Knowledge Article: World Geography
The Berlin Airlift
Competing Influences
Although allies during World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union had different visions
of how the world should be shaped following the end of hostilities. Simply put, the Soviet
Union wanted to extend its influence, through communism, as far around the world as
possible. The United States, backed by Great Britain and France, wished to contain this
spread while promoting a capitalist and democratic ideology. This global struggle for
influence became known as the Cold War because it lacked any direct military conflicts
between the major players. The first clash of this "war" occurred over influence in
Germany, located in the center of Europe.
Germany’s Postwar Division
The reason Germany became the first battleground of the Cold War was largely due to
its location and the final outcomes of World War II. Because Germany was the most
dangerous enemy of the Allies (the U.S., the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France),
an unprecedented number of resources went into defeating the country. Waves of
bombings and a fiercely fought invasion resulted in the almost complete destruction of
Germany’s industries and even some of its cities. In short, by 1945, Germany lay in
ruins.
With Germany both economically and physically devastated, each of the four main
World War II Allies decided to take over daily governance of a portion of the country.
The Soviet Union administered an eastern quadrant. The U.S., Great Britain, and
France each received a section as well. Berlin, the former capital of the country, was
also divided into four different zones, even though it was located deep within the Soviet
section of Germany.
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This map shows the postwar division of Germany among the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the
United States.
At first, the Allies agreed that they wanted to limit the economic growth of Germany.
After all, this was the country they had battled in two world wars within three decades.
After a couple of years, however, the U.S., Great Britain, and France all realized that an
economically healthy Germany was in their best interests. It was a militarily strong and
aggressive Germany that they wished to avoid. As a result, a series of economic
reforms and aid packages were instituted in the portions of Germany under Allied
control. The most famous of these reforms was known as the Marshall Plan. The
Marshall Plan loaned billions of U.S. dollars not just to Germany, but to any European
country that requested it.
The Soviet Union viewed these Western-backed economic programs with great
suspicion. They feared that the U.S. and its new allies were trying to spread democratic
and market reforms across Europe at the expense of communism. As a result, no area
under Soviet influence or control was allowed to take part in the Marshall Plan, or any
other Western aid program. That included the Soviet areas in Germany and Berlin.
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The Berlin Standoff
Soviet Blockade
Tension between the Soviet Union and its former allies became even worse in February
1948. At that time, a new currency, the deutsche mark, was introduced to the Western
sections of Germany and Berlin. The Soviets refused to accept this currency within their
German territory. Around the same time, the Western sections of Germany began the
process of unification, which would eventually lead to an independent country free from
official occupation. It would be known as the Federal Republic of Germany, or simply
West Germany.
Threatened by both the economic reforms and unification of West Germany, the Soviets
decided to respond. They began to block all western land access to Berlin starting in
June 1948. They shut down the major highway and railroad link between West
Germany and West Berlin. To add even more pressure, the Soviets at first refused to
supply the 2.5 million people of West Berlin with any food.
Through these actions, the Soviets hoped to starve the city of supplies. Without
supplies, the people of West Berlin would become quite angry and desperate. As a
result, the U.S., Great Britain, and France might be forced to abandon the city.
In the context of the Cold War, this shutdown was extremely significant. If the U.S. and
its new postwar allies were to lose influence over Berlin, it would be a major blow to
their efforts in containing communism. It would embarrass them throughout the world,
and possibly lead to other areas falling under Soviet or communist influences.
Initial Problems
With only about a month’s worth of supplies on hand, Berlin would indeed starve and
surrender to communist influences if something was not done quickly. Faced with this
dilemma, the U.S. and Great Britain were determined not to lose the city. Although they
could not supply it by land, Berlin was still accessible by air. However, no city the size of
West Berlin had ever been completely dependent on aircraft to feed its citizens and
power its factories. Just prior to the blockade, West Berlin imported at least 12,000 tons
of supplies per day. Even with rations in place, the city would still need to import at least
4,500 tons daily. To make the situation even more difficult, West Berlin had only two
relatively small airports.
