In June 1948, the Soviet Union completely blocked the communication of West Berlin with other parts of the city by water and land. The United States and Great Britain supplied the city with more than two million civilians with food for almost eleven months. This humanitarian operation was called "air bridge".
"Small" blockade of Berlin
The formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, which began to be prepared after the London meeting of the six powers, was considered by the Soviet Union as an open violation of the terms of the Potsdam agreement. In response to the conference, the Soviet military command in Germany issued an order to temporarily close the borders along the Soviet demarcation line. Then the Western states were forced to organize the supply of their garrisons in Berlin by air. Subsequently, this episode was called the "small" blockade. At that time, no one knew what difficulties they would face in the future.
Prerequisites for border closures
In the spring of 1948, the USSR put forward a demand to exposeI will search all trains that go to Berlin from the western zones of occupation. Subsequently, road communication with West Berlin was terminated, and after some time, river and railway communications ceased. Repair work was first cited as the reason, then alleged technical problems.
Soviet historians claimed that the reason for the active response was the monetary reform carried out in the western sectors of Germany. To prevent the influx of Reichsmarks, a currency reform was also initiated in the Soviet zone. In response, the Western states introduced the German mark into circulation. So, the reason that led to the blockade of Berlin was the uncoordinated actions of former comrades-in-arms.
Siege of West Berlin
On the night of June 23-24, 1948, the supply of electricity to the western districts of the German capital was cut off. In the early morning, road, rail and water traffic between the western and eastern parts of Berlin stopped. At that time, almost 2.2 million people lived in the western sectors of the city, who were completely dependent on external supplies of food and other material benefits.
Western governments were not ready for a sudden blockade of the city by the USSR and even considered the possibility of surrendering Berlin to the authorities of the Soviet Union and withdrawing their troops from the zone of occupation.
The head of the military administration of the US occupation zone, Lucius D. Clay, advocated the continued presence of allied troops in the city. He offered to break the blockade with tanks, but the head of the United StatesHarry Truman did not support this solution to the problem, believing that such an approach could only provoke aggression and become the beginning of a new armed confrontation in Europe.
Air Corridor
Air traffic was determined by a special agreement that provided for the exclusive use of Western states by an air corridor 32 km wide. The decision to organize an air supply route was made by the commander of the US Air Force. At the time, the position was held by Curty Lemay, who had previously planned and carried out massive bombing raids on Japanese cities.
William H. Tanner was also involved in the operation, who at one time was organizing the Hump air corridor to supply Chai Kai-shek troops in the Himalayas. He also led the organization of the air bridge in Berlin.
During negotiations with the UK, it turned out that the country had already begun supplying its troops by air. The Allied government reacted positively to the further deployment of appropriate measures. After the "small" blockade, the British made calculations in case of another border closure. The training showed that it is possible to supply not only our own troops, but also the civilian population.
Based on this information, Lucius D. Clay decided to launch supplies via an air bridge to ensure the supply of food to the population of Berlin, which was in the zone of the blockade of the USSR.
Launch of the air route
The first flight took place on the evening of 23June. The transport plane loaded with potatoes was piloted by American pilot Jack O. Bennett. The decree on the creation of the Berlin air bridge was officially issued on June 25, and on the 26th, the first US plane landed at the local airport, which laid the foundation for the humanitarian operation Proviant. The British operation started two days later.
Optimization of work
It soon became clear that the existing system, including runways and aircraft, maintenance, route planning and unloading, was unable to cope with the necessary increase in traffic. Initially, it was planned that the volume of daily deliveries should be 750 tons, but already a month after the start of the humanitarian operation, more than 2,000 tons of cargo were delivered to Berlin daily. In addition to food, it was necessary to transport coal, medicines, gasoline and other goods necessary for life support.
New air bridges in Germany make it possible to increase freight traffic. Planes arrived in Berlin from Hamburg or Frankfurt am Main, and returned to Hannover. In the air corridor, the planes occupied five "floors". Each pilot could only make one landing attempt. In case of failure, the plane, along with all the cargo, was sent back. Under this system, planes in the western part of Berlin landed every three minutes, and stayed on the ground for only 30 minutes (instead of the initial 75).
In ensuring the operation of the air bridge in Germany, not only Americans took part, but also pilots from the NewZealand, Australia, Canada and South Africa. France did not participate in the humanitarian operation, because the internal forces were engaged in an armed confrontation in Indochina. But the country agreed to the construction of an airport in its sector, which was completed in a record 90 days. To do this, the French had to blow up the mast of the radio station, which was in the possession of the USSR administration, which led to complications in relations.
Air bridge closing
The blockade of Berlin ended on May 12, 1949. The supply of food to the city by land and waterways was finally restored, road, rail, and air cushion transportation over the river bridge became possible again.
During the blockade, 2.34 million tons of cargo was transported to the western part of the city (1.78 million - by US forces). Only the most necessary consumer goods were delivered. Historians admit that the supply of the population at that time was even worse than during the war. Due to the lack of medicines, poor nutrition, insufficient fuel supply, mortality and infectious diseases have risen sharply.
The events of those years are reminiscent of the monument on the square near Tempelhof Airport, erected in 1951. Later, similar monuments were erected at the military airfield in Celle and at Frankfurt Airport.
