The Berlin Airlift

           At the end of World War II, Germany was divide into four sections. France controlled one part, England controlled one part, the U.S. controlled one part, and the U.S.S.R. controlled the last part. However, France, England, and the United States joined their sections together to create West Germany. The U.S.S.R. controlled East Germany. Berlin, although in the middle of Eastern Germany, was also divided into two sections, West Berlin and East Berlin. This shows how Germany was divided. The Soviets wanted to set up a Communist oppressive government, but the Allies thought that they should try to remake Germany as an independent country.  

 

At the Yalta Conference, Stalin had promised to have free governments; he lied. In June of 1948, the Soviets required that all convoys bound for Berlin that entered East Germany would have to be searched. The Allies refused to have their convoys examined, so on June 27, 1948 the U.S.S.R. cut all surface traffic to West Berlin. As a result West Berlin began to slowly suffocate. They were getting no supplies from outside their border, supplies that they relied on. The Allies felt like they had to do something. U.S. General Clay approved the order to begin lifting supplies by air into West Berlin.

           The Berlin Airlift began on June 29, 1948. It was a godsend for the West Berliners. Before they had had almost no food. Each person in West Berlin was getting about 900 calories of food per day, when the average is 2000. Now suddenly they had food. American planes would fly by every day dropping thousands of pounds of food and water down to the West Berliners. It helped them to get through a cold and harsh winter. The planes carried more than two million tons of food in over 270,000 flights. Without the airlift onto West Berlin, thousands of people would have died. In May of 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade on Berlin.