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