The Blockade Breakers The Berlin Airlift

Product Description

in 24 June 1948 the Soviet Union abruptly closed all land & water access to the Western Sectors of Berlin. Over 2 million civilians, dependent on the surrounding territory & the West for food, fuel, & other basic goods, were suddenly cut off from all necessities of life. The Western Allies had the option of either withdrawing their garrisons & allowing the Soviet Union to take control of the entire city, or of trying to supply the city by air. Never before in history had 2 million people been supplied exclusively by air. None of the senior military commanders believed it could be done. But the political leadership in London & Washington insisted that it must be done. A withdrawal from Berlin would discredit the West at a critical moment in history, when the Soviet Union was expanding aggressively across Europe. Worse, it would endanger the political stability & economic recovery of all of Europe. So one of the largest & most ambitious humanitarian efforts in history was set in motion. It began without the West really knowing what the Berliners needed in order to survive