When Wings Saved Berlin

Germany is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, an event remembered by relatively few Americans today but one of singular importance in the postwar history of Europe and in the shaping of U.S. foreign policy.

The airlift was hastily launched after the Soviet Union cut all road, rail and canal traffic to the American, British and French sectors of Berlin in June 1948. Moscow’s tactical aim was to discredit the Allies, especially the United States, on whom 2.25 million Berliners depended for the necessities of life. The Russians had three major objectives: Chase the Allies out of Berlin, which lay deep within the Soviet zone of occupation; force them to abandon plans to create a West German government, something that had become inevitable once it was clear the Soviets had no interest in allowing a single, democratic Germany to reemerge, and try to induce the Europeans to opt for neutrality in the contest between Washington and Moscow.

What Josef Stalin got instead was a stunning diplomatic setback, the emergence within a short time of a new military alliance to contain Soviet expansionism and a bolstered U.S. determination to run risks in defense of its interests.

The Soviet blockade of Berlin lasted for nearly 11 months, ending in May 1949. The airlift that broke the blockade continued until Sept. 30, 1949, as supplies were stockpiled against a possible future effort to isolate the city. The first recommendation from the American commander in Germany, Gen. Lucius D. Clay, was to send troops and tanks to break through the Soviet roadblocks. But a challenge on the ground would have found Western forces seriously outmanned and could have provoked a new war. President Harry S. Truman had earlier proclaimed--in the “Truman Doctrine”--U.S. readiness to help free peoples resist aggression, had approved the Marshall Plan for reconstruction in Europe and had set in motion the initiative for collective defense that would produce NATO. Now he gave the order for Berlin to be resupplied from the sky.

Two air corridors originating in the U.S. and British zones of occupied Germany would be the conduit. Berlin needed a minimum 4,000 tons of supplies a day. In short order that goal was surpassed. In the busiest 24 hours of the airlift, April 15-16, 1949, 12,940 tons of cargo were flown into Berlin. Overall, U.S. planes flew 189,963 missions, the British 87,841, the French 424. Using aircraft that carried far smaller loads than today’s transports, the Allies moved 2,326,406 tons of cargo into the city, much of it coal. Air crews also dropped 23 tons of candy by tiny parachutes to Berlin’s children.

The Berlin Airlift, as described by historian Louis J. Halle, was a “spectacular undertaking,” one invested “with an aura of heroic splendor.” In the words of another historian, it was “a triumph for power and good sense.” It was not cost-free; 31 American and 39 British airmen died keeping the lifeline open. But the decision to supply Berlin was absolutely essential to maintaining Europe’s security.

Had the United States abandoned Berlin, European confidence in U.S. political and military credibility would have plummeted. Had all of Berlin passed under Soviet control in 1948, Western Europe might indeed have opted for neutralism and sought the best deal it could get from Moscow. The airlift was an early and vital victory in the Cold War, gained without a shot being fired. Forty years after the last airlift flight, the wall that divided Berlin fell. There is a direct line between the decision to stand firm in Berlin in 1948 and the ultimate collapse of communism. For that reason the airlift and all involved in it deserve to be honored.