People celebrate the blockade's end
Children cheer a US plane during airlift
Berliners watch supply planes
May 12th 1949: Berlin Blockade ends
On this day in 1949, the Soviet Union lifted their blockade of the Allies’ access to West Berlin. The Soviets aimed to force the Allies to give them control over the whole of Berlin - while they currently only controlled the west of the city - by preventing them sending supplies to West Berlin. However, the Allies organised the Berlin Airlift, which famously dropped supplies to the people of Berlin. The airlift was a huge success, and after almost a year the embarrassed Soviets lifted the blockade. Thus two German states were created: West Germany (under Allied control) and East Germany (under Soviet control). The incident is considered one of the first crises of the Cold War, which dominated international relations for the remainder of the twentieth century.
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