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The Berlin airlift was a massive transfer of essential supplies flown into Berlin, Germany during 1948 and 1949 by
British and U.S. forces in around­the­clock missions. The airlift was both an important incident of the Cold War and
the most extraordinary peacetime military operation in history. At the end of World War II, a four­power military commission called the Komandatura had been set up to administer
Berlin, the former German capital well within the boundaries of the Soviet­held territory that became East Germany.
As the Cold War rivalries between the Soviet Union and the Western powers intensified, the Soviet forces in March
1948 began to harass ground transport that connected West Berlin to West Germany. In June 1948, the Soviet
representative left the Komandatura. The Berlin blockade began on June 24 when Joseph Stalin restricted access to
Berlin by closing water and railway transport and the highways leading to the city. The people of Berlin only had
enough supplies for 36 days. At the recommendation of U.S. general Lucius D. Clay, Western allied garrisons
remained in the city and were supplied by air. U.S. general Curtis E. LeMay led the airlift operation. The dwindling of food supplies for the more than 2 million
civilians in West Berlin was of primary importance to Operation Vittles, as the airlift was dubbed in the U.S. military.
According to a closely timed schedule, in all weather, and with frequent harassment from Soviet fighter planes, more
than 277,264 flights were made into Berlin carrying 2,343,315 tons of food and coal. The record day was on Easter
Sunday, April 16, 1949, when 1,298 flights lifted 12,940 tons of supplies into the city. Negotiations to end the blockade were largely unsuccessful. Even United Nations involvement failed to achieve any
results. In January 1949, the Allies began a "counter­blockade" of restrictions on much needed goods entering East
Berlin. By February 2, 1949, Stalin agreed to lift the blockade if the Allies would end the counter­blockade. Stalin
lifted the Berlin blockade on May 12, 1949. The Allies stopped airlifting supplies into Berlin in September. The lives of
75 British and U.S. airmen were lost during the airlift.
ABC­CLIO
Further Reading
Glines, C. V., "The Berlin Airlift," Airline Pilot, vol. 67, no. 5, May 1998; Haydock, Michael, City Under Siege: The
Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948­1949, 2000; Miller, Robert G., To Save a City: The Berlin Airlift, 1948­1949, 1998;
Parrish, Thomas, Berlin in the Balance, 1945­1949: The Blockade, the Airlift, the First Major Battle of the Cold War,
1999.
Select Citation Style: MLA
MLA
"Berlin airlift." World Geography: Understanding a Changing World. ABC­CLIO, 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
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Entry ID: 1132177