Berlin Crises
(1948-9, 1958-61)
What caused the war, conflict or
dispute?
What was the style of war, conflict or
dispute?
What were the types of settlements
which concluded the war, conflict,
dispute?
• supply air lift• showed determination
USA
• West German blockade• free food/ food rations >
denied East
Berlin/ USSR
Soviet offense: German Blockade
Results: divided Germany, cont'd 4-
power control, NATO
FRG (Federal Republic of Germany)
GDR (German Democratic Republic)
4-power continued
NATO West Germany in NATO
Warsaw Pact
End of 1949• Germany would not reunite - Soviets
did not recognize Allied nations (visa versa)
• No peacetime policy for USA - Marshall Plan (economically), NATO (militarily)
• No formal peace treaty with Germany - no formalized borders, Poland in danger
• More unified Western nations
• Nuclear arms race
• West Berliners encouraged East Berliners to escape their hardships
• one sixth of Germany moved to west Berlin
• dispute was only restricted to the borders of Germany
• However, there were conferences that took place outside of Germany (Geneva, Paris, US)
• Kennedy wanted to continue and expand work of CIA
• There was the use of spies as espionage continued
• refugees
What is the message of this political cartoon?
" We intend to have a wider choice than humiliation or an all-out nuclear war"
- JFK
This cartoon of 14 July 1948 by EH Shepard for the British magazine Punch shows Stalin watching as storks fly coal and food into Berlin.
This cartoon by the British cartoonist Illingworth appeared in the Daily Mail on 9 September 1948.
WHAT WERE THE TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS WHICH CONCLUDED THE WAR, CONFLICT, DISPUTE?
3.
Measure of Victory
• Victory measured by how willing the other side would make concessions
US & Western Allies USSRBerlin Airlift- 1.5million tons of
suppliesBerlin Wall- stopped 200,000
people leaving each yearReform currency of the three zones to accelerate economic
recoveryBerlin Ultimatum
Major Players
First Berlin Crisis Second Berlin Crisis
Result of Berlin Crisis
Stalin embarrassed Stalin lifts blockade Allied Success
Negotiation deadlocked
Stalin’s permission for
Berlin WallStalemate
I
II
Second Berlin Crisis
Camp David Sept 1959
•Eisenhower invited Khrushchev for talks
•Khrushchev withdrew ultimatum
Paris Summit May 1960
•Soviet missile shot down US U-2 spy plane
•Eisenhower refused to apologize, summit cancelled
Vienna
Summit
June 1961
•First meeting b/w Kennedy & Khrushchev- failure
•No progress in negotiations
Second Berlin Crisis
June- Khrushchev gives permission to
prepare for physical division of
Berlin
Number of refugees increased
to over 20,000 a month– double
the rate of 1950s
Aug 13- complete Berlin wall
Re-imposes 6-month deadline for
West Berlin to become an
international demilitarized zone
Aug 3-5- barbed wire fence erected
West did not react to barbed wires
BERLIN WALL
The United Nations
• “a threat to the peace within the meaning of Chapter VII of the Charter”
• Oct 4- Berlin question debated in Security Council
• Oct 5- resolution was voted 9:2 in favour of raising all restrictions on traffic to Berlin
• Oct 25- vote for resolution- USSR vetoed• Preoccupation with other issues• May 4, 1949- agreement signed to lift blockade
Result of the Crises First Berlin Crisis (1948-1949) Second Berlin Crisis (1958-1961)
Allied Success Stalemate
Stalin The Allies Berlin Wall
Embarrassed Germany became more pro-Western
stopped flow of refugees from East to West
Lifted Berlin Blockade
Sped up formation of FRG/GDR
Consolidated Communist control over East Germany
Formed NATO in April 1949 Threat of immediate war disappeared
The Final Result
Stable
Improved East Germany’s economy
US was against it but didn’t
protest it
No longer hot spot for war