The Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade

The simmering tensions between the Soviet Union and its former World War II allies erupted into a full-fledged crisis in Berlin in June 1948.

The Soviet Union sought to pressure the Western Allies (the US, the UK, and France) to leave their post-World War II jurisdictions in West Berlin.

The Soviets decided to restrict the ability of the US, UK, and France to move to their respective sectors of Berlin, which were located within the Russian-occupied East Germany.

So in 1948, the Soviet Union blocked Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to Berlin sectors under Western control.

The Berlin Blockade was one of the Cold War’s first major international crises. Since the United States and other Western Allies began flying supplies and food into their sectors of Berlin, the Berlin Blockade collapsed.

The Berlin Blockade lasted 323 days, starting on June 24, 1948, and ending on May 12, 1949. During this period, the Soviets prohibited the Western Allies from gaining access to their secret sectors of Berlin by rail, road, or canal.

The blockade was one of the first major events of the Cold War, and it had the potential to spark a war between the two superpowers.

The Berlin Blockade ended on May 12, 1949, when the Soviet Union lifted its 11-month blockade of West Berlin.

The blockade also failed to prevent the United States, the United Kingdom and France from strengthening their western zones. In 1949, they joined their zones to create West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany).

The Soviet Union retaliated by creating a new nation, East Germany, within its own zone (German Democratic Republic.