Berlin Blockade
Cold War siege
The Berlin Blockade was the Soviet Union's 1948–1949 closure of land and water routes into West Berlin, attempting to force Western powers out of the divided city.
The Western Allies responded with the Berlin Airlift, supplying the city by air for nearly a year until the Soviets lifted the blockade.
The episode became an early flashpoint of the Cold War.
Military DC-3 variant
- air corridorDesignated aviation route
- cargo planesAircraft designed for freight
- coalCombustible sedimentary rock
- flourMilled grain powder
tonnage · round-the-clock · pilots · airbridge · humanitarian · logistics · Western Allies · landing
Cold War's political divide
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- Truman DoctrinePolicy opposing communist expansion
- Marshall PlanPostwar American economic assistance
Stalin · East Germany · West Germany · NATO · communism · capitalism · Allies · superpower
Decisive dangerous moment
- Cold WarProlonged East-West standoff
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- fearEmotional response to threat
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
threat · distrust · suspicion · hostility · alarm · nuclear · escalation · propaganda
Mutual obstruction preventing progress
- impasseSituation without resolution
- confrontationDirect hostile encounter
- brinkmanshipPushing conflicts to disaster's threshold
- deadlockMutual blocking, no progress
showdown · encirclement · siege · face-off · escalation · pressure · deterrence · provocation
Discussion seeking mutual accord
- diplomacyNegotiation between nations
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- liftingRaising something heavy
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
agreement · dialogue · de-escalation · détente · reopening
C-47
Military DC-3 variant
- air corridorDesignated aviation route
- cargo planesAircraft designed for freight
- coalCombustible sedimentary rock
flour · tonnage · round-the-clock · pilots · airbridge · humanitarian · logistics · Western Allies · landing · provisions
Iron Curtain
Cold War's political divide
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- Truman DoctrinePolicy opposing communist expansion
Marshall Plan · Stalin · East Germany · West Germany · NATO · communism · capitalism · Allies · superpower · ideological
crisis
Decisive dangerous moment
- Cold WarProlonged East-West standoff
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- fearEmotional response to threat
uncertainty · threat · distrust · suspicion · hostility · alarm · nuclear · escalation · propaganda · paranoia
stalemate
Mutual obstruction preventing progress
- impasseSituation without resolution
- confrontationDirect hostile encounter
- brinkmanshipPushing conflicts to disaster's threshold
deadlock · showdown · encirclement · siege · face-off · escalation · pressure · deterrence · provocation · ultimatum
negotiation
Discussion seeking mutual accord
- diplomacyNegotiation between nations
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- liftingRaising something heavy
compromise · agreement · dialogue · de-escalation · détente · reopening
- Cold WarIron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis, Eastern Bloc
- 1948Marshall Plan, London Olympics, NHS, LP record
- Berlin historyBrandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, divided city, reunification, fall of the wall
- Cold War ConflictsKorean War, Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, Prague Spring
- Cold War OriginsIron Curtain, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, containment policy, Soviet expansion
- Postwar EuropeMarshall Plan, Iron Curtain, iron curtain, NATO, Cold War
Berlin BlockadeBerlin Airlift
Allied supply mission, 1948
open borders · free passage · fall of the Berlin Wall · German reunification · Marshall Plan
Berlin Blockadeshooting war
Active armed conflict
hot war · Korean War · armed conflict · Vietnam War · World War III
Berlin BlockadeBerlin Airlift
Allied supply mission, 1948
détente · peaceful coexistence · rapprochement · thaw · Helsinki Accords
blocked, blockage, blocks, blockade, blocker, unblock, Berlin, blockers, blockades