In an attempt to take over West Berlin, in June 1948 the Soviets blocked all access routes to that part of the city. This is known as the Berlin Blockade. They hoped that the Western Allies would give up and leave Berlin. The Americans and the British however, set up an airlift to supply the West Berliners with food and fuel. The Berlin Airlift is the biggest airlift in history. This video will tell you all about it.

Tip:
When in Berlin, you can visit the Allied Museum. Next to an Airlift plane (sometimes you can get a view inside), you’ll find a former watch tower and the original Checkpoint Charlie guardhouse.
[ Ссылка ]

Books used for this video and recommended to read:
• Blockade Breakers – Helen Schrader [[ Ссылка ]]
• The Berlin Airlift: The Relief Operation that Defined the Cold War - Barry Turner [[ Ссылка ]]
• Wer waren die Rosinenbomber? – Thomas Biermann (unfortunately only in German)

Photographs and maps:
• Berliner Blockade Luftwege - By Leerlaufprozess - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, [ Ссылка ]
• C-47 Skytrains unloading at Tempelhof Airport - By U.S. Air Force - U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2000.043.012; National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 050426-F-1234P-008, Public Domain, [ Ссылка ]
• Douglas C-54 Skymaster dropping candy - By USAF - National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 050426-F-1234P-012, Public Domain, [ Ссылка ]
• Wikipedia.org
• Avro York Hunting Clan. By RuthAS – Own work, CC BY 3.0, [ Ссылка ]
• Avro York Luton. By RuthAS – Own work, CC BY 3.0, [ Ссылка ]
• Airlift corridors – Airforce Historical Support Division - [ Ссылка ]
• Gail Halvorsen (1983) - By Noop1958 - own work (transferred from de:File:Gail Halvorsen ca. 1983.jpg), GPLv3, [ Ссылка ]

Video footage:
The US National Archives

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