Timeline: 1945-1947 | 1948-1949 | 1961-1999

Introduction

Teacher Resources

Timeline

Major Events

Maps

Classroom Activities

Glossary

Cold War I

Citizen Kurchatov

Bay of Pigs

Yalta

Timeline: 1948-1949

1948

February 1948: Communists take control of Czechoslovakia.

March 31, 1948: Soviets stop western trains bound for Berlin.

April 1, 1948: U.S. starts flying supplies to Berlin.

April 5, 1948: Soviet fighter plane collision results in 14 deaths. Considered an "act of war" caused by USSR. People fear this incident will cause World War III.

June 18, 1948: Currency reforms are made in western Germany. Soviets try to prevent the new currency from entering their zone by stopping all travel in and out.

June 22, 1948: U.S. Air Force flies 156 tons of supplies to American garrison in Berlin.

June 24, 1948: Berlin Blockade begins. Russian troops encircle Berlin and stop all land, water, and railroad access.

June 26, 1948: Airlift begins with 32 flights of C-47s carrying 80 tons from Wiesbaden Air Force Base to Berlin.

July 8, 1948: First fatal U.S. aircraft accident of Berlin Airlift results in three deaths.

July 12, 1948: Construction of new runway begins at Tempelhof.

September 1948: Communists riot and take over city hall in Berlin.

September 18, 1948: New record of 7,000 tons of supplies flown to Berlin in one day: 895 flights within 24 hours, despite fog, rain, and high winds.

October 15, 1948: U.S. and Great Britain combine their Airlift task forces.

October 25, 1948: Soviets veto proposal in United Nations to lift the Berlin Blockade.

November 5, 1948: First flights into newly built Tegel Airfield in Berlin.

November 16, 1948: Truman rejects Four Power talks on Berlin until after the blockade is ended.

November 30, 1948: Communists install government in Soviet sector.

December 20, 1948: Operation Santa Claus flies in gifts for 10,000 Berlin children.

1949

January 10, 1949: At 225, the U.S. has the most C-54s involved in the Airlift.

February 1, 1949: Hungary is proclaimed a People's Republic.

February 18, 1949: A total of one million tons of cargo has been flown into Western Berlin via the "aerial bridge."

March 18, 1949: The Allies organize NATO, a 12-nation alliance aimed to protect its members against the Soviet Union and its allies.

March 19, 1949: Soviet People's Council signs a constitution in East Germany creating a communist German Democratic Republic.

March 25, 1949: Mao Tse-tung sets up government in Beijing.

March 31, 1949: Churchill states that the A-Bomb is the only thing preventing the Soviet Union from taking over Europe.

April 8, 1949: France, Great Britain, and the U.S. merge their zones in West Germany.

April 16, 1949: The "Easter Parade" takes place on this 294th day of the Airlift: 13,000 tons of coal, food, and supplies are flown to Berlin, averaging one plane every 61.8 seconds.

April 26, 1949: Soviet Union offers to lift the Berlin blockade in Big Four ministers meeting.

May 8, 1949: West German Assembly approves new constitution.

May 12, 1949: Soviets lift blockade of Berlin.

May 23, 1949: Big Four meet to discuss Germany. Federal Republic of Germany is established (West Germany).

May 30, 1949: USSR rejects the western proposal to reunify Germany.

September 30, 1949: Berlin Airlift officially ends after a total of 277,264 flights and 1.5 million tons of aid.

October 12, 1949: New government in East Germany takes over, controlled by Communist Party.

December 31, 1949: In the year 1949, over 125,000 East Berliners secretly escape across border to West Germany.