Superpower Relations - 2.1 The Berlin Crisis

Question 1

Why was Berlin a problem for the Soviets?

Answer 1

• West Germany received aid from the Marshal Plan in the 1950’s so they had a high standard of living whilst East Germany had less aid from the Soviet Union so they had a low standard of living
• The communist regime was unpopular in East Germany
• The Soviets didn’t have full control of Berlin
• Communism wasn’t prospering whilst Capitalism was
• People went from East to West Germany as the standard of a life is dropping

Question 2

Why was the economic migrant (refugee) problem a large problem?

Answer 2

The refugee problem was a large problem for the Soviets as they were losing valuable people to West Germany such as teachers, engineers etc, this meant that communism was losing to capitalism.

Question 3

What did Kruschev do on November 27th 1958 and what did he demand?

Answer 3

The Berlin Ultimatum was on the November 27th 1958, where Kruschev demanded that Berlin should be demilitarised and Western troops should be withdrawn and Berlin should be a free (independent) city, the West had 6 months to do this or the routes will be handed to East Germany

Kruschevs issued the Berlin Ultimatum to keep control of Berlin as well as making it harder for East Germans to get into West Germany

Question 4

How did the USA respond to the Berlin Ultimatum 1958?

Answer 4

The USA responded to this by having a large series of talks to solve the Berlin problem between 1959-61, they were incredibly outraged and they saw it as another attempt to spread communism

Question 5

What were the talks of that made the future of Berlin fail?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What happened in Geneva 1959?

Answer 6

No real agreements made but Kruschev visited US

Question 7

What happened in Camp David 1959?

Answer 7

No solution but agreed further summit meetings. Kruschev withdrew the Berlin Ultimatum

Question 8

What happened at Paris 1960?

Answer 8

A disaster. Kruschev storms out after Eisenhower refused to apologise about the U2 spy plane incident

Question 9

What happened at Vienna 1961?

Answer 9

Neither side back down, Krushchev tries to exploit Kennedy’s inexperience and repeats 6 month ultimatum

Question 10

What did the summit meetings show about Eisenhower?

Answer 10

This shows that Eisenhower is stubborn for being unable to apologise about spying on the soviet Union, this is also shows he is a risk taker as whilst the US and USSR are discussing agreements, Eisenhower is showing he doesn’t really care about it.

Question 11

What did the summit meetings show about Krushchev?

Answer 11

This shows that Kruschev is manipulative as he tried to exploit Kennedy’s experience as president, another thing that he shows being spyed on by the US.

Question 12

What did the summit meetings show about Kennedy

Answer 12

This shows that Kennedy is still inexperienced as the US president as he is easily exploited by Kruschev which leads to the Berlin Ultimatum to be repeated again

Question 13

What were the key features of the Berlin Wall 1961?

Answer 13

• 27 mile section (how long it was)
• Packed with booby traps , barbed wires , minefields and car barries, all guarded by hundreds of loadout towers
• Macnine gun nests and powerful searchlights

Question 14

Extra notes about the impact and importance of the wall

Answer 14

• Berlin was where the Soviet Union and Trizonia met
• The houses were also bricked up to prevent anyone escaping
• There were 10cm high needles behind the wall to prevent everyone espaping
• Students dug a tunnel 135m - 136m to escape East Berlin and luckily escaped

Question 15

What was a creative way somebody crossed the Berlin Wall?

Answer 15

On a hot air balloon - in 1979, Streczyk a mechanic and Wetzel, a mason used their mechanic skill to build a hot air balloon and get into West Berlin

Question 16

What are the negatives of the Berlin Wall for the USSR?

Answer 16

• Khruschev had to abandon plans to unite Germany under control
• The wall showed the Soviet Union had to lock people to stop them leaving.
• Given a choice, people prefered Capitalism over communism

Question 17

What are the positives of the Berlin Wall for the USSR?

Answer 17

• The wall stopped refugees leaving for the west through East Berlin
• The wall sent the West a message that communism would survive in Berlin, and that any attempt to reunite Germany under Western control would fail

Question 18

What are the negatives of the Berlin Wall for the USA?

Answer 18

• The Soviet Union had closed the border without consulting USA
• Those people who wanted to escape from communism couldn’t anymore

Question 19

What are the positives of the Berlin Wall for the USA?

Answer 19

• The wall showed that Kruschev had been forced to accept Western control in West Berlin, and that did not think he could get away with bullying Kennedy anymore
• West Berlin became an emblem of freedom and defiance against communism

Question 20

What did Kennedy do in response to the Berlin Wall?

Answer 20

In 1963, JFK visited Berlin and this was a source of hope. He delivered his speech “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” to the 200,000 Berliners.

This impacted relationships negatively between the USA and USSR