The Berlin blockade

The Berlin Airlift reaches its highpoint

The descent into the Cold War during the course of 1947 led the Soviet Union to try and swallow West Berlin, a capitalist enclave in East Germany, into its own sphere of influence. Launching a blockade of Berlin in 1948, the Soviets hoped to make it impossible for the Western Allies to maintain their administration of West Berlin. The Soviets cut the supply of electricity to West Berlin on 24 June 1948 and blocked all land and water communications.

Having been granted three air corridors between the western zones of occupation and the sectors of Berlin in 1945, the Western Allies organized an airlift. Flying in supplies – food, coal, petrol, building materials, medicines and much more – to the airports Tegel, Gatow and Tempelhof, Great Britain, France and the US were able to supply the 2.2 million inhabitants of West Berlin for 11 months. 15 April 1949 saw the largest volume of goods transported within 24 hours: 1,398 flights delivered 12,849 tonnes of freight in what later became known as the Easter Parade. Seeing that their enemy was committed to maintaining their influence in Berlin, the Soviet Union ended the blockade on 12 May 1949.