The Berlin Blockade

[Holly]

Today in history: 24 June 1948, the Soviets severed land and water communications between the non-Soviet zones and Berlin and the following day, the Communists stopped supplying food to the civilian population in the non-Soviet sectors of Berlin.
This resulted in the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin.
By the spring of 1949, the effort was clearly succeeding and, by April, the airlift was delivering more cargo than had previously been transported into the city by rail. The success of the Berlin Airlift brought humiliation to the Soviets who had refused to believe it could make a difference. The blockade was lifted in May 1949 and resulted in the creation of two separate German states.

http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j480/rogerduke1/BerlinAirlift1.jpg

[Griska]

Stalins reason for the blockade, as far as I know, is still unclear.

He may have been attempting to secure the whole of Berlin or to slow the creation of a West German State.

One thing is clear: he didn't dare shoot down the supply planes.
Apparently he took note of Dresden's fate without the use of atomic weapons and worried what the West would do if their planes were attacked.

[homer]

Yes altho I was v young at the time, I remember my parents listening to the news on this blockade each evening.

Dramatic time. Fears that WW3 about to break out,

Breaking the blockade by flying in everything - even coal..