What Was The Cause Of The Berlin Airlift ?
The Berlin Airlift came as a direct counter effect of the Berlin Blockade. The blockade was caused by the Soviet in an attempt to gain control over the entire city of Berlin. They wanted to force the Western Allies to submit to their authority by becoming the main supplier of food and fuel to the city of Berlin. |
However, the Allies had other plans. They wanted to rebuild the economy of the zones which were under their control. American and Britain fused their sectors in January 1947 and named it Bizonia. Later on, in June 23, 1948, they even introduced a new currency for Bizonia.
This proved to be too much for the Soviet Union. So, it closed all road and rail traffic into West Berlin from East Berlin. As West Berlin was like an island in East Germany, it was totally cut off, except by air. Thus, occurred the famous Berlin Airlift by the Western powers. The Russians did not anticipate this. They wanted to bring the Americans into a humiliating position and beg for supplies to be sent to their sector via the Russian sector.
However, the Allies had about a 100 C-47 aircrafts and the RAF had 150 Dakotas and Avro Yorks with which they airlifted tons of food for West Berlin.
Therefore the blockade failed miserably and the Soviet Union had no other go than to gracefully come to an agreement with America, Britain and France. The blockade was removed on May 12, 1949 after eleven months of restriction.
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