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The Soviet Blockade of Berlin began as a result of disagreements between the Soviets and the other three Allies: Great Britain, France and the United States. After World War Two, the four had decided to divide Germany, and its capitol, Berlin, into four "occupied zones" to prevent further aggression. Soon, the British, French and American zones combined to form the new, democratic, West Germany. The Soviet sector, under communist rule, became East Germany. The zones of Berlin were joined in the same way. This left West Berlin an island of democracy, surrounded by a sea of communism. With the growing problem of inflation in mid-1948, the three nations occupying West Germany introduced a new Deutschmark (German currency) to West Germany, but not Berlin. The Soviet government knew that a good economy in the West would weaken their hold on East Germany, and issued their own new Deutschmark to East Germany and Berlin five days later, on June 23. As they introduced their new currency, the Soviets turned off the electricity to West Berlin. They stopped deliveries of food, fuel and other necessary supplies coming in, and made it impossible for any more shipments to reach the city. They declared that West Berlin was no longer controlled by Britain, the US and France. They intended to starve the people of West Berlin into submission to their communist control.
The Truman Administration knew that West Berliners would need food and fuel soon enough, as they had a stockpile of less than a months-worth. They also knew that the west couldn't back down, and that they couldn't afford to go starting a new war with the Russians. The western powers knew that air transport was the only way to get the needed supplies into the city, but thought it impossible. Supporting West Berlin would require transport upwards of 4,500 tons per day. An article in the June 25th New York Times was subtitled "Supply by Air Impossible." US Military Governor Lucius Clay and British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin knew it was not only possible, but inevitable. They dove headlong into Airlift planning. The Russians had not expected the west to respond from the air, they too had thought it impossible. The Russians were trapped by that assumption, because they could not stop planes as they could land and sea vehicles. The Soviets had agreed on three air corridors into and out of Berlin in the Quadripartite Agreement of 1945. Two of the corridors went into Berlin and one went out. The corridors were western airspace, and if the Russians attacked a plane flying inside the 20-mile corridors, it would be equivalent to an act of war. Therefore, British and American planes had free passage to Berlin.
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Map of Soviet Sector with three air corridors.
When the soviets blockaded West Berlin, the western powers saw that the only way into Berlin was by air. If it weren't for these three air corridors, it may have been impossible to get supplies to the people of West Berlin. Had they not existed West Berlin may have fallen to the Soviets, or transport planes may have been shot down. The fact that the Soviets had agreed to the Quadripartite Agreement of 1945 made it totally legal for Britain and the US to fly over Soviet territory. The corridors made it an act of war for the Soviet Union to shoot down or attack the western transport planes. |
The first C-47 transport planes flew into Berlin on the 25th of June. All the planes were either C-47s or C-54s because the airports could not handle larger planes or planes with more limited landing capabilities. The British called the airlift "Operation Plainfare," and the Americans called it "Operation Vittles." USAF and RAF planes were joined in the Airlift by British civilian aircraft which made up nearly one quarter of the tonnage. During the Airlift, the French had all but three of their transport planes tied up in Indo-China. Although they served in the early days of the Airlift, two of the French C-47s collided on the runway and were destroyed. The French could not take part in the Airlift with only one plane, although they proved their good intentions later on by blowing up a Soviet radio tower obstructing landing into the Tegel airfield in the French sector. The first planes of the Airlift landed at Tempelhof, a former civilian airport in the American sector. None of the airports were prepared for the volume of flights that the Airlift brought, and were built up around the planes landing. The other two landing sites were Tegel and Gatow, in the British Sector. Supplies came into Berlin from Bückeberg, Fassberg, Fuhlsbüttel, Lübeck, Wunstorf, Schleswigland and Celle in the British zone of West Germany, and Wiesbaden and Rhein-Main in the American zone.
