Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Berlin Airlift: The History and Legacy of the First Major Crisis of the Cold War
    Unavailable
    The Berlin Airlift: The History and Legacy of the First Major Crisis of the Cold War
    Unavailable
    The Berlin Airlift: The History and Legacy of the First Major Crisis of the Cold War
    Audiobook1 hour

    The Berlin Airlift: The History and Legacy of the First Major Crisis of the Cold War

    Written by Charles River Editors

    Narrated by Colin Fluxman

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In the wake of World War II, the European continent was devastated, and the conflict left the Soviet Union and the United States as uncontested superpowers. This ushered in over 45 years of the Cold War, and a political alignment of Western democracies against the Communist Soviet bloc that produced conflicts pitting allies on each sides fighting, even as the American and Soviet militaries never engaged each other. Though it never got “hot” between the two superpowers, the Cold War was a tense era until the dissolution of the USSR, and nothing symbolized the split more than the division of Berlin. Berlin had been a flashpoint even before World War II ended, and the city was occupied by the different Allies even as the close of the war turned them into adversaries.

    If anyone wondered whether the Cold War would dominate geopolitics, any hopes that it wouldn’t were dashed by the Soviets’ blockade of West Berlin in April 1948, ostensibly to protest the currency being used in West Berlin but unquestionably aiming to extend their control over Germany’s capital. By cutting off all access via roads, rail, and water, the Soviets hoped to force the Allies out, and at the same time, Stalin’s action would force a tense showdown that would test their mettle.

    In response to the blockade, the British, Americans, Canadians, and other Allies had no choice but to either acquiesce or break the blockade by air, hoping (correctly) that the Soviets wouldn’t dare shoot down planes being used strictly for civilian purposes. Over the course of the next year, over 200,000 flights were made to bring millions of tons of crucial supplies to West Berlin, with the Allies maintaining a pace of landing a plane in West Berlin every 30 seconds at the height of the Airlift.

    As the success of the Berlin Airlift became clear, the Soviets realized the blockade was ineffective, and both sides were able to save face by negotiating an end to the blockade in April 1949, with the Soviets ending it officially on May 12. The Airlift would technically continue until September, but for all intents and purposes, the first crisis of the Cold War had come to an end, and most importantly, the confrontation remained “cold.”

    For the next decade, West Berlin remained a haven for highly-educated East Germans who wanted freedom and a better life in the West, and this “brain drain” was threatening the survival of the East German economy. In order to stop this, access to the West through West Berlin had to be cut off, so in August 1961, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev authorized East German leader Walter Ulbricht to begin construction of what would become known as the Berlin Wall. The wall, begun on Sunday August 13, would eventually surround the city, in spite of global condemnation, and the Berlin Wall itself would become the symbol for Communist repression in the Eastern Bloc.

    The Berlin Airlift: The History and Legacy of the First Major Crisis of the Cold War chronicles the history that led to the Soviet blockade and the famous relief efforts undertaken to beat it.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharles River Editors Audio
    Release dateJan 3, 2017
    ISBN9781509431465
    Unavailable
    The Berlin Airlift: The History and Legacy of the First Major Crisis of the Cold War

    More audiobooks from Charles River Editors

    Related to The Berlin Airlift

    Related audiobooks

    Modern History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Building the berlin Wall

      Feb 22, 2024

      Building the berlin Wall
      10 min read

    • Article

      How To Pick A Pathway To Peace In Ukraine?

      May 11, 2022

      All eyes this week were on Moscow, where Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a Victory Day parade on Monday with no Ukraine victory to celebrate. But if America and its Western allies are eventually going to find a way to end the war in Uk

      3 min read

    • Article

      From Friends To Enemies

      Jul 7, 2022

      From Friends To Enemies
      5 min read

    • Article

      Professor Michael Goodman On The Legacy Of The Cold War

      Jul 7, 2022

      For five decades, the Cold War dominated the lives of politicians, military figures, intelligence officers and the general public. The battle – between east and west, between the Soviet Union and the United States, between communism and capitalism –

      2 min read

    • Article

      From Friends To Enemies

      Jul 7, 2022

      From Friends To Enemies
      5 min read

    • Article

      Professor Michael Goodman On The Legacy Of The Cold War

      Jul 7, 2022

      For five decades, the Cold War dominated the lives of politicians, military figures, intelligence officers and the general public. The battle – between east and west, between the Soviet Union and the United States, between communism and capitalism –

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Wall’s lifespan

      Oct 10, 2019

      In accordance with the London Protocols agreed upon by the Allied powers the previous year, Germany and Berlin are each divided into four blocs, each to be overseen by one of the Allied forces. A new pass, valid for 30 days only, is introduced calle

      3 min read

    • Article

      Barriers To Better Lives

      Aug 8, 2021

      The Berlin Wall began as a white line on the ground. Sixty years ago this month, 21-year-old technical draughtsman Hagen Koch plotted and then painted, on cobblestones and asphalt – and, in some places, across green lawn, along park edges and hard up

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Long Game

      May 29, 2022

      The Long Game
      7 min read

    • Article

      Besieged

      Aug 25, 2020

      Besieged
      10 min read

    • Article

      IAIN MacGREGOR

      Oct 10, 2019

      IAIN MacGREGOR
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Balloon Goes Up

      Feb 23, 2023

      AS RUSSIAN MILITARY FAILURE IN THE WEST drives it ever deeper into the arms of the East, how should we understand the situation that confronts the United States, the current hegemonic world power? Is it comparable to the Cold War that developed after

      11 min read

    • Article

      The Balloon Goes Up

      Feb 23, 2023

      AS RUSSIAN MILITARY FAILURE IN THE WEST drives it ever deeper into the arms of the East, how should we understand the situation that confronts the United States, the current hegemonic world power? Is it comparable to the Cold War that developed after

      11 min read

    • Article

      City Under Siege leningrad

      Oct 5, 2023

      City Under Siege leningrad
      6 min read

    • Article

      The War That Nobody Wanted To See Coming

      Mar 25, 2022

      FOR THREE MONTHS everyone argued about whether there would be a war, whether Vladimir Putin was bluffing or serious. Some of the Russia experts who had long told people to take it easy were telling people to get worried. Others, who had long criticis

      20 min read

    • Article

      Poland & Czechoslovakia

      Mar 10, 2023

      In 1795, the once-great kingdom of Poland was partitioned between Russia, Prussia and the Hapsburg Empire. But the idea of Polish nationhood never died and nor did the desire to re-unite the country – an ambition kept alive by occasional revolts and

      8 min read

    • Article

      Cold War Confrontation

      Feb 16, 2023

      Cold War Confrontation
      1 min read

    • Article

      Miracle From The Air

      Apr 25, 2023

      Miracle From The Air
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Lesson of the Great War

      Jul 9, 2018

      The Lesson of the Great War
      5 min read

    • Article

      From Potemkin To Stalin

      Jan 18, 2024

      From Potemkin To Stalin
      3 min read

    • Article

      Key Events

      Oct 7, 2021

      The USA detonates two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending war with Japan. Nuclear weapons change warfare and this event begins an arms race as the USSR seeks to gain the technology themselves. On 24 June 1948 the Soviet Union

      2 min read

    Reviews for The Berlin Airlift

    4.5/5

    4 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words