Tag: siege

The Berlin Blockade and Airlift.

This diary is about the Berlin blockade and airlift.  From wiki:

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The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first such crisis that resulted in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under their control. Their aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to start supplying Berlin with food and fuel, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city.

In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin. Great Britain’s Royal Air Force and the recently formed United States Air Force, flew over 200,000 flights over the time span of one year that provided 13,000 tons of daily necessities such as fuel and food to the people of Berlin [1]. By the spring of 1949, the effort was clearly succeeding, and by April the airlift was delivering more cargo than had previously flowed into the city by rail.

The success of the Berlin Airlift brought humiliation to the Russians who had refused to believe in its capability in making a difference. The blockade was lifted in May 1949 and resulted in the creation of two separate German States [1].The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) would now make up the land that was once known as Berlin [2]. In remembrance of the Berlin Airlift, three airports in the former western zones of the city served as the primary gateways to Germany for another fifty years.

Huh.  Establishing spheres of influence by breaking a siege.  Interesting!  Two-state solution followed by reconciliation.  Interesting!

Let’s line ’em up.

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