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Berlin. A City Divided. An Ultimatum. 10 November 1958 Khrushchev, in a public speech, insisted that the military occupation of Berlin should come to an end. He Demanded that the Western powers join in signing a peace treaty recognising the existence of TWO Germany's
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Berlin A City Divided
An Ultimatum • 10 November 1958 • Khrushchev, in a public speech, insistedthat the military occupation of Berlin should come to an end. • He Demanded that the Western powers join in signing a peace treaty recognising the existence of TWO Germany's • Berlin should become a “free city”, that is from the presence of the West.
Basically it was • Agree to withdraw or be kicked out.
West Response • Ultimatum landed like a bombshell • A no surrender line had been drawn at Berlin. • 10 years earlier was the Berlin airlift • Confirmed the West’s determination to hold this advance base against communism. Still evident in 1958 • Prevent a permanent division of Germany into two separate states.
Why was Khrushchev acting? • Concerned by a lack of formal German peace settlement 13 years after the end of the war. • West Germany was in the midst of an “economic miracle” • No 1 reason though was a unified , capitalist Germany, armed with nuclear weapons and backed by the US, raised the spectre of an aggressive Germany laying waste to the Soviet Union.
Khrushchev was committed to establishing a communist state in east Germany. • He was a supporter of Walter Ulbricht, Leader of East Germany. • West German’s were heirs to Hitler’s ambitions then East Germany symbolically justified Soviet War scarifies. • Believed Communism would prevail over Capitalism.
Brain Drain • Every year tens of thousands of east Germans fled to capitalist West Germany • 1953 – 300,000 • 1956 – 156,000 • East Germany had constructed a formidable frontier with watchtowers, barb wire, minefields and armed patrols.
Berlin was easy escape route, no border patrols, virtually unrestricted. • The vast majority of refugees were young and skilled. • More than ½ were under 25 • 3 out of 4 were under 40
Why were people escaping? • In Berlin 1960, it was a tale of two cities.
West Berlin • The rubble of war had mostly been cleared. • Kurfursten damm (famous street in west berlin) was full of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants. • Hilton hotel was built in west Berlin.
East Berlin • The destruction of the war was still evident • Buildings stood derelict, next to spaces where others had been destroyed • Drab new apartment blocks • An east Berliner who could afford the luxury of a refrigerator would have to wait a year, washing machines 2 years.
The need for Soviet Intervention • Between 1949 and 1961, 2.8 million Germans crossed to the west. • 1/6 of the population abandoned the East • Caused panic in the East • Humiliating sign of the failure of the East but also a huge labour shortage.
