The Berlin Blockade

G3 Elective History - syllabus K336, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can examine how Cold War tensions showed up in Europe, such as in Berlin and the rival alliances.

    Syllabus K336, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Examine how Cold War tensions were manifested in Europe.

Make a guess

In June 1948 Stalin blocked every road, rail and canal route into West Berlin. What do you think the Western powers did?

  1. Pulled out of West Berlin and left it to the Soviet zone.
  2. Flew in food and coal by air for almost a year.
  3. Sent an armed convoy to break through the blockade.
Show the answer

Flew in food and coal by air for almost a year.

The airlift avoided both giving up the city and sending an armed convoy that could have started a war.

When the USSR cut off West Berlin in 1948, the West flew in supplies instead of leaving or fighting its way in.

Picture two maps. Germany was split into four occupation zones, run by the USA, Britain, France and the USSR. Berlin lay deep inside the Soviet zone, but the city itself was also split into four sectors. The three western sectors made up West Berlin. Its people needed food and fuel brought across the Soviet zone, so the routes in mattered.

The Western powers moved towards creating a separate West German state. In June 1948, they brought in a new currency in their zones and West Berlin to help the economy recover. Stalin saw this as building a separate Germany tied to the West. He blocked all road, rail and canal routes into West Berlin. The aim was to force the West to change its plans or leave the city.

The USA and Britain used agreed air corridors, or flight routes, to fly in food, coal and other essentials. This was the Berlin Airlift. It avoided both giving up and sending an armed convoy through Soviet territory, which could have started a war.

The blockade ended on 12 May 1949. Flights continued until September to build up reserve supplies. The West had shown it would stay, but trust did not improve. Separate West and East German states were created in 1949. The crisis showed both confrontation and restraint: each side pushed hard, but avoided fighting.

June 1948
USSR blocks land and water routes to West Berlin.
Berlin Airlift
USA and Britain fly in food and coal.
12 May 1949
Blockade ends; two German states form in 1949.

Real examples to use

Blockade, 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949

The USSR cut road, rail and canal links to West Berlin for almost eleven months.

The Airlift's scale

Allied crews flew about 278,000 flights carrying about 2.3 million tons of food, coal and medicine.

Easter Parade, 16 April 1949

In a single 24-hour push, the airlift delivered about 12,940 tons, showing the West could supply the city indefinitely.

Worked example: Three choices over Berlin

Compare the gains and dangers of possible Western responses.

  1. Leave: avoids a fight, but abandons West Berlin and weakens trust in the West.
  2. Force a convoy through: could start a war with Soviet troops.
  3. Airlift: supplies the city and stands firm without fighting on the ground.

Watch out for this

The Berlin Blockade and the Berlin Wall were the same event.

The Blockade was in 1948 to 1949. The Berlin Wall was built much later, in 1961.

Check your understanding

Why did the West choose an airlift?

  1. It kept West Berlin supplied without fighting through Soviet territory.
  2. It was the quickest way to evacuate Western troops and civilians from Berlin.
  3. The USSR invited the West to use aircraft as long as the roads stayed closed.
Show the answer

It kept West Berlin supplied without fighting through Soviet territory.

Yes. It stood firm while avoiding a ground battle.

Check your understanding

Why did Stalin blockade West Berlin in June 1948?

  1. To punish West Berlin after its police attacked East German border posts that spring.
  2. To provoke a war with the United States while Soviet forces in Germany were far stronger.
  3. To force the West to drop plans for a West German state and currency, or leave Berlin.
Show the answer

To force the West to drop plans for a West German state and currency, or leave Berlin.

The blockade followed the new currency introduced in the western zones.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • National Archives: Truman Doctrine

    Paraphrase of President Harry S. Truman's address to Congress, 12 March 1947; US National Archives transcript.

  • George C. Marshall Foundation: Harvard speech

    Paraphrase of Secretary of State George C. Marshall's Harvard speech, 5 June 1947; transcript held by the George C. Marshall Foundation.

  • Novikov telegram, University of Oregon primary-text transcription

    Paraphrase of Nikolai Novikov's telegram from Washington to the Soviet leadership, 27 September 1946, opening sections; English text hosted by the University of Oregon.

  • George C. Marshall Foundation: Harvard speech

    An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a Soviet magazine cartoon of late 1947, after the USSR refused Marshall aid and made its Eastern European allies refuse it too. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.

  • Truman addresses Congress, March 1947

    Extract from President Harry Truman's address to a joint session of Congress, 12 March 1947, asking for aid for Greece and Turkey (the Truman Doctrine). A US government document in the public domain; text from the Avalon Project.

  • the British Foreign Secretary reports Molotov's warning, July 1947

    Extract from British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin's report of the final meeting of the British, French and Soviet foreign ministers in Paris on the Marshall Plan, 2 July 1947, sent to the US Secretary of State through the US Ambassador in London, 3 July 1947. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, volume III, document 180. A US government publication in the public domain.

  • the Cominform declaration, October 1947

    Extract from a telegram from the US Charge d'Affaires in Moscow, Elbridge Durbrow, to the Secretary of State, 6 October 1947, quoting the declaration issued when the Soviet Union and other communist parties set up the Cominform. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, volume IV, document 412. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the North Atlantic Treaty, April 1949

    Extract from Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by the USA, Canada and ten Western European states, during the Berlin Blockade. Text from the Avalon Project.

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