The Berlin Airlift - Important Chapter in the Cold War

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.
www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/
Books used for this video and recommended to read:
• Blockade Breakers - Helen Schrader [amzn.to/3YFZ6di]
• The Berlin Airlift: The Relief Operation that Defined the Cold War - Barry Turner [amzn.to/425bOoU]
• 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, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• 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, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• Douglas C-54 Skymaster dropping candy - By USAF - National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 050426-F-1234P-012, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• Wikipedia.org
• Avro York Hunting Clan. By RuthAS - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• Avro York Luton. By RuthAS - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• Airlift corridors - Airforce Historical Support Division - www.afhistory.af.mil/News/Pho...
• Gail Halvorsen (1983) - By Noop1958 - own work (transferred from de:File:Gail Halvorsen ca. 1983.jpg), GPLv3, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Video footage:
The US National Archives

[@annehersey9895]

I have seen some great documentaries on the Airlift but I learned much more in your 15 minutes than in most 1 hour vids. Thanks so much for the great info!

[@Hongaars1969]

Another superb presentation. I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered such a detailed, well researched and clearly documented account of the Berlin blockade. HansBezemer provides additional insights. Thank you…by far the best English medium YT channel covering the history of the DDR

[@evelk5233]

You cover everything. Comprehensive. I have a Masters in German History--you ask the right questions.

[@EElgar1857]

Well done! I'm a long-time supporter of the Berlin Airlift Hist. Foundation, and I find it sad that younger people don't seem to remember the Airlift, and its importance.

[@TheMotz55]

The East German national anthem "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" boasted the GDR's rise from the ruins. Actually, it was West Germany that rose from the ruins. The success of the Berlin Airlift was a catalyst for Germans, a defeated and humiliated enemy, to ally themselves with the West. In doing so, they transformed their country (later a united Germany) to become a model of democracy, prosperity and social fairness. The "candy bombers" in a sense showed Berliners a better way forward...a transformation that is truly remarkable in human history.

[@johnphillips3475]

These videos really are excellent. I thought I knew quite a lot about East Germany, but these videos have taught me so much. Fascinating stuff, thank you so much for making them.

[@1diode]

The whole channel is very interesting. The research and sense of inside story is captivating.

[@MichaelAMartin777]

Thank you for another good video. Was wondering if you could do a video on when and how the Stasi was created. Thank you.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

It seems, you could read my mind. I was already working on it. The (first) video on The Stasi is now available.

[@MichaelAMartin777]

@@eastgermanyinvestigated 😀👍🏻

[@michaelbirch8666]

Very much enjoying your channel, and this is another fascinating piece of history. Thank you.

[@RS-rj5sh]

The RAAF and RNZAF also took part in this operation, as British Commonwealth allies.

[@ottoen1]

Great channel you have here. I'm looking forward to more interesting videos in the future. Keep up the good work. Greetings from Norway.

[@kidmohair8151]

I am now, according to my standards, bingeing. 3 episodes in a row.

[@kylecorey88]

I'd be interested in a video about the "raf" red army faction and how long they lasted after the reunification

[@DoubleMrE]

Great job…thanks! -I only wish it was longer. 😉 👍 ✌️

[@mathisnotforthefaintofheart]

The Berlin Blockade wasn't long enough?

[@kevinleonard1375]

Excellent video, I thought I knew the details of the Berlin Airlift, but you provided so many details I was unaware and presented a better picture of the struggle

[@poissonpuerile8897]

By far the best video on the airlift that I've ever seen! Bravo!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@paulwebbiweb]

An excellent explanation as usual and the graphics and editing are of a high standard, too.

[@mathisnotforthefaintofheart]

The complexity of providing West Berlin with essential needs was not something to be underestimated. For comparison: By size and population, West Berlin was larger than any other West German city.

[@HansBezemer]

Thanks for this! I got a few additional facts you might or might not have known: - The DM for Westberlin initially had a handstamped "B" on it; - In the late eighties the "Berliner Zeitung" (if I remember correctly) featured an article denying the "hunger" the Westberliners had experienced, saying there was plenty of food available in East Berlin at the time - and of course, it was the Wests fault; - There were still mountains of coal stored in Westberlin in the early eighties, simply withering away; - An entire power plant was airlifted in small pieces; - After the blockade the Western Allies and the Westberlin City Council decided to be self-sufficient in terms of electricity generation capacity, to be independent of Eastern supplies and not to be held to ransom by the eastern authorities. On 1 December 1949 the new power station West (German: Kraftwerk West, in 1953 renamed after the former Governing Mayor of Westberlin into Kraftwerk Reuter West) went online and West Berlin's electricity board declared independence from Eastern supplies. However, for a time Eastern electricity continued to be supplied albeit intermittently. Supply was interrupted from 1 July until the end of 1950 and then started again until 4 March 1952, when the East finally switched it off. From then on Westberlin turned into an 'electricity island' within a pan-European electricity grid that had developed from the 1920s, because electricity transfers between East and West Germany never fully ceased (can't find a second source on this); - Planes were not only returned to West Germany when they had trouble, no - it was much more strict. Usually, planes waiting had to "stack" - circling at different altitudes. This was completely abandoned. If a plane could not land directly - for whatever reason - it had to return through the central corridor without delay; - The Soviets constantly harassed the pilots during the operation. Between 10 August 1948 and 15 August 1949, there were 733 incidents of harassment of airlift planes in the corridors. Acts of soviet pilots buzzing, close flying, shooting near, not at airlift planes were common. I know you have to choose what to include and what not, but I thought you and your subscribers may find it interesting nonetheless. Keep up the good work!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks for the extra information, Hans. To anyone who wants to know more: I've mentioned the books used as a source for this video in the description.

