Western countries, including South Africa, implement an airlift to supply provisions to the inhabitants of the eastern section of Berlin

Date: 28 Jun 1948
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

On 28 June 1948, Soviet forces had cut off all land access to the British, American and French zones of Berlin, a city which was located deep within Soviet-occupied post-World War II Germany. This event was one of the first international crises to occur during the Cold War, which was the competition for power between Western (capitalist) and Eastern bloc (communist) countries post- 1945- a conflict that lasted up until the 1990s. The Soviet aim of the Berlin Blockade, as it became known, was to force Western Allied forces to surrender control of Berlin by cutting off supplies. However, the Allied forces responded by airlifting food and supplies to blocked off areas in the city for the next year, which consisted of over 200,000 flights by the Royal Air Force, United States Air Force and the air forces of Commonwealth countries like South Africa. The Berlin Airlift was considered a triumphant defeat against the Soviet forces, as they had repeatedly claimed that airlift efforts would not work. Due to the undeniable success of the airlift, the blockade was eventually lifted on 11 May 1949.

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How we know this

01Museum, Coldwar., (1961), 'Berlin Blockade', from Cold War Museum, June 23, [online], Available at:www.coldwar.org [Accessed: 17 June 2014]
02June 28, "On this Day: June 28, 1948", from timesonline [online] Available at: timesonline.co.uk [Accessed 18 June 2009]
03Swart, M.J., et al. (eds) (1980) Afrikaanse Kultuuralmanak. Aucklandpark: Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Western countries, including South Africa, implement an airlift to supply provisions to the inhabitants of the eastern section of Berlin. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011714

South African History Online (2011) 'Western countries, including South Africa, implement an airlift to supply provisions to the inhabitants of the eastern section of Berlin', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011714 (Accessed: 22 September 2026).

South African History Online, Western countries, including South Africa, implement an airlift to supply provisions to the inhabitants of the eastern section of Berlin [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011714, (accessed 22 September 2026).

"Western countries, including South Africa, implement an airlift to supply provisions to the inhabitants of the eastern section of Berlin." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011714. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Western countries, including South Africa, implement an airlift to supply provisions to the inhabitants of the eastern section of Berlin." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011714.