Humanitarian history

The Berlin Airlift

Supplying West Berlin by air during a Soviet blockade of surface routes.

When: 1948–1949
Where: Berlin and western Germany

Children watching a transport aircraft approach Tempelhof during the Berlin Airlift.

American and British aircraft carried food and fuel to the western sectors of Berlin after Soviet forces blocked land and water access. The operation sustained civilians while becoming a major confrontation in the developing Cold War.

Background

An occupied and divided city

Berlin lay within the Soviet occupation zone but was itself divided among the wartime Allies. Disagreements over Germany's future escalated into a crisis of access.^[1]

What happened

1948
Blockade begins
On 24 June, Soviet forces closed key surface routes to western Berlin.^[1]
1948
Airlift launched
American and British operations began carrying supplies through agreed air corridors.^[1]
1949
Blockade lifted
Surface access reopened in May.^[1]

Impact & evidence

1948–1949

Keeping a city supplied

The blockade confronted the Western Allies with a choice between withdrawal, a dangerous attempt to force surface access, and supply by air. Aircraft brought essentials through agreed corridors while crews and ground staff built a sustained logistical operation. The blockade was lifted in May 1949. The operation kept the western sectors connected to their allies while the political division of Germany deepened.^[1]