What was the Soviet Union's response to the Berlin Blockade?

The Soviet Union's response to the Berlin Blockade was primarily the establishment of the Warsaw Pact. This military alliance was formed in 1955 as a direct countermeasure to the integration of West Germany into NATO, solidifying the Eastern Bloc's collective defense strategy in response to perceived threats from the West. The Berlin Blockade itself, which occurred from 1948 to 1949, was an attempt by the Soviet Union to exert control over the entire city of Berlin by blocking access to the western sectors. The Western Allies responded with the Berlin Airlift to supply their zones, leading to increased tensions and the eventual formation of the Warsaw Pact as a mechanism for military cooperation among communist nations in Eastern Europe.

The establishment of NATO and the formation of the Eastern Bloc occurred prior to the Warsaw Pact and were not direct responses to the Berlin Blockade. Additionally, the launch of the Soviet Space Program, which gained prominence in the late 1950s, was not a military response to the blockade but rather an aspect of the broader competition during the Cold War.