Unsurmountable Problems After WWII

Introduction
When World War II ended in Europe, Russia and the western Allies divided Germany into separate zones of occupation. Since the city was divided into four zones of occupation (French, British, American, and Russian) like Germany itself, Allied ground access to Berlin was restricted to a few routes through Russian-controlled territory. Allied air routes into the city were also restricted to three narrow corridors. Berlin was totally dependent on the ground lifelines for food, fuel, and raw materials. Air transport was used primarily for passenger travel and lightweight cargo. Russia exploited this situation by restricting ground routes through the city of Berlin. The response of the Allied forces was to launch a round-the-clock air campaign, which effectively took the place of ground logistics.
The airlift, which was conducted in an effort to sustain the city of Berlin and avoid all-out war ultimately, proved to be the real start of the Cold War. Additionally, the airlift was an exercise in joint operations between military branches of various countries. Some of the ingenuity, which resulted from the constant operations, is evidence of the ability of groups of people to find solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems.

History
As the former German capital and one of the great cities of Europe, Berlin possessed unusual psychological and political significance. With a civilian population of about 2.5 million people, Berlin had sufficient food supplies for roughly 36 days; coal might stretch for 45 days. General Lucius Clay, the American military governor of Germany, ordered airlift operations on an interim basis to stretch Berlin’s dwindling reserves of food and fuel. In the beginning, the airlift was seen as a s...

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...t Gail Seymour Halvorsen, did more to win the hearts and minds of Germans than anyone could have possible predicted. What started out as a simple act of kindness (one that, incidentally, could have caused Lt. Halvorsen to end up in quite a bit of trouble) snowballed into a secondary campaign endorsed by the senior-ranking military official in Europe, the United States media, and multiple military bases at home and abroad.
Air operations were able to not only maintain, but actually improve upon a ground-based infrastructure in one of the most politically important cities in the world, with the rest of the world watching. The airlift was carried out with such remarkable success, the Soviets ultimately ceased resistance and admitted defeat. On almost every level imaginable, the Berlin Airlift was an overwhelming success for the United States in the Cold War.