## What the Airlift Proved
The Berlin Airlift ended without the confrontation that many Western policymakers had feared at its outset. The Soviet Union lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949, without military engagement and without achieving its objective. West Berlin remained in Western hands, and the Western powers continued to administer their sectors.
The airlift proved several things simultaneously. It demonstrated that an air supply operation could sustain a large civilian population, something military planners had doubted. It demonstrated that the United States and Britain were willing to absorb significant cost and risk to maintain their position in Berlin. It demonstrated that the Soviet Union, faced with a Western response that was effective but non-military, was unwilling to escalate to direct confrontation.
The costs were real. At least 78 people died in airlift-related accidents. The figure varies slightly by source; the Allied Museum in Berlin records 78 names on its memorial. American aircraft completed over 189,000 flights, British aircraft contributed substantially, and the total cost to the United States and Britain ran into hundreds of millions of dollars. The operation required an enormous diversion of transport aircraft and personnel from other duties.
The benefits were also real. West Berlin survived. Its population, which had voted in city elections in 1948 against the pressure of Soviet-supported candidates, was given the material means to maintain its choice. The NATO alliance, formed in April 1949 during the airlift’s final weeks, gained credibility from the demonstration that the Western powers would act to defend their commitments.