1955-61 (Peaceful Coexistence) Flashcards
How many people had left East Germany by October 1958?
2 million
How many people had left East Germany by 1961?
3.5 million (25%)
‘brain drain’
When did the Berlin Wall go up
August 13 1961-89
What did Ulbricht call the Berlin Wall?
an ‘anti-fascist protection wall’
What were the East Germans and USSR worried about in 1958?
German rearmament
Nuclear weapons
What was the situation for the people of East Germany during 1958?
Official films portrayed a paradise for workers and peasants but the reality was shortages and chaos. State resources were poured into heavy industry at the expense of consumer goods and farms were collectivised.
What problems were being created for East Germany by their open border with West Berlin?
Thousands of East Germans fled across the open border and took refuge in the west. Most refugees were young and skilled thus their departure was bleeding the East German economy to death
(brain drain)
What did Ulbricht want for East Germany but Khrushchev refused to accept?
He urged Khrushchev to recognise East Germany as a sovereign state with control over its own borders
How did Khrushchev decide to treat Kennedy and why did he feel he could do this?
Khrushchev decided to ‘bully’ Kennedy as he thought Kennedy was weak after his failure at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in April 1961
What ruined the peace agreements between the US and the USSR?
The 1 May 1960 U2 incident (13 days before the Paris Peace Summit)
When was the decision made to close the border with West Berlin?
August 13 1961
What was the reaction of East and West Berliners to the Wall?
-demonstrations
-cring
-chaos
-shouting
-anger
-fear
What was the allies response to the border? Why did the wall make things easier for them?
Allies offered little protest. They were unsure how to react as Western rights had not been challenged.
The focus had been to block any Soviet move on Berlin. For the allies, the border stabilised the tense Berlin situation. The Soviets had found a way to solve the problems with their refugees in a way that did not affect allied rights.
How did Kennedy decide to test the East Germans and show resolve to West Berlin?
He ordered a show of force. An American troop convoy was sent to Berlin. The plan was to test East German reaction and to reaffirm allied access rights to Berlin
How did the East German government describe the wall?
a bulwark of peace
Who visited West Berlin in 1963? What did he promise the people of Berlin?
President Kennedy
He promised peace
Germany= key battleground of the cold war
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to see Berlin as the capital city of the cold war
What happens in May 1955?
The allies recognise West Germany as a sovereign nation.
The first thing Adenauer does is join NATO in May 1955.
Khrushchev creates the WARSAW Pact in May 1955 as he is scared of Adenauer.
When does Adenauer launch the Bundeswehr (west german army)?
November 1955
Worrying to East Germans (NAZI!)
^afraid of German rearmament and nuclear war
When was the Hallstein doctrine launched by Adenauer and what did it state?
September 1955
Stated that they want their territory that was now in Poland and the Soviet Union back and that he does not recognise East German sovereignty and doesn’t recognise anyone who does
Why did West Germany have an economic revival in the 1950s?
because of NAZI super profits
Why was the West German economy weakened?
Payment of German war reparations to the USSR. By the early 1950s the Soviets had extracted some $10b in reparations in agricultural and industrial products. The poverty of East Germany induced by reparations provoked the Republikflucht (desertion from the republic) to West Germany, further weakening the economy. (brain drain). The GDR was at risk of collapse.
What was the Berlin Ultimatum and when was it launched?
November 1958
Khrushchev was genuinely appalled by the situation in the DDR- he felt that its collapse would allow the FDR to fill the power vacuum and bring the Bundeswehr up to the borders of Poland and Czechoslovakia.
He declared he had to remove the ‘malignant tumour’ of Berlin. The West had to agree to a German peace treaty within 6 months. It must also ‘liquidate the occupation regime’ and turn Berlin into a demilitarised ‘free city’.
If the West did not agree to this, Khrushchev would unilaterally sign a treaty with the DDR and turn over all control of access to Berlin to Ulbricht.
He was desperate for Soviet security.
When is Khrushchev overthrown and goes into retirement?
October 1964
What happened when the 27 May 1959 deadline for the Berlin ultimatum came?
Eisenhower was incensed and he made clear to the Soviets that access rights to the Western sectors of Berlin remained central to American policy. He also reiterated America’s commitment to West Germany, and stated he was prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend it.
When the 27th May 1959 deadline came, Khrushchev quietly allowed it to pass and insisted the West had simply misunderstood him. Khrushchev visited the USA in September, and negotiated with Eisenhower at Camp David. Although the talks yielded no significant results, it appeared that better relations were coming about (ruined by the U2 incident May 1960)
It seemed like American intransigence had been successful. Khrushchev’s backing down was largely due to him recognising the USA’s determination to maintain the established setup in Berlin, and the USA’s willingness to risk nuclear war to do so.
When does JFK enter office?
January 1961
When did Khrushchev reissue the Berlin ultimatum (his demand for East German control over Berlin and Western recognition of the DDR) and why?
June 1961
Such had been the increase in the numbers of East Germans deserting their country (the total figure of desertions was now close to 3.5 million - about 25% of the DDR’s population), that Khrushchev expected an immediate collapse of the DDR and its swift absorption by West Germany
Kennedy had also failed in Cuba in April 1961
Why did Khrushchev finally permit Ulbricht to built the Berlin Wall in August 1961?
pressure from Mao and Ulbricht to stop the brain drain
Kennedy also vowed to defend Berlin, even at the cost of war.
When was the Vienna Summit?
June 4-5 1961
Why was the Vienna Summit awful for the Americans?
Khrushchev took an extremely tough line on Berlin with Kennedy. Kennedy described the meeting as the ‘…worst thing in my life. He savaged me.’
Why did Khrushchev take such a tough line during the Vienna Summit?
1)Because Kennedy was still reeling from the effects of the failed Bay of Pigs operation against Cuba on 17 April 1961
2)Because Germany mattered to the USSR, especially since the FDR had joined NATO in May 1955
Khrushchev made a similar threat to that which he made in late 1958, for East German control of Berlin. Kennedy thought this put American - and his own personal - credibility directly under threat. Kennedy increased the defence budget by $3.2 billion and allocated $207 million for a fallout shelter programme to prepare American people for a future nuclear attack by the USSR. But rather than have the DDR seize control of all of Berlin, Khrushchev permitted Ulbricht’s government to do something different that solved the problem of people fleeing to the West (Berlin Wall August 1961)
What happened on 27-28 October 1961
US and Soviet tanks faced off at Checkpoint Charlie but the USA backed down, allowing for an easing of tensions
How did the construction of the Berlin Wall solve the Berlin Crisis?
The main problem for the Soviets- West Berlin being an attractive symbol of Western Capitalism that Germans would flee to- was no more. The wall had solved that. The wall, by stopping East Germans leaving, also gave life support to Ulbricht’s regime
How was the wall beneficial to Kennedy?
“It’s not a very nice solution” said Kennedy, “but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.” Because of the Wall, Kennedy never had to confront the difficult question of whether the USA would be willing to go to war over Berlin, a war that would cost millions of lives. The wall massively reduced the chances of war.
When was the U2 incident
1 May 1960 (13 days before the Paris Peace Summit)
