What did the Berlin Airlift do?

Instead of retreating from West Berlin, however, the U.S. and its allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. This effort, known as the “Berlin Airlift,” lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin. read more

The Berlin Airlift was used during the Cold War to resupply West Berlin at a time when it was being blockaded by the Soviet Union. After WWII, Berlin was split up between the Russians, who had what was called East Berlin, and the Western Allies, who had West Berlin. Germany as a whole was split up in the same way. read more

Berlin blockade and airlift, international crisis that arose from an attempt by the Soviet Union, in 1948–49, to force the Western Allied powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) to abandon their post-World War II jurisdictions in West Berlin. read more