Cold War · 1948-1949

The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949

In June 1948 the Soviet Union cut all land links to West Berlin. For almost a year American and British planes flew in food and coal for more than two million people. Students find Berlin inside the Soviet zone and follow the air corridors that kept the city alive.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1945 to AD 1960
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In June 1948 the Soviet Union cut all land links to West Berlin. For almost a year American and British planes flew in food and coal for more than two million people. Students find Berlin inside the Soviet zone and follow the air corridors that kept the city alive.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin in June 1948.
  • Locate Berlin inside the Soviet zone and the air corridors used for the airlift.
  • Explain how the airlift ended the blockade and led to two German states in 1949.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1945

A city cut off

Open the map in 1945 and find Berlin inside the Soviet zone of Germany. How far is it from the British and American zones?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1945

Air corridors

Find Frankfurt, Hanover and Hamburg in the western zones. Three air corridors led from there to Berlin. Trace them with your finger. Why could the Soviets block roads and railways but not the air?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1960

Two states

Move the slider to 1960 and look at Germany. How many German states are there now? Ask the atlas: "Why was Bonn chosen as the capital of West Germany?"

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did Stalin think a blockade would force the Western powers out of Berlin?
  2. More than two million people lived in West Berlin. What would a city of that size need every day?
  3. The pilot Gail Halvorsen dropped sweets on small parachutes for Berlin children. Why did small gestures like this matter?
  4. Only three years earlier, British and American planes had bombed Berlin. How could planes become a symbol of help?
  5. Was the airlift a victory for the West, for the Berliners, or for both?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, who made Berlin a great capital. Then compare: in 1948 Berlin's fate was decided by outsiders. What choices did Truman, Stalin and the Berliners themselves have?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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