The Berlin Airlift also known as Operation Vittles was a largest humanitarian and strategic airlift operation that started from June 1948 and up to the September 1949. Many historians refer to it as one of the epoch-making phenomena of the so-called period of the Cold War. In this blog post we’ll take a closer look at the background of why the Berlin Airlift happened and view as well its role in history.

The Seeds of a Crisis

To explain why the Berlin Airlift occurred it is necessary to go back to the history of the world after the Second World War. Germany had been divided into four zones controlled by the Allied powers: of which include the United States, USSR, the United Kingdom and France among others. Berlin that was situated well within the Soviet zone of occupation was like the rest of the city also divided into four sectors. The allies and Soviet Union relations began to deteriorate and, in the end, the Soviet Union began the blockade of West Berlin.

The Blockade of West Berlin

Soviet blockade was a process begun in June 1948 when the Soviet Union sealed off all land and water access routes to West Berlin and left two million West Berliners and isolated behind the Iron Curtain with no food, fuel or other supplies. It was intended to bring pressure on the western allies to abandon their liberties in West Berlin and thereby giving the Soviet Union control of the city.

The Western Response

The western Allies however was too determined to hold their ground and back their European partner in west Berlin. Here’s why:

1. Symbolic Importance of Berlin

Because Berlin is the German capital, its significance was very symbolic in the post Second World War period. West Berlin was considered by the Western Allies as a symbol of democracy they needed in the Europe that was dominated by Soviet influence. If they succumbed to the Soviet blockade they would have suffered a serious blow to there prestige.

2. Communist expansion prevention

The seal of the West Berlin was considered to be part of the numbers the Soviets were planning on attempting to gain control on the rest of Eastern Europe as well. By having this control of West Berlin the Soviets could have easily spread their influence in the middle of Europe and who knows where they would have stopped after that.

3. Security on the German Democratic Transformation

The Western Allies were also willing to promote and back democratic organisations in their zones of occupied Germany. Surrendering to the Soviet blockade could have sabotaged these endeavors, and sequential failure of the, just recently formed, German government as well as the formation of communism.

Morgenthau Plan Meets Flying Columns

Due the Soviet blockade the western Allies retaliated with what is known as the Berlin Airlift. What they sought to do was to ensure that people of West Berlin received all they required through aerial means.

A Herculean Effort

The Berlin Airlift was a very large task on the side of logistics. Food had to be brought by aircraft throughout the day and night every day of the week for two million people of West Berlin. He said the operation demanded a number of cargo planes, constant support on the ground, and great planning to make sure supplies moved quickly and without a lot of complications.

The Candy Bombers

To encourage Westerns in West Berlin during the operation, the American pilots began to drop sweets to children as they arrived at the city. These pilots received the nickname of “The Candy Bombers, “and became very popular among the local population.

The Soviet Backdown

The situation of the Berlin Airlift was not plain sailing for nearly one year, there are many difficulties occurred, including: weather conditions and the threats of accident. But, of course, they came out as effective in due time. Relentless dedication of the Western Allies to West Berlin, enormous capacity of the airlift, and ultimate economic impact on West Germany compelled the Soviet Union to defrost the blockade in May 1949.

The conclusion of this paper can be drawn by realizing that the Berlin Airlift has left a long-lasting impact on the relations between east and west powering the economic capabilities of some of the reforms that were associated with it.

The Berlin Airlift had far-reaching implications:

1. Strengthening Western Unity

The successful completion of the airlift served well to show that Western Allies were both united and determined. They did this to prove loyalty to one another, and to principles of democracy and liberty and against communism and the Soviets. They formed this unity as the basic structure of the subsequent NATO alliance.

2. This paper seeks to analyze the process of consolidating the division of Germany.

Berlin Airlift came to an end which firmly established the partition of Germany in to East and West. It accelerated the establishment of two separate German states: The Federal Republic of Germany also known as West Germany and the German Democratic Republic also known as East Germany. These division continued up-to the German reunification of 1990.

3. Non-ческим Assistance in Large Quantities

By so doing the Berlin Airlift also showed how humanitarian aid can help nations and that it is possible to coordinate in a time of crisis. That meant the existence of plain folks could not be disregarded even if the political temperature was scalding.

Conclusion

The Berlin Airlift continues to be one of the most interesting topics in history, as the story of spirit and determination, combined with cooperation. It speaks volumes for the Spirit of the people of West Berlin and the determination of the Western Allies to uphold the values that the Wall was being erected to oppress. In so doing the airlift did not only save West Berlin it also established the structure for the modern might and solidarity of West Europe during the Cold War.