[@jamesthomas6659]

There some instances of Soviet fighter aircraft buzzing transport aircraft, but to my knowledge, no crashes occurred.

[@meaninter03]

You left out an interesting tidbit: the allies replanted basically the entirety of the Tiergarten, which had been cut down for heating and cooking fuel. They flew in...200k trees?

[@normannokes9513]

Only one account of the Berlin Airlift mentions RAF Air Commodore Rex Waite the architect of this momentous operation. Using a modest slide he constructed the vast requirements to service Berlin. The US High command swift to claim credit initially rejected the plan butthe determination of Waite fortunately prevailed. The self congratulatory events of the US generals conveniently overlooked the personality who boosted their egos

[@normannokes9513]

50 years on Boris Johnson writing in the Daily Telegraph generated public awareness as his widow Mrs Jessamy Waite appeared at the Berlin ceremony.

[@auburn_and_cordsdude7415]

Nonsense

[@flowersofthefield340]

" People with a negative attitude were flown out ...... "

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

This should occur more frequently😄

[@christopherwelch136]

The French favoured to leave - say no more.

[@rakasin]

🤣🤣

[@francesco245]

*FI_ICKF4CE*

[@francesco245]

*KEYBOARD WARRIOR*

[@francesco245]

*TI_IRD*

[@francesco245]

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@dfirth224]

The Cold War began in Berlin in 1948 and ended in Berlin forty years later with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

[@mathisnotforthefaintofheart]

The Cold War actually started before WW2

[@andrejmucic5003]

@1:02 "In order to stop inflation in the West." Why was there inflation in the West? Please explain this, it is important. I know you will gloss over it. And you did!

[@rosesprog1722]

Because Harry Dexter White of the US finance department happened to also be a Soviet mole. He had secretly provided Stalin with a double of the plates of the US backed occupation currency, meant to serve as a temporary measure until Germany produced her own. Of course the Soviets went on a wild printing spree, which shortened that currency's useful life, caused a black market explosion, a devastating inflation and cost the US taxpayer over $250Million. This is all detailed on his wiki page.

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

@@rosesprog1722 Russians. Inherent sons of B... as always.

[@1joshjosh1]

I'm supposed to be cleaning my house right now but I'm listening to this channel instead

[@andrejmucic5003]

Inflation, money printing, was controlled by the occupying powers, USA, in the West. SO if there was inflation in the West, the USA was responsible for this inflation. Your thoughts? Or was Stalin responsible for West German monetary policy? Your thoughts?

[@rosesprog1722]

Both.

[@andrejmucic5003]

The reason for the Blockade, from the GDR perspective, you do not address.

[@kasugaryuichi9767]

Starving West Berliners because they didn't want to be oppressed was the only reason that soviet puppet wanted the blockade.

[@RS-rj5sh]

To force the western allies out of West Berlin, pretty simple

[@simonstergaard]

Are you a chemist... i see the "rubber bible" on your shelf. and atkins physical chmistry with the solution manual besides it

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Yes, well spotted.

[@andrejmucic5003]

These actions were made by the GDR, in conference with Moscow.

[@francesco245]

*4:16** It would help if you could write down on screen the name of the operation (for example): with your less than perfect English accent, I'm afraid we have no clue what the name of the operation is...*

[@michaelbirch8666]

Operation Vittles. I find the presenter's accent and use of English both excellent and easy to understand.

[@andrejmucic5003]

And then the Jelly Donut gets assassinated!

[@Narses_the_aremnian]

We shouldn't have done this

[@greattobeadub]

Sounds just like Gaza in 2023, without the airlift and with the city being bombed daily.

[@klaas1928]

Unbelievable how sneaky this tactic is, to start a discussion about a completely unrelated matter 😂.

[@johannesbols57]

After hearing France's option for leaving Germany when the Russians closed Berlin, I'm reminded of a witticism a historian told me: "For sale, French rifles. Never been fired. Only dropped once."

