Question

When the Soviets blockaded Berlin, what was the response of the United States?
A. a police action
B. Marshall Plan
C. an airlift
D. signing of NATO treaty
E. a proposed naval blockage

Answer 1

It's definitely not (A) a police action. Any aggression on the part of the United States against the Soviet blockade would have resulted in something much worse. The Marshall Plan (B) was an economic recovery plan for Western Europe as a whole. If anything else, the Plan was one of the catalysts that led to the blockade. The signing of the NATO treaty wasn't a response, either, nor was a naval blockage because that didn't make much sense -- Berlin's landlocked.

The only answer that works is (C) an airlift.

With road access shut off, only the air was available and the US organized a massive airlift that kept West Berlin supplied by flying over Soviet territory. The Soviets weren't about to start shooting down planes -- Stalin wanted to intimidate West Berlin and force it to accept Soviet ties since it sat inside East Germany, but he wasn't about to start a shooting war. And through treaty agreement, air corridors were guaranteed allowing planes to fly safely to West Berlin. Eventually, Stalin backed down and the land route to West Berlin was opened again.