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Photo of pierced steel being unloaded. Literally and symbolically, this photo shows how quickly the Airlift began. It shows two crewmen at Tempelhof unloading the pierced steel planking that would be used for a new runway at Tempelhof. When it began, the Airlift's administrators knew it had to begin immediately - 24 hours after the blockade began. To be efficient, they had to build up the runways around themselves and open new airports to handle the volume of flights. |
The numbers relating to the Berlin Airlift are amazing. In January 1949 alone, 171,962 tons were transported into Berlin by 19,485 flights. Flights landed so often that the air forces had to work out a plan that staggered the planes so they could take off three minutes apart and not collide midair. Supporting the city of West Berlin meant a daily airlift of over 4,500 tons of food and supplies. With the Airlift lasting almost a year, the tonnage added up to 2,325,508.8 tons of food, coal, passengers and baggage. It is a little known fact that there were passengers in the Berlin Airlift. Because the city created so much demand, it was theorized that transporting people out of West Berlin would lighten the load for the supply transport. 167, 577 passengers were carried out of West Berlin and into West Germany during the airlift. The cost of avoiding a war with Russia was great; thirty-nine British and thirty-one American aircrews were killed along with nine civilians in ten plane crashes. The price in monetary terms was astounding. The US had paid $350 million, the UK £17 million, and the Germans 150 million DM.
After nearly a year, Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union realized that the western allies were prepared to supply West Berlin for as long as needed. On May 5, 1949 the Soviet Union declared that they would lift the blockade on the 12th. Humiliated, Stalin told the USSR that the Blockade was a victory. The first closed train since 1948, filled with reporters, crossed into West Berlin at 5:11 am. After the blockade was lifted, the airlift continued for four months, officially ending on September 30th. The end of the blockade led to change in Germany. On May 23rd, 1949, West Germany officially became a country; the Federal Republic of Germany (BundesRepublik Deutschland). The Soviet sector followed suit, becoming the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) on October 5th.
Botting, Douglas. From the Ruins of the Reich; Germany
1945-1949. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1985.
Daniel, Clifton. "Commons Ratifies, 333 to 6, The North Atlantic
Treaty." The New York Times. 13 May 1949: 1, 2.
-Not a whole lot of information; some potentially useful
quotations.
Gruson, Sydney. "U.S. Airlift Pilots 'Jumping For Joy'." The New
York Times. 5 May 1949: 6.
-Reactions of US/British Airlift Pilots to the news that the airlift
would be ending; good for pilot impressions
Hamilton, Thomas J. "Berlin Blockade Will End May 12." The New
York Times. 5 May 1949: 1, 6.
-Discusses how the Big Four will administrate Berlin in the
future.
Middleton, Drew. "Berlin Siege On As Soviet Blocks Food." The New
York Times. 26 Jun. 1948: 1, 6.
-Early days of the 'siege'; projections of what is to come &
foodstuff inventory for the city
Miller, Roger G. To Save a City; The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949.
College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2000.
Morrow, Edward A. "75,000 in Berlin Ask Aid of World." The New
York Times. 25 Jun. 1948: 18.
-Reports on Social Democrat rally in Berlin against 'advance of
communism'
Our American Century; Events That Shaped the Century.
Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1998.
Parrish, Thomas. Berlin in the Balance. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1998.
Pearcy, Arthur. Berlin Airlift. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife
Publishing Ltd., 1997.
Prittie, Terence, et al. Life World Library; Germany. New
York: Time, Inc., 1962.
Raymond, Jack. "Clay Declares U.S. Won't Quit Berlin Short of
Warfare." The New York Times. 25 Jun. 1948: 1, 18.
-Gen. Clay's outlook on the weeks to come; determined that the
Soviets will not take west Berlin (cites impossibility of flying
supplies in)
Raymond, Jack. "Clay Warns That End of Blockade Can Be Only a
Temporary Truce." The New York Times. 5 May 1949: 1, 6.
-Clay offers his opinion on what is to result of the airlift
situation; in effect predicts Cold War
Reston, James. "328-Day Blockade of Berlin Lifted." The New York
Times. 12 May 1949: 1, 2.
-Describes in detail how life in west Berlin is methodically
returning to normal (i.e. cars & trains coming from E. Berlin,
lights coming back on, etc.)
Rice Jr., Earle. The Cold War: Collapse of Communism. San
Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 2000.
"Soviet Bloc Urges 4-Power Accord On German Rule, Occupation End."
The New York Times. 25 Jun. 1948: 1, 16.
-outlines points agreed on at Warsaw Conference & Soviet
grievances from Moscow Statement
Tusa, Ann and John Tusa. The Berlin Airlift. New York:
Atheneum, 1988.
United Press. "First Berlin Train From West Sealed." The New York
Times. 12 May 1949: 1, 2.
-describes trip of first western reporters in sealed train cars into
Berlin
Uschan, Michael V. A Cultural History of the United States; The
1940s. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1999.
Ein Stueck von Sabine