Impact of the building of the Berlin Wall 1961-63

Question 1

What did the construction of the Berlin Wall cause and avoid?

Answer 1

• Caused worsened relations between the Soviet Union and the US
• Made war over Berlin less likely

Question 2

Which troops remained in Berlin after the Berlin Wall?

Answer 2

Western troops (British, US and French)

Question 3

What problem did the Wall solve and how?

Answer 3

Solved the refugee problem, as East Germans could no longer travel to West Germany

Question 4

What good came out of the construction of the Berlin Wall?

Answer 4

• Number of military alerts in Berlin declined as a result of the construction of the Wall
• Not neccesarily a good solution but avoided war
• Seemed to suggest the Soviets were no longer interested in unifying Berlin under communist rule, as Khrushchev had orginally demanded in Nov. 1958

Question 5

How did the Wall humiliate the East and benefit the West?

Answer 5

Was a propaganda victory for the West, as it suggested that East Germans preferred living in capitalist West Germany and had to be forced to stay in communist East Germany

Question 6

What did the Wall symbolise?

Answer 6

• A notorious barrier between the freedoms enjoyed by West Berliners and those denied to East Berliners
• Meant that the wall became an enduring symbol of freedom
• Highlighted by the fact that over 200 people lost their lives trying to cross the wall

Question 7

What did Khrushchev mistakingly think?

Answer 7

That JFK had shown weakness by allowing the Wall to be built which encouraged him to think about deploying missiles in Cuba

Question 8

Where did Kennedy visit and what did he say?

Answer 8

• Visited West Berlin in 1963
• Claimed “Ich bin ein Berliner”

Question 9

What was significant about JFK’s speech?

Answer 9

• An expression of solidarity with West Berliners - the fact that he chose to visit West Berlin personally and give this speech demonstrated that the United States and NATO were prepared to defend West Berlin from communist attack
• Spoke after the Cuban Missile Crisis had ended and was showing his audience - both German and American - that he was not ‘soft on communism’

Question 10

What did the construction of the Berlin Wall fill?

Answer 10

The last remaining gap in the Iron Curtain and meant that Europe was now completely divided

Question 11

On either side of the Iron Curtain…

Answer 11

• There were two Germanys
• There were two different ideologies (capitalism and capitalism)
• There were two different alliances (NATO and the Warsaw Pact