JFK: crisis over Berlin

Question 1

Initial crisis over Berlin

Answer 1

• 1949-1958: over 2M East Germans fled to west Germany
• July 1961 alone 30,000 had fled
• 13th August 1961, barbed wire put along the border and wall, anyone who crossed was imprisoned or shot

Question 2

Kennedy’s response to the Berlin Wall

Answer 2

• he was relatively calm, said it was better than war
• he wasn’t criticised by the media or republicans
• only seen as a crisis in Germany
• JFK instructed Dean Rusk to exploit for propaganda as far as possible
• Khrushchev thought Kennedy was a coward as he didn’t try to stop construction
• June 1963: Kennedy travelled to West Berlin and gave ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech to 450,000 people, stressing US commitment to freedom across the world
• Berlin remained divided for 36 more years, but tensions were eased in Europe