The Berlin Airlift and the Making of the Cold War

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For eleven months in 1948-1949, cargo aircraft from the western Allies executed a remarkable peacetime military operation: delivering supplies to Berlin during a Soviet blockade. By spring 1949, the Berlin Airlift, initially deemed unlikely to succeed, demonstrated to the Soviets that their strategy regarding Berlin was fundamentally flawed. The city emerged as a symbol of the deepening division of Europe into rival blocs in the Cold War. This largely improvised military initiative had a significant impact on the post-World War II landscape. This work unites historians and political scientists to examine the origins, progression, and repercussions of the Berlin Airlift after seventy years. Experts discuss not only the logistics of the Airlift but also the broader geopolitical competition and Berlin's role in a divided Central Europe. The Airlift was part of a series of pivotal decisions and events that shaped the Cold War on a global scale, marking a crucial moment in Germany's recovery and rebuilding post-1945. The book provides new insights into the Airlift's legacies and lessons within both theoretical and historical frameworks.