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Berlin. Why was Berlin a flashpoint between the years 1957 and 1962? Between 1957 and 1962 there were several reasons why Berlin was a flashpoint – why tension increased between the USA and the USSR over Berlin.
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Why was Berlin a flashpoint between the years 1957 and 1962? Between 1957 and 1962 there were several reasons why Berlin was a flashpoint – why tension increased between the USA and the USSR over Berlin.
By the late 1950s Khrushchev was increasingly frustrated with the fact that West Berlin was under the control of the West. • He called it a fishbone stuck in my throat – no matter what he did he was always reminded that the west had control over West Berlin. Help there is a fishbone stuck in my throat!
There were several reasons why Khrushchev hated the fact that West Berlin was under the control of the West: • The refugee problem. West Berlin was a gap in the Iron Curtain. Between 1949 and 1961 approximately 4 million refugees left East Berlin. From January 1961 the number of refugees leaving East Berlin increased rapidly to more than 20 000 a month. Large numbers of these refugees were professional people but there were also many skilled craftsmen amongst them. This drain of labour and economic output threatened to bring about the economic collapse of East Germany. • It was a showcase for capitalism. Berlin was part of Bizonia. It received money through Marshall Aid. It had the Deutschmark. It was used for capitalist propaganda. • The west could use West Berlin to keep an eye on what was happening in the Eastern Bloc. • It was a military threat.
2. Tension also increased following the breakdown of talks between the USSR and the USA over what to do about the situation in Berlin. There were two talks or summits that took place between the USSR and the USA over the Berlin situation.
i The Paris Summit 1960 Eisenhower and Khrushchev Everyone had high hopes for this meeting. In 1959 the relationship was at a high point. However 9 days before the meeting was due to take place an American U2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR. At first Eisenhower tried to cover up that the USA were spying on the USSR. However the USSR recovered the camera from the plane which proved the USA were spying. At a preliminary meeting Khrushchev stormed out.
ii. The Vienna Summit June 1960 Eisenhower and Khrushchev Khrushchev demanded that the western powers leave Berlin. Khrushchev caused a crisis when he issued an ultimatum over Berlin. He threatened to sign a new peace agreement with East Berlin which would end all western access rights to West Berlin. He gave them until the end of the year to withdraw. If they had not withdrawn by then, they would not be able to access West Berlin. Khrushchev told Kennedy, "Force will be met by force. If the US wants war, that's its problem." "It's up to the US to decide whether there will be war or peace.“ Kennedy replied, "Then, Mr. Chairman, there will be a war. It will be a cold, long winter.“ However Kennedy also gave a strong impression that he would be willing to allow a permanent division of Berlin.
3. The building of the Berlin Wall In August 1961 a wall was built surrounding West Berlin thereby preventing East Berliners from travelling to West Berlin and into West Germany. The world waited to see how the USA would react. It went against the agreements made at Potsdam However the building of the Berlin Wall did not increase hostility. A few months after the barbed wire was erected, the U.S. government informed the Soviet government that it accepted the Wall as "a fact of international life" and would not challenge it by force. In fact it can be argued that the wall calmed the situation down. It was an acceptance from both sides that the west was staying in Berlin.
4. Standoff between USSR and USA tanks at Checkpoint Charlie October 1961 For two days in October 1961 ten Soviet tanks had a stand off with USA tanks. Both were armed with live ammunition. Both were ordered to fire if fired upon. The alert levels of NATO and Strategic Air Command were raised. Eventually negotiations involving both Khrushshev and Kennedy led the Russian tanks to retreat five metres which in turn led to a gradual retreat on both sides.
triumphed in the summit over a weak and inexperienced leader. Observing Kennedy’s morose expression at the end of the summit, Khrushchev believed Kennedy "looked not only anxious, but deeply upset…I hadn’t meant to upset him. I would have liked very much for us to part in a different mood. But there was nothing I could do to help him…Politics is a merciless business.”4
