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Berlin blockade: Quick Facts

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Facts

Date June 24, 1948 - May 12, 1949
Location Berlin • Germany
Participants France • Soviet Union • United Kingdom • United States
Context Cold War

Did You Know?

  • Western Allies provided West Berlin with over 1.9 million tons of supplies.
  • At least every 45 seconds, Allied aircraft would land in West Berlin with supplies.
  • The Soviet Union unsuccessfully attempted to sabotage airlift attempts by shining searchlights at night to blind pilots.
  • The Allies delivered as much as 6,000 tons of supplies each day.

Photos and Videos

Berlin blockade and airlift
Map of Berlin from 1949 to 1990 showing the city divided into sectors controlled by France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. West Berlin is split into French, British, and American sectors, while East Berlin is under Soviet control. The map also indicates the areas of West and East Berlin and their respective sizes, with surrounding East Germany shown.
Berlin Airlift: How “Candy Bombers” Saved West Berlin
Understanding the Berlin blockade and airlift
Impact of the deutsche mark in Germany
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics

Timeline

President Harry S. Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill stand side by side on the steps of the Little White House during the Potsdam Conference.
Iron Curtain speech
March 5, 1946
Harry Truman's presidency: World War II, the atomic bomb, and the Cold War
Truman Doctrine
March 12, 1947
George C. Marshall
Marshall Plan
April 1948 - December 1951
Berlin blockade and airlift
Berlin blockade
June 24, 1948 - May 12, 1949
Map of Europe in 1960 during the Cold War, showing countries color-coded by political alignment: NATO members in green across Western Europe, Warsaw Pact countries in orange in Eastern Europe, and non-aligned nations in beige. The Soviet Union and its allies are grouped to the east, while Western European countries are aligned with the United States.
Warsaw Pact
May 14, 1955 - July 1, 1991
Francis Gary Powers
U-2 Incident
May 5, 1960 - May 17, 1960
Black-and-white photo of armed soldiers escorting captured men with hands bound in front, during the Bay of Pigs invasion, 1961. Other soldiers follow in the background.
Bay of Pigs invasion
April 17, 1961
The Brandenburg Gate is seen through coils of barbed wire, with a sign reading in German that you are leaving West Berlin, during the early Berlin Wall era, circa 1962.
Berlin crisis of 1961
August 1961
Kennedy announces U.S. naval blockade of Cuba
Cuban missile crisis
October 22, 1962 - November 20, 1962
John F. Kennedy: Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
August 5, 1963
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
1969 - 1979
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Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
October 1973 - February 9, 1989
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Korean Air Lines flight 007
September 1, 1983
Ronald Reagan (left) and Mikhail Gorbachev, 1986
Reykjavík summit of 1986
October 11, 1986 - October 12, 1986
Boris Yeltsin and the collapse of the Soviet Union
collapse of the Soviet Union
August 18, 1991 - December 31, 1991

Key People

Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
president of United States
Gen. Lucius D. Clay, 1947
Lucius D. Clay
American general
Ernst Reuter, 1951
Ernst Reuter
German politician

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