Berlin Blockade Lifted: Cold War Tensions Ease
The Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade on May 12, 1949, after 318 days. Stalin had sealed all road, rail, and canal access to West Berlin on June 24, 1948, attempting to force the Western Allies to abandon the city or their plan to create a West German state. The Western response, the Berlin Airlift, delivered 2.3 million tons of supplies via 278,228 flights, at one point landing an aircraft every 30 seconds at Tempelhof Airport. The airlift demonstrated Western resolve and humiliated the Soviet Union, which lifted the blockade without achieving any of its objectives. The crisis accelerated the formation of NATO, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the division of Berlin into Western and Soviet sectors that lasted until 1989.
May 12, 1949
77 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Soviet Union
Wikipedia
Berlin Airlift
Wikipedia
Berlin Blockade
Wikipedia
Cold War
Wikipedia
Soviet Union
Wikipedia
Berlin Blockade
Wikipedia
Crisis del Sputnik
Wikipedia
Intercontinental ballistic missile
Wikipedia
NORAD
Wikipedia
Jessup-Malik-Abkommen
Wikipedia
Batalla de Jaljin Gol
Wikipedia
Japan
Wikipedia
Manchukuo
Wikipedia
Mongolia
Wikipedia
World War II
Wikipedia
Korea
Wikipedia
تاكاشي كوندو
Wikipedia
What Else Happened on May 12
Stephen became pope in 254 and immediately decided that baptisms performed by heretics still counted. The Novatianists—rigorists who believed lapsed Christians …
Pope Stephen I ascended to the papacy, inheriting a church deeply fractured by debates over whether to readmit Christians who had renounced their faith during R…
Diocletian's executioner faced a kid who'd barely hit puberty. Fourteen-year-old Pancras refused to burn incense to Roman gods—a crime punishable by death durin…
Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai to abdicate, shattering the Tang Dynasty's three-century grip on China and plunging the realm into the chaotic Five Dynasties period. …
Ahmad ibn Fadlan reached the Volga Bulgars, completing a grueling diplomatic mission from Baghdad to the northern frontier. His detailed journals provided the f…
Richard I married Berengaria of Navarre in a chapel on Cyprus—an island he'd just conquered on his way to the Crusades. She became England's queen on May 12, 11…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.