The Berlin Blockade was a failed attempt by the Soviet Union to block Allied access to Berlin in 1948-49. The West responded with the Berlin Airlift, delivering supplies by air. The blockade ended in 1949, and the Berlin Wall was built in 1961.
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to block Allied access to the German city of Berlin in 1948 and 1949. Ultimately, the blockade proved to be a total political failure for the Soviet Union and the West succeeded to turn it into a major victory. This event was one of the first major conflicts of the Cold War, and the lessons were carried through future episodes of tension between the Soviet Union and the Western world.
After WWII, Germany was divided between the Allies, with the French, Americans, British and Russians each controlling part of the country. The city of Berlin was located in East Germany, the section controlled by the Soviet Union, but was considered so important politically that it was divided into miniature administrative districts, ensuring the presence of the Allies there.
However, being surrounded by East Germany left the Western-occupied sections of Berlin very vulnerable. In June 1948, Allied efforts to produce a unified currency for West Germany triggered alarm in the Soviet Union and officials decided to block all access to Berlin, hoping to force the Allies to give them greater control of the city. In essence, the Soviet Union planned to starve the city out to force the West to capitulate.
When the Soviet Union announced the blockade, the West was forced to make a decision about how to deal with it. Giving in to Russian demands was rejected as an option, and invasion was given some consideration. Eventually, officials decided it would be too dangerous and jumped at the idea of simply waiting for the lockdown.
For the citizens of Berlin, who had only a month’s worth of supplies at their disposal, this solution posed an obvious problem. The remedy turned out to be the Berlin Airlift, an ambitious plan to deliver all of West Berlin’s fuel, food and shelter by air. At the height of the airlift, planes landed in Berlin every three minutes, and sometimes the planes didn’t even land, instead pushing out pallets of supplies and shrinking back down again.
In May 1949, the Russians realized that the blockade of Berlin had not worked as intended and lifted the restrictions. The Allies continued to use their established airspace to carry most supplies into the city, as they did not want to become dependent on Soviet-controlled railroads and roads. In 1961, frustrated with the use of West Berlin as a way station for people leaving East Germany, the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall, a huge barrier that divided the city in two until 1989.
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