THE BERLIN WALL

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THE BERLIN WALL
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Another Cold War crisis

• Background
• 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
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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

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What they wanted

• The West
• Prevent USSR from gaining control of East Germany
• To see a united, democratic Germany

• The East
• Maintain control over E Germany
• Make the West recognise it as an independent
  state
• Stop the flood of refugees especially the skilled
  and professional ones much needed in E Germany

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1958-Soviet demands

• West should
• Recognise GDR
• 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.

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Events of 1961

• June-Vienna Summit
• Khrushchev pressured new American President John
  F Kennedy
• Demanded withdrawal of Western forces from West
  Berlin Kennedy refused
• July Western powers reject Khrushchevs 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

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Events contd

• 13-22 August Khrushchev and East German govt.
  orders barbed wire barrier across Berlin,
  followed by a wall of concrete blocks
• All of West Berlin encircled apart from access
  points
• This was against the Four Power agreement reached
  in Paris on 20 June 1949.

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Did Kennedy really mind the wall? He had
protected West Berlin and he never promised to
protect East Berlin?
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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

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Results contd

• 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
• LINKCNN - Cold War-The Wall

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