Berlin Crisis

Question 1

Give two reasons why more than 2.7 million people fled from East Germany to West Germany.

Answer 1

• It was strict and people feared the Stasi (secret police)
• West Germany had higher living standards as it benefitted from the Marshal Aid

Question 2

What was Khrushchev’s Ultimatum in 1958?

Answer 2

He wanted full control over Berlin so he told the US troops they had 6 months to withdraw.

Question 3

What were the four main conferences between 1958 and 1961?

Answer 3

• Geneva, 1959
• Camp David, 1959
• Paris, 1960
• Vienna, 1961

Question 4

What happened at the Geneva conference 1959?

Answer 4

• Khrushchev and President Eisenhower agreed to discuss Berlin
• There was no real agreement

Question 5

What happened at the Camp David conference 1959?

Answer 5

• Khrushchev withdrew his ultimatum
• But sill no solution

Question 6

What happened at the Paris conference in 1960?

Answer 6

• Eisenhower refused to apologise for a US plane flying over the USSR (it was shot down)
• Khrushchev walks out and talk ends

Question 7

What happened at the Vienna conference in 1961?

Answer 7

• Khrushchev met JFK for the first time and tries to bully him as he’s only been president for 4 months
• Khrushchev repeats the ultimanium
• USA refused to leave incase of a war, he puts down $3.2B into milliary funds.

Question 8

What did Krucshchev do on the 12th August 1961 to make sure that he was seem as powerful?

Answer 8

He got East Germany to seal off West Berlin with barbed wire

Question 9

What did Krucshchev do in September 1961 to make sure that he was seem as powerful?

Answer 9

• The barbed wire grew about 3 meters high
• It had watch towers, trenches and floodlights

Question 10

What happened on October 1961?

Answer 10

USSR and USA faced off at Checkpoint Charlie, after 12 hours of tension the USSR tanks slowly pulled back

Question 11

What was Checkpoint Charlie?

Answer 11

The only place people could cross from East to West

Question 12

Why had the refugee issue in Berlin become such a problem for the USSR by 1956?

Answer 12

• the flow of refugees was humiliating for the USSR
• many skilled workers left, important to the economy
• the existence of West Berlin as an island of capitalism within East Germany has always been represent by the USSR

Question 13

What are the sucessful significant points of the Berlin wall being a resolution to the Berlin Crisis?

Answer 13

• Stopped the refugee problem
• Avoided wae
• Propaganda for victory of the West

Question 14

What are the unsucessful significant points of the Berlin wall being a resolution to the Berlin Crisis?

Answer 14

• Krushchev was unable to force the West out of West Berlin
• It limited freedom