The initiative that determined the affiliation of West Berlin as a separate entity during the Cold War was known as the Berlin Blockade and the subsequent Berlin Airlift. In 1949, the Soviet Union blocked all ground access to West Berlin in an attempt to consolidate control over the city. In response, the Western Allies organized an extensive airlift to supply food and essentials to the isolated residents of West Berlin. This event solidified the division of Berlin into East and West and symbolized the broader ideological conflict between communism and democracy during the Cold War.