Despite these tremendous odds, the U.S. and Great Britain decided to try to supply the
city by air. On June 26, the first day of airlift operations, U.S. planes made only 32
flights carrying just 80 tons of supplies. This was less than 2 percent of the daily
tonnage needed.
Most of the initial problems concerned the fleet of aircraft. Most of the planes in
operation were relatively old, small, and inefficient. Additionally, there were not nearly
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enough of these planes to meet West Berlin’s demands. Even if more aircraft were
brought into Europe, however, Berlin lacked enough runways for them to land on.
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Think about it
Think about all of the food you eat each day. Each meal requires a host
of basic food supplies. Take pizza for example. To make a pizza, you
need flour, water, cheese, olive oil, tomatoes, and other ingredients for
toppings. What types of food products do you normally eat? What basic
types of food are needed to make one of your typical meals?
Chances are you came up with many different types of food needed just
to make one meal for yourself. Now think about the amount of food you
eat in a single day and multiply it by 2.5 million (the population of West
Berlin in 1948). If you can imagine how much food that is, then you’re
close to understanding part of the massive operation that the U.S. and
British governments undertook during the Berlin Airlift.
Review the food items that the British government deemed necessary to
sustain West Berlin's population during the Berlin Airlift. The figures
contained in the chart were a crucial part of planning the operation.
(Note: Even with all the items combined, food was only the second
largest provision brought into West Berlin during the Airlift. The largest
was coal.)
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Delivering the Goods
Realizing the initial problems, U.S. and British officials called for new and larger aircraft
to be brought into the area. These new aircraft could carry roughly 10 tons per trip as
opposed to 3 tons in the older aircraft. They also began improving the airports in West
Berlin by adding more runways.
As more and more planes began landing in Berlin, workers had to devise more efficient
landing, unloading, and takeoff procedures. They reduced the amount of time planes
were on the ground, which allowed aircraft to make return trips that much quicker. With
more trips, more supplies were brought into the city.
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Berliners watch a C-54 aircraft land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in 1948.
These efforts soon began to produce results. On July 20, less than a month into
operations, 2,250 tons of supplies were transported into the city. Just more than three
weeks later, on August 12, U.S. and British aircraft combined for 707 flights and just
over 4,500 tons delivered. With this milestone, the minimum daily amount of supplies
had been achieved for the first time.
The daily tonnage of supplies flown kept increasing as the airlift continued and more
procedures were refined. Additionally, a new airport in the French sector of West Berlin
was added in November, which increased the number of daily flights. Although the
delivery of supplies was sometimes slowed by dense fog during the winter of 1948-49,
the city was consistently supplied with more than 4,500 tons of goods per day.
By early 1949, it was no longer a question if West Berlin could be sustained by air.
Instead, the U.S. and Great Britain wondered exactly how much more than the minimum
amount they could provide. Almost every month, a new record was set. With each new
record, the Soviet government began to realize that its tactics had failed. On May 11,
1949, the Soviet Union ended the blockade and allowed the Western powers land
access to the city once again.
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Berlin after the Airlift
After the airlift, Berlin remained split politically between East and West until the collapse
of the Soviet Union in 1991. Before the Soviet collapse, leaders from both the U.S. and
Soviet Union frequently visited Berlin. They often gave speeches condemning the other
side. Among the most famous speeches were those by U.S. presidents John F.
Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
In the years after the airlift, perhaps the most significant development in Berlin occurred
in 1961. In August of that year, Soviet workers erected a wall dividing the city between
East and West. No civilians could cross this line. In fact, armed members of the Soviet
military stood watch at all times along its border. They would often shoot at, and kill,
East Berliners who tried to escape into West Berlin. This wall would remain intact until
crowds of angry Berliners tore it down in 1989.
After the Soviet Union fell apart, West and East Berlin finally reunited as a single city.
This event was part of a series of events that led to the reunification of West and East
Germany as a whole. Although the process has not always been easy, today Germany
is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. However, its history might have
looked very different if the airlift had never succeeded and West Berlin had fallen under
Soviet control.
Sources
Parrish, Thomas. Berlin in the Balance: The Blockade, the Airlift, the First Major Battle of the
Cold War. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1998.
Tusa, Ann and John. The Berlin Airlift. New York: Atheneum, 1988.
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