The Berlin Blockade and NATO 1948–1949

The Berlin Blockade of 1948–1949 was the first major crisis of the Cold War — the point at which the superpowers came closest to direct military confrontation in the early post-war period. Its resolution through the Berlin Airlift demonstrated both the limits of Soviet coercion and the determination of the Western powers to defend their position. The creation of NATO formalised the division of Europe into two hostile blocs. The key question is: did the Berlin Crisis make the Cold War permanent, or was it already inevitable?

Key Definition: The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was the Soviet Union's attempt to force the Western Allies out of West Berlin by blocking all road, rail, and canal access to the city. The Western response — the Berlin Airlift — supplied the city entirely by air for nearly eleven months.

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The German Question

Germany lay at the heart of the Cold War. Its future — united or divided, neutral or aligned — was the most contentious issue between the superpowers. By 1948, the wartime agreement to administer Germany jointly had collapsed.

The Road to Division