Berlin airlift

Berlin airlift 1948-49, supply of vital necessities to West Berlin by air transport primarily under U.S. auspices. It was initiated in response to a land and water blockade of the city that had been instituted by the Soviet Union in the hope that the Allies would be forced to abandon West Berlin. The massive effort to supply the 2 million West Berliners with food and fuel for heating began in June, 1948, and lasted until Sept., 1949, although the Russians lifted the blockade in May of that year. During the around-the-clock airlift some 277,000 flights were made, many at 3-min intervals. By spring, 1949, an average of 8,000 tons was being flown in daily. More than 2 million tons of goods—of which coal accounted for about two thirds—were delivered.

Bibliography: See A. and J. Tusa, The Berlin Airlift (1988).

Berlin Airlift (1948–49) Operation to supply Berlin with food and other supplies after the Soviet Union closed all road and rail links between the city and West Germany. British and US aircraft flew more than 270,000 missions in 15 months.

Berlin Airlift (1948–49) A measure undertaken by the US and British governments to counter the Soviet blockade of Berlin. In June 1948 the USA, Britain, and France announced a currency reform in their zones of occupied Germany. The Soviet Union, fearing this was a prelude to the unification of these zones, retaliated by closing all land and water communication routes from the western zones to Berlin. The western Allies in turn responded by supplying their sectors of Berlin with all necessities by cargo aircraft. The siege lasted until May 1949, when the Russians reopened the surface routes. The blockade confirmed the division of Berlin, and ultimately of Germany, into two administrative units.