THE BERLIN WALL Another Cold War Crisis East

THE BERLIN WALL

Another Cold War Crisis • East – West rivalry • Berlin divided – contrast the two halves: WEST: Prosperous, helped by US, attracted people from the East. Seen by USSR as infection in the heart of Communist East Germany. EAST: Much less prosperous and under Communist control

Life in East vs West

Focus on refugees from East Germany or East Berlin to West 1949 -129, 245 1951 - 165, 648 1953 - 331, 390 1955 - 252, 870 1957 - 261, 622 1959 - 143, 917 1961 - 207, 026 1962 - 21, 356 1963 - 42, 632 1964 - 41, 876

What They Wanted The West • Prevent USSR from gaining control of East Germany • To see a united, democratic Germany The East • Maintain control over East Germany • Make the West recognize it as an independent state • Stop the flood of refugees, especially the skilled and professional ones – much needed in East Germany

1958 - Soviet Demands West should: • Recognize GDR (German Democratic Republic, a socialist government) • Withdraw troops from West Berlin • Hand their access routes over to the East German government Khrushchev bluffed that he would hand East Berlin over to the GDR. West refused and Khrushchev backed down.

Events of 1961 • June - Vienna Summit • Khrushchev pressured new American President John F Kennedy • Demanded withdrawal of Western forces from West Berlin – Kennedy refused

Events cont’d • July – Western powers reject Khrushchev’s Vienna demands • July 23 – Flow of refugees from East to West = 1000 a day • July 25 – Kennedy repeats support for West Berlin and announced increase in arms spending

Events cont’d • 13 -22 August – Khrushchev and East German gov’t orders barbed wire barrier across Berlin, followed by a wall of concrete blocks • All of West Berlin surrounded apart from access points • This was against the Four Power agreement reached in Paris on 20 June 1949.

Results • Important results for Berlin, Germany and the Cold War • Berlin was divided, free access ended between East and West • many families split, many attempted to escape to the West-between 1961 and 1989 • 86 people died trying to cross the Berlin Wall

Results cont’d • Kennedy accepted the Soviet action. He refused to use US troops to pull down the wall to avoid war. • Kennedy looked weak but West turned it into propaganda – why, if Communism was so attractive, was a wall needed? • 1963 – Kennedy visited West Berlin – pledged continued support – ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ (I am a Berliner) – famous speech • Khrushchev lost face by failing to remove the West from Berlin

Rise & Fall of the Berlin Wall 1. How did the wall impact people’s lives? 2. Compare life in East Berlin and West Berlin 3. How did people escape? 4. Why and how does the wall come down?