The Berlin Crisis

• The Refugee Problem:

  • 1949-61 - about 4 million fled to the West

  • unhappy about economic and

  political conditions

  • hated the collectivisation of agriculture, the end of private trading, and the shortage of consumer goods.

  • 1961 - refugee problem increased to more than 20,000 a month

  • many were professionals and skilled craftsmen

  • weakened East German economy
• Khrushchev’s Ultimatum:

  • 1958 - Khrushchev warned allies to leave Berlin within 6 months

  • USA did not want to go to war over Berlin

  • asked Khrushchev to visit the USA

  • 1959 - Khrushchev visited Eisenhower and meeting seemed successful
• Paris Summit - 1960:

  • 9 days before - USSR shot down an American spy plane

  • captured pilot

  • Khrushchev demanded an apology and all spy flights be stopped

  • agreed to stop the flights but would

  not apologise

  • Khrushchev stormed out and the summit did not take place

  • Eisenhower refused to visit the Soviet Union
• Vienna Summit - 1961:

  • John F. Kennedy

  presented a chance for Khrushchev

  • Khrushchev demanded the West leave Berlin but Kennedy refused.

  • Kennedy increased defence spending by $3.5 billion

  • USSR increased theirs by more

  than 30%
• The Berlin Wall ended the refugee crisis, as it prevented East Germans escaping to the West.
• At the Potsdam Conference, nobody foresaw the problems that would arise from the division of Berlin, therefore it was still split between the four main countries despite the fact it was deep in the Soviet zone.
• The USSR had realised they would not win a nuclear war with the USA as they had stronger and more nuclear weapons.
• America had refused to respond to the Berlin Ultimatum and the removal of their troops from West Berlin.
• Building the Berlin wall prevented the outbreak of war, but Khrushchev still remained strong.
• Khrushchev was trying to stop Communism looking bad, and stopping the refugee crisis seemed to prevent this.
• The Berlin wall became a symbol of the division of Europe between Capitalism and Communism.
• Kennedy had spent a huge sum of money preparing for war following the disagreements in the two summits which showed the USSR how strong they were and called Khrushchev's bluff.
• Khrushchev's Berlin Ultimatum had failed, and he needed another solution.
• The refugees who had moved from East to West had resulted in East Germany loosing many skilled labourers.
• Peoples efforts to try and cross the wall often ended in tragedy. Peter Fechter tried to cross in 1962 and jumped from a window to the ‘death strip’ but was shot. He bled to death whilst screaming for help as helpless guards looked on.
• Khrushchev had reinstated his 6 month ultimatum as he did not like Kennedy and saw him as an inexperienced newcomer who could easily be controlled.
• Kennedy toured West Berlin in 1963 making speeches to ensure his loyalty to the Berliners. They lined the streets to greet him and he was hailed as a hero.
• Families were split up, as some lived on opposite sides of the wall, people were not allowed to visit family

  members.
• A spy plane being shot down during the Paris Summit did not help with the relations between the USA and USSR as it meant both were more suspicious of each other.