After World War II tensions between Soviet Union and Western Allies were intensified increasing Germany’s division. Likewise, the city of Berlin was divided into four sectors: each with the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Soviet Union. However, there soon came disagreements over what Germany’s future would be and the Berlin Blockade resulted. But let us deal with this dramatic event and subsequent Berlin Airlift.
1. The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was the occasion from June 1948 to May 1949, when the Soviet Union blocked access of road, rail and canals by West Berlin, blocking the city from seeing the rest of the world. The purpose was to defuse the threat of the Western Allies to Germany and to wrest control over West Berlin. This measure placed millions of people in West Berlin, at risk of starvation, economic collapse.
1.1 The Berlin Blockade
The principal aim of the Soviet Union was to forbid the emergence of an reunited one and possibly a stronger Germany under western influence. By the economic recovery, the greater connection between the Western zones of Germany, they felt threatened. For you see, the Soviet Union wanted to break down the political and economic bases of West Berlin, which in the Soviet view served as evidence of Western domination deep within the Soviet sphere of control.
2. The Berlin Airlift
The Western Allies responded to this, with the Berlin Airlift, as a unique humanitarian operation.
2.1 Operation Vittles
The Berlin Airlift was code named Operation Vittles. Which began June 26, 1948, when West Berlin was systematically supplied by airlifting supplies. Cargo planes landed at Tempelhof Airport and additional airfields to take in food, fuel and all of the things necessary for West Berliners to continue living.
2.2 The Success of the Airlift
That was the Berlin Airlifft, a remarkable triumph, keeping the city’s population going for over a year despite the Western Allies. It took this and planes were landing every few minutes, day and night, even in bad weather. It symbolized the determination and perservaince of the Western Allies in an airlift to say with a strong message to the Soviet Union the Allied determination to help the people of Berlin.
3. The Berlin Blockade
The blockade ultimately ended on May 12, 1949. After nearly a year of airlift operations, the Soviet Union grew to realize the blockade was impossible to sustain and was badly damaging the Soviet’s own international reputation. The land routes to West Berlin were opened, the blockade lifted. This was the success of the Berlin Airlift that had saved the freedom of West Berlin and showed Western unity and commitment.
4. Legacy of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift
The Berlin Blockade and the Airlift are still historically important, as they summed up the fierce struggle between the Soviet Union, and the Western Allies of the Cold War. This helped to shore up an East / West divide that would only lead to further East German power consolidation under Soviet control.
The Berlin Airlift was further than a symbol of humanitarian aid in the face of adversity, it was a powerful symbol that helped create support for Western ideals of democracy and freedom.
Conclusion
The Cold War history includes two of its defining moments: the Berlin Blockade and Airlift. The fairytale story that West Berlin finally won its freedom from the Soviet Union’s attempt to force the Western Allies to leave Berlin had to wait for Soviet marshal Zhukov’s stunning retreat. A time of such tension was the cost of democracy and liberty the airlift symbolized.