A political blockade caused a supply crisis.
West Berlin consisted of the American, British and French sectors. The city lay within Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. Its connections to the Western occupation zones were therefore particularly important.
On 24 June 1948, the comprehensive Soviet blockade of these supply routes began. The Airlift, carried mainly by the USA and Great Britain, became the response to this political pressure. It concerned both supplying a city and maintaining the Western presence in Berlin.
The other three answers
The incorrect answers replace the political cause with cost, fear or speed.
For France, supplying the West Berlin population by air was cheaper.
An alleged cost saving for France does not explain the Airlift. The decisive cause was the Soviet blockade of the regular supply routes.
American soldiers were afraid of ambushes during land transport.
The question does not describe American soldiers freely choosing air transport out of fear of ambushes. A state-imposed blockade prevented normal supply.
For Great Britain, supply via the airlift was faster.
A simple time advantage for Great Britain was not the cause. Aircraft were used because supply through the usual routes had been politically interrupted.
The blockade and the Airlift did not end on the same day.
The blockade ended on 12 May 1949. The Airlift continued until 30 September 1949 to build reserves. The period June 1948 to May 1949 in the question therefore identifies the blockade phase, not the full duration of air transport.
The catalogue wording about all land traffic is simplified. It refers to the blocking of the principal supply connections with the Western zones. It does not mean every individual movement between Berlin’s sectors was impossible or that no other ways of obtaining supplies existed.
Berlin Blockade of 1948 · House of History ↗Blocked routes → supplies by air.
Remember the cause first. The Airlift responded to the Soviet blockade; it was not an ordinary decision to use cheaper or faster transport.
Three words for this question
- die Blockadeblockade
- A deliberate blocking of connections to exert pressure.
- die Luftbrückeairlift
- Regular aircraft transport supplying an inaccessible or blockaded area.
- die Versorgungsupply / provision
- Providing necessary goods such as food or fuel.