[@francesco245]

*3:39** Until the conflict IS solved (not "will be" solved).*

[@andrejmucic5003]

I am a Jelly Donut!

[@stananders474]

Why feed these unrepentant Nazis? The victors were starving at this time. My parents were on rations and very hungry all the time. Feeding these Nazis was an insult to our hungry servicemen and our children.

[@krzysiekmiazga3593]

Erst kommt das Essen, dann die Moral , history isnt black and white, and I am telling you that from a perspective of a person which grandfathers perished in concentration camp, and the family was prosecuted by the Germans throughout the war. Episodes like this helped shape German post war identify, focusing more on integration with other European nations, rather than getting at one another's throat like before. This very moments were somewhat of a start of concepts like Coalition of Coal and Steel, and then European Union. Furthermore I think the despair and humiliation that Germany suffered both in the cities and in the country, was enough. Echoes of their guilt and their punishment can still be seen pretty clearly even today. I think Germany is one of not many countries that recognized their mistakes and to this day try to compensate for it. Also I am not so sure that enforcing hunger and isolation on children, women and people generally unfit to serve can be described as fair. Since major percentage of the able bodied men were still POWs, or were employed in rebuilding the country during 1948. I would also like to add that allies didn't do what they did out of their good hearts only, there was some political interest in keeping the west Berlin.

[@RS-rj5sh]

Because handing West Berlin to the Soviets wasn't an option.

[@rosesprog1722]

There comes a time when saying nothing becomes a crime in itself, the dreadful Berlin airlift is such a time for me. This may not be proper for your channel, if so please remove this comment. The allies didn't miss a chance to publicize this one, the capitalist saviors versus the evil communists, what a great mediatic coup, it was everywhere. Only problem, in their own occupation zones the population was starving to death, typical Yankee disinformation. The German Central Administration of Health reported the generalized effects of malnutrition: "The people hunger…They are emaciated to the bone. Their clothes hang loose on their bodies, the lower extremities are like the bones of a skeleton, their hands shake as though with palsy, the muscles of the arms are withered, the skin lies in folds, and is without elasticity, the joints spring out as though broken. The weight of the women of average height and build has fallen way below 110 pounds. Often women of child-bearing age weigh no more than 65 pounds. The number of still-born children is approaching the number of those born alive, and an increasing proportion of these die within a few days. Even if they come into the world of normal weight, they start immediately to lose weight and die shortly. Very often the mothers cannot stand the loss of blood in childbirth and perish but among those who survive, many will lose their minds watching their newborn slowly starve and die. In the US, UK and French zones, infant mortality has reached the horrifying height of 90%." Sadly, this was not an accident, it was all part of a plan called JCS 1067. Fortunately it was abandoned in 1949 but for many, it was too late, much too late.

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

Only a communist would consider the airlift "dreadful".

[@rosesprog1722]

@@AlfaGiuliaQV I'm no communist, come on, all I'm saying is that while they were feeding Berlin with plenty of media coverage, the Germans in their own zone of occupation were starving to death, Eisenhower had even prohibited the Red Cross from delivering help packages, THAT was not publicized, of course. The allies used their good deed as anti Soviet propaganda, that doesn't mean I agree with what the Soviets did, I don't and in fact, I'm perfectly aware of the insanity of Stalin and the brutality of his armies.

[@RS-rj5sh]

@@rosesprog1722 What you've described was actually rather common is most of devestated Europe in the first years after WW2, it wasn't specific to Germany.

[@rosesprog1722]

@@RS-rj5sh I know, it wasn't easy anywhere but a whole country intentionally starved to death after the end of the war, there was only one. Herbert Hoover, ex US president organized food relief for Europe, it is said he saved about 800,000 lives in every country in Europe... except Germany, he had to fight the French and the British for months before they allowed him to send some food but only for the children and Eisenhower wouldn't allow the Red Cross to deliver help packages. AND of course, the civilians are always the ones who pay for crimes they had nothing to do with. The allied occupation forces in Germany did terrible things and to this day, hardly anyone knows about it. If you plan on telling me that they deserved it don't bother, I've heard it before and it would put you in the "to be interned" category.

[@francesco245]

*4:34** If the Soviets STARTED to shoot down (not "would start to shoot")!* *Your lackadaisical approach to basic English grammar is getting annoying and greatly detracts from the contents of your videos...*

[@mathisnotforthefaintofheart]

He is Dutch. The Dutch "equivalent" of WOULD is used in a slight different context than in English. He didn't proofread in terms of grammar, I admit.

[@Kievskaya-Rus]

You are so mean 🤡

[@jeffreyperretti4414]

The sack jeeps to feed the flight crews , we’re maned by pretty German girls in Berlin. To keep Ty crew next to their planes, try that these days.