TestZen · Einbürgerungstest · Practice

178. From June 1948 to May 1949, the citizens of West Berlin were supplied via an airlift. Which circumstance was responsible for this?

Official German wording

Vom Juni 1948 bis zum Mai 1949 wurden die Bürger und Bürgerinnen von West-Berlin durch eine Luftbrücke versorgt. Welcher Umstand war dafür verantwortlich?

  1. Für Frankreich war eine Versorgung der West-Berliner Bevölkerung mit dem Flugzeug kostengünstiger.
  2. Die amerikanischen Soldaten / Soldatinnen hatten beim Landtransport Angst vor Überfällen.
  3. Für Großbritannien war die Versorgung über die Luftbrücke schneller.
  4. Die Sowjetunion unterbrach den gesamten Verkehr auf dem Landwege.

Answer options

  1. For France, supplying the West Berlin population by aircraft was more cost-effective.
  2. American service members feared ambushes during land transport.
  3. For Great Britain, supplying via the airlift was faster.
  4. The Soviet Union cut off all overland traffic.

Correct answer

The Soviet Union cut off all overland traffic.

Explanation

The airlift was the Western Allies’ response to the Berlin Blockade imposed by the Soviet Union on 24 June 1948, which closed all land and water routes to West Berlin. In legal terms, the operation relied on the three air corridors agreed in 1945 and the quadripartite regime for Berlin; comparable codified rights for land access did not exist. Politically, the crisis accelerated state building in the West: adoption of the Basic Law (23 May 1949) and the Federal Republic’s integration with the West, while Berlin retained a special status. The successful airlift became a symbol of defending freedom and the rule of law against coercive measures.

Official sources

The German questions come from the original BAMF catalog for the Einbürgerungstest and Leben in Deutschland. Translations and explanations are study aids; verify legal details in the official sources.