The Miracle That Saved West Berlin

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The Miracle that saved West Berlin After World War II, war torn Germany was divided into several separate sectors. Each sector was individually controlled by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the former Soviet Union, respectively. Even though the capitol Berlin was located in the Soviet sector, it was also divided into two parts. These parts were controlled by the United States and the Soviets. In June of 1948, the Soviets tried to gain control of the western sector of Berlin by cutting off all supply routes leading into the U.S. controlled part of the city. This created the need for a logistical miracle to support the citizens of West Berlin. This miracle came to be known as the Berlin Air Bridge, which prevented the sector from falling under control of the Soviets. The Berlin Air Bridge became one of the biggest humanitarian missions in history and one of the first acts of the Cold War. Since the two million citizens of Berlin were unable to produce much of their own raw materials such as milk, bread, eggs, and the needed coal could no longer be provided by road or rail road, it was decided to have the materials brought in by plane. It was concluded that roughly 5,000 tons of goods had to be delivered every day to sustain the citizens of Berlin during the summer months. However, during the winter months an additional 6000 tons of coal a day, was needed to heat the homes in Berlin. One of the biggest challenges was to find enough cargo aircraft to provide the means to carry as much as possible in one trip. The post war demobilizing Air Force only had a small amount of planes available in Europe, and these planes could only carry approximately 400 tons of supplies a day. However, with the support of the Royal Air Force (RAF), the amount transported could be increased to roughly 700 tons a day. The request for more planes was sent up to Allied
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