A Day That Shook The World: Berlin airlift begins

Monday 07 March 2011 18:06 GMT

(Hulton Archive/Getty)

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On 30 June 1948, the Allied powers began a massive airlift into Berlin, in response to a road and rail blockade started by the Soviets.

Berlin had been divided as part of the settlement after World War II, but it was entirely within Soviet-held territory. The USSR had decided they'd try to drive the Allies out the city by starving it. The Allies' only option was to lift supplies in by air, which they did with such success that they forced Moscow to back down.

Watch original footage from the operation in this British Pathé video, above.

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