Berlin Blockade

1948-06-24 - 1949-05-12

Soviet blockade of 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949 of the Western Allies' railway, road and canal access to West Berlin, one of the first major crises of the Cold War. The Western Allies answered with the Berlin Airlift, landing more than 200,000 times to deliver over 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and supplies. The USSR lifted the blockade on 12 May 1949; the crisis deepened the East-West division and drew West Germany into NATO's orbit.