an effort towards achieving a solution that was inherent in non-violence had to be persued.

All in all, the Berlin Blockade and Airlift of 1948 was one of the significant pages of the Cold War as it was the confrontation of the East and the West. The Berlin Airlift, an enormous operation, is as such significant due to the success of providing necessary supplies to the Berlin people and for showing determination on the side of western powers for freedom.