At the end of WWII, each of the four major nations that had won the war took control over sections of Germany and of the capital city of Berlin as well.  Eventually there were different currencies from the different occupiers floating around in the different “zones” and it led to the split.  This area would be know as west Germany, an ally to the US, French, and British.  This area was far into a dangerous area that the Soviets had control over, bordering Soviet East Germany.  In response to the split of Germany, the Soviets blockaded the area, blocking all supply lines to West Germany.  They blocked road and rail traffic completely.  The only way to get supplies into West Germany, to their allies, was by air.  An 11month air drop of supplies then followed, mainly consisting of food and fuel.

A direct result of this blockade was the creation of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was the first peace time treaty that was militaristic in nature.  Its main purpose was to stop the spread of Communism, and protect America and the European nations whom signed it. The idea was that if Communists took control of one country all the others would join together and fight it back.  Had we not had NATO, the US may have potentially become communist, or worse we might not be here do to the concept of “MAD” (Mutually Assured Destruction).  This ideology was essentially that if the Soviet Union launched its nuclear missiles at the US, we would launch ours right back at them, thus obliterating each other, and potentially the world.