Why was there another crisis over Berlin in 1961?
The Refugee Problem in Berlin
In 1949, Germany had been divided in _____: West Germany was ___________ and democratic whilst East Germany
was firmly under the control of the communist Soviet Union. West Germany received ___________ _________ and
during the 1950s became a ____________ country where most people enjoyed a high standard of living. East
Germany received far less ______ from the Soviet Union and the government’s economic policies in the 1950s were
largely unsuccessful, so East Germans suffered from a low standard of living and shortages of basic goods. The
communist regime in East Germany was increasingly __________. There were many restrictions on what ordinary
citizens could say and do and they were constantly monitored by the secret police. In 1953, there were riots against
the government and the Soviet government sent armed forces to restore order.
Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that many East Germans chose to leave home and move to West
Germany. They knew that the __________ ___ ________ in the west was much higher. It was easy to cross the
_________! All they had to do was travel from East to West Berlin. Once there, they could travel freely to other parts
of the country.
By 1958, approximately _____ million East Germans, over a sixth of the country’s entire population, had crossed to
the West. Many of them were exactly the kind of people East Germany urgently needed to build its economy.
Younger, skilled workers – such as engineers, technicians and teachers left. This is because they knew that they could
obtain much _______ ________ in West Germany.
The new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, could not allow this situation to continue. By January 1961, more than
____________ people were fleeing East Germany each month. Not only this but communism was facing a
_____________ disaster. In Berlin, people had a _______ between the communist East and the capitalist West.
Denied the right to _______, it was clear to him, along with many others, that the inhabitants of East Germany were
voting with their _________ and leaving East Germany, preferring life in the West.
higher wages || two || Marshall Aid || feet || 20,000 || standard of living || capitalist
prosperous || aid || propaganda || 3 || restrictive || border || choice || vote
Khrushchev’s Berlin Ultimatum
Khrushchev decided the answer to the problem of Berlin was for the whole of the city to become part
of the surrounding territory of East Germany. If the Americans, British and French left Berlin, it would
be much harder for East Germans to get into West Germany. Khrushchev knew however that Britain,
France and the USA would not agree to leave. They would have to be forced.
So, in November 1958, Khrushchev demanded that Western countries should officially recognise East
Germany as an independent country. Given that the three western powers still believed that Germany
could be re-united, they refused to do so. On the 27 th of November therefore, Khrushchev issued his
Berlin Ultimatum. In it he demanded that Berlin should be demilitarised and Western troops
withdrawn. He also demanded that Berlin should become a ‘free city’. In theory this would have given
Berlin its own independent government but Khrushchev did not really mean to make Berlin
independent – he wanted it to be controlled by the Soviet Union.
According to the terms of his ultimatum, the West had just six months to make these changes or
Khrushchev would hand over control of all routes into Berlin to the government of East Germany. This
thread to hand over control of transport to the East German government was a clever move. If this
happened, it would force the Western powers to talk to the East German authorities and so, by
extension, force them to acknowledge that East Germany was a legitimate country.
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Khrushchev’s ultimatum had a major impact on international relations. The West was outraged by his demands and saw his actions as another example of the Soviet Union
trying to spread communism. Khrushchev, however, saw his demands as an essential action to stop the flood of skilled citizens from East German fleeing to the West. By
1958, both the USA and the Soviet Union had large numbers of nuclear weapons and neither side wanted this crisis to lead to war. So, as a result, between 1959 and 1961,
a series of talks were held to try to solve the ‘Berlin problem’.
What happened at each meeting? What were the consequences?
The first summit meeting between the foreign ministers of the various countries
Geneva
was held in Geneva, in neutral Switzerland. Both sides put forward proposals for President Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to the USA for further
how Berlin should be governed but no agreement was reached during the talks.
May, 1959
meeting.
President Eisenhower and Khrushchev met face-to-face for the first time at the
Camp David presidential ranch. There was still no agreement about a way forward for Berlin The meeting appeared to establish better relations between the
but the Soviets did agree to withdraw to the Berlin Ultimatum. This was the first two leaders and it was agreed that further talks would be held
September, 1959 ever visit by a Soviet leader to the USA. Khrushchev ate hot dogs, met ordinary in Paris the following summer.
people, visited Hollywood and seemed to enjoy himself.
As the various parties prepared for the Paris talks, the Soviet Union made an
announcement that destroyed any chance of those talks being successful. On the
1st of May they had shot down an Americans U-2 spy-plane as it flew over the
Paris
Soviet Union. The Americans tried to claim it was a weather plane that had blown Khrushchev walked out of the meeting and it ended with no
off-course, but the Soviets interrogated the pilot, Gary Powers, who admitted to decisions being made.
May, 1960
being on a spying mission. Although Eisenhower was embarrassed by what had
happened, he refused to apologise, saying that spying operations like this were
unavoidable.
In January 1961, John F. Kennedy became President of the USA. Kennedy followed
Kennedy refused to make concessions and once again the
a policy of building up the USA’s military forces, but at the same time trying to
meeting ended with no final decision on Berlin. The personal
resolve difficulties with the Soviet Union through talks. Khrushchev believed that
Vienna relationship between Kennedy and Khrushchev became very
as Kennedy was inexperienced in foreign affairs, it would be possible to get the
strained. After Vienna, Kennedy decided to increase spending on
better of him. So at a new round of talks, held in Vienna in June 1961, Khrushchev
June, 1961 the American armed forces by over $2 billion to protect the USA
took a tough stance and renewed the Berlin Ultimatum. Kennedy was extremely
if war broke out. In July, Khrushchev announced that the Soviet
concerned by Khrushchev’s approach, but was determined not to appear weak
defence budget too would also be increased by 30%.
and not to give way over Berlin.
Explain the importance of the Summit Conferences for the problem of Berlin.
Plan:
