Download SOURCE AA map showing the division of Berlin into sectors

SOURCE A
A map showing the division of Berlin into sectors during the Cold War, with the wall
that surrounded West Berlin after 1961. This wall separated East and West Berlin; and separated
West Berlin from East Germany. [http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-divided-berlin-image18070951 Accessed
2014/07/29]
SOURCE B
Berlin Crisis 1948-49. Planes flying into West Berlin bringing supplies.
[www.thecoldwars.wordpress.comAccessed 2014/07/29]
SOURCE C
The Berlin Wall was upgraded over the years from its original barbed wire fencing.
[www.historycentral.comAccessed 2014/07/29]
SOURCE D
1961 Tension rose as the two sides confronted each other with tanks across
Checkpoint Charlie.
[www.defenceforumindia.comAccessed 2014/07/29]
SOURCE E
A book written by Kempe about the crisis in Berlin in 1961.
[http://worldpittsburgh.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/berlin-19611.jpg]
The main cause of the Berlin Blockade was the Cold War, whichwas just getting started. Stalin was
taking over eastern Europe by salami tactics and Czechoslovakia had just turned Communist (March
1948). On the other side, the USA had just adopted the Truman Doctrine to ‘contain’ the USSR. The
Berlin Blockade was just another event in this ‘Cold War’ between the superpowers.
The second reason for the Berlin Blockade was that the USA and the USSR haddifferent Aims for
what they wanted to do to Germany. The USSR had already disagreed with Britain and the USA at
Potsdam (July 1945) about this. Stalin wanted to destroy Germany, and the USSR had been
stripping East Germany of its wealth and machinery. On the other side, Britain and the USA wanted
to rebuild Germany’s industry to become a wealthy trading partner (so as not to repeat the mistake
of Versailles). This difference in aims was the underlying cause of the Berlin Blockade. The policy
of the USA and the USSR towards Germany was so different that conflict was bound to break out
there sooner or later.
These were the two causes which underlay the conflict in Berlin in 1948. Then there were three
events which actually led to Stalin blocking off the borders.
Firstly, in January 1947, Britain and the USA joined their two zones together. They called the new
zone Bizonia (‘two zones’). The Russians realised that Britain and the USA were beginning to create
a new, strong Germany, and they were angry.
Then, on 31 March 1948, Congress voted for Marshall Aid. Stalin (rightly) saw this as an attempt to
undermine Russian influence in eastern Europe. Immediately, the Russians started stopping and
searching all road and rail traffic into Berlin.
Finally, on 1 June, America and Britain announced that they wanted to create the new country of
West Germany; and on 23 June they introduced a new currency into ‘Bizonia’ and western Berlin.
People in eastern Europe began to change all their money into the new western currency, which
they thought was worth more. The next day the Russians stopped all road and rail traffic into
Berlin.
The Americans claimed that Stalin was trying to force the USA out of Berlin, and that the blockade
was Russian empire-building in eastern Europe. Stalin, however, claimed that – by introducing the
new currency – the USA and Britain had been trying to wreck the east German economy. And he
said that the airlift was ‘simply a propaganda move intended to make the cold war worse.’
SOURCE F
A historian’s explanation of the Berlin Blockade of 1948/9.
[http://www.johndclare.net/EC3.htm Accessed 2014/07/28]
Blockade
noun
1.
The isolating,closingoff,orsurroundingofaplace,aseaport,
harbour,orcity,byhostileshipsortroopstoprevententranceorexit.
2.
Anyobstructionofpassageorprogress
SOURCE G
Definition of ‘blockade’. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blockade?s=t Accessed 2014/07/28]
The Berlin Airlift
When Germany was divided into zones at the end of World War 2, Berlin was divided into four
sectors - one Soviet, one American, one British and one French. Geographically, Berlin was situated
deep inside the Soviet Zone of Germany. In June 1948, following various disagreements between the
West and the Soviet Union, Stalin had all surface links between West Berlin and the western zones of
Germany cut. West Berlin (with a population of about two million) was in effect placed under a siege
which is usually referred to as the Berlin Blockade. The point of the blockade was to try to force the
Western countries out of Berlin. (The immediate trigger was the introduction of the new currency,
the Deutsche Mark, in West Berlin as well as West Germany).Much to the surprise of the Germans,
the West responded by supplying West Berlin by air. It was a huge undertaking and a Western plane
took off or landed every 30-40 seconds, round the clock. In the winter of 1948-49 conditions became
very difficult as all coal for the electricity generating stations had to be flown in. (Please bear in mind
that at the time military transport planes were much smaller than now). The blockade from 24 June
1948 to 30 September 1949, continuing even after the Soviet Union abandoned the blockade in May
1949, to enable a stockpile of three month supplies in case the Soviets attempted another blockade.
SOURCE H
The Berlin blockade 1948/9
[http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_Berlin_Blockade_and_Airlift_of_1948_and_1949 Accessed 2014/07/28]
The Berlin Wall
Construction began on The Berlin Wall early in the morning of Sunday, August 13, 1961. It was a
desperate – and effective - move by the GDR (German Democratic Republic) to stop East Berliners
escaping from the Soviet-controlled East German state into the West of the city, which was then
occupied by the Americans, British and French.
Berlin's unique situation as a city half-controlled by Western forces, in the middle of the Soviet
Occupation Zone of Germany, made it a focal point for tensions between the Allies and the Soviets
and a place where conflicting ideologies were enforced side-by-side. However, as more and more
people in the Soviet-controlled East grew disillusioned with communism and the increasingly
oppressive economic and political conditions, an increasing number began defecting to the West. By
1961 an estimated 1,500 people a day were fleeing to the West, damaging both the credibility and -
more importantly - the workforce of the GDR. Soon rumours began to spread about a wall, and it
wasn’t long after that those rumours were made a concrete reality.
In a masterfully-planned operation, spanning just 24 hours, the streets of Berlin were torn up,
barricades of paving stones were erected, tanks were gathered at crucial places and subways and
local railway services were interrupted, so that within a day the West of Berlin was completely
sealed off from the East. As of that same day inhabitants of East Berlin and the GDR were no longer
allowed to enter the West of the city (including the 60,000 who had been commuters). In response
to international criticism that such drastic measures inevitably drew, the GDR claimed that the
barricade had been raised as an ‘anti-fascist protection wall’, and that they had moved to prevent a
third world war.
The version of the ‘Wall’ that started life in 1961, was in fact not a wall but a 96 miles barbed wire
fence. However, after this incarnation proved too easy to scale, work started in 1962 on a second
fence, parallel to the first but up to 100 yards further in. The area in between the two fences was
demolished to create an empty space, which became widely known as "death strip" as it was here
that many would-be escapers met their doom. The strip was covered with raked gravel, making it
easy to spot footprints, it offered no cover, was mined and booby-trapped with tripwires and, most
importantly, it offered a clear field of fire to the armed guards – who were instructed to shoot on
sight.
Later on even these measures were deemed insufficient and a concrete wall was added in 1965,
which served until 1975 when the infamous ‘Stützwandelement UL 12.11’ was constructed. Known
also as Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall ’75), it was the final and most sophisticated version of the Wall.
It was made from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 m high and 1.5 m wide,
and topped with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult for escapers to scale it. The
Grenzmauer was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, over
300 watchtowers, and thirty bunkers… Just to be on the safe side!
Despite the various security measures enforced, escape attempts were commonplace, especially in
the years immediately following the erection of the wall, when there was still a fighting chance of
making it across alive. Climbing was the obvious way to go and some 5,000 were said to have
reached the other side. However in its thirty year history 100 people were shot dead, most famously
the eighteen year old Peter Fetcher, who, after he was hit in the hip, was left to bleed to death in noman’s land as the world’s media watched on.
As security tightened, more ‘creative’ escape plans became the order of the day. Tunnels and
jumping from bordering buildings were two more successful ways of getting to the West, although
the Wetzel and Strlzyck families eloped in true style - floating to salvation in a hot air balloon which
they had fashioned from hundreds of small pieces of nylon cloth (after which it became almost
impossible to buy cloth in the East). Rivalling them for the coveted prize of brave escapes, is the
citizen who drove up to the checkpoint barrier and, winding down the roof of his convertible at the
last minute, slipped underneath! Needless to say that a lower barrier was subsequently installed.
For those unable or unwilling to abscond from the East, life was bleak; and things only continued to
get worse throughout the 70s and 80s as Communism and the USSR began to collapse. Honecker
and the GDR resolutely stuck to their guns, speaking out in support of their regime; but when
Hungary opened its borders in the summer of 1989, a flood of East Germans made their way West.
Meanwhile student protests in Leipzeig put pressure on the government to lower the borders into
West Berlin.
As the Iron Curtain cracked the fall of the wall looked inevitable. In the evening of November 9th,
1989 Gunter Schabowski, Minister of Propoganda, read out a note at a press conference announcing
that the border would be opened for "private trips abroad”. The news spread like wildfire and the
German people immediately gathered in their thousands by the checkpoints, demanding passage.
There was some confusion as to what the official line was and the border guards, uncertain of what
to do and ill-equipped to deal with the huge and unyielding mob, were forced to let them pass. The
Wall had fallen.
The days that followed saw chaotic celebrations erupt over the country as Germany celebrated the
political fall of the Wall - and in the following days and weeks hundreds of citizens began physically
tearing down the concrete division. These events were the first steps to the reunification of
Germany, which was formally concluded on October 3rd, 1990. Today remnants of the Berlin Wall
can be found at BernauerStrasse and in front of the Neiderkirchnerstrasse, the former Prussian
Parliament and current Berlin Parliament.
SOURCE I
The history of the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1990 when it finally came down.
[http://www.berlin-life.com/berlin/wall Accessed 2014/07/28]
The Berlin Wall: The Partitioning of Berlin
As World War II came to an end in 1945, a pair of Allied peace conferences at Yalta and Potsdam
determined the fate of Germany’s territories. They split the defeated nation into four “allied
occupation zones”: The eastern part of the country went to the Soviet Union, while the western part
went to the United States, Great Britain and (eventually) France.
Did You Know?
On October 22, 1961, a quarrel between an East German border guard and an American official on
his way to the opera in East Berlin very nearly led to what one observer called "a nuclear-age
equivalent of the Wild West Showdown at the O.K. Corral." That day, American and Soviet tanks
faced off at Checkpoint Charlie for 16 hours. Photographs of the confrontation are some of the most
familiar and memorable images of the Cold War.
Even though Berlin was located entirely within the Soviet part of the country (it sat about 100 miles
from the border between the eastern and western occupation zones), the Yalta and Potsdam
agreements split the city into similar sectors. The Soviets took the eastern half, while the other Allies
took the western. This four-way occupation of Berlin began in June 1945.
The Berlin Wall: Blockade and Crisis
The existence of West Berlin, a conspicuously capitalist city deep within communist East Germany,
“stuck like a bone in the Soviet throat,” as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev put it. The Russians began
manoeuvring to drive the United States, Britain and France out of the city for good. In 1948, a Soviet
blockade of West Berlin aimed to starve the western Allies out of the city. Instead of retreating,
however, the United States and its allies supplied their sectors of the city from the air. This effort,
known as the Berlin Airlift, lasted for more than a year and delivered more than 2.3 million tons of
food, fuel and other goods to West Berlin. The Soviets called off the blockade in 1949.
After a decade of relative calm, tensions flared again in 1958. For the next three years, the Soviets–
emboldened by the successful launch of the Sputnik satellite the year before and embarrassed by
the seemingly endless flow of refugees from east to west (nearly 3 million since the end of the
blockade, many of them young skilled workers such as doctors, teachers and engineers)–blustered
and made threats, while the Allies resisted. Summits, conferences and other negotiations came and
went without resolution. Meanwhile, the flood of refugees continued. In June 1961, some 19,000
people left the GDR through Berlin. The following month, 30,000 fled. In the first 11 days of August,
16,000 East Germans crossed the border into West Berlin, and on August 12 some 2,400 followed—
the largest number of defectors ever to leave East Germany in a single day.
The Berlin Wall: Building the Wall
That night, Premier Khrushchev gave the East German government permission to stop the flow of
emigrants by closing its border for good. In just two weeks, the East German army, police force and
volunteer construction workers had completed a makeshift barbed wire and concrete block wall–the
Berlin Wall–that divided one side of the city from the other.
Before the wall was built, Berliners on both sides of the city could move around fairly freely: They
crossed the East-West border to work, to shop, to go to the theater and the movies. Trains and
subway lines carried passengers back and forth. After the wall was built, it became impossible to get
from East to West Berlin except through one of three checkpoints: at Helmstedt (“Checkpoint Alpha”
in American military parlance), at Dreilinden (“Checkpoint Bravo”) and in the center of Berlin at
Friedrichstrasse (“Checkpoint Charlie”). (Eventually, the GDR built 12 checkpoints along the wall.) At
each of the checkpoints, East German soldiers screened diplomats and other officials before they
were allowed to enter or leave. Except under special circumstances, travelers from East and West
Berlin were rarely allowed across the border.
The Berlin Wall: 1961-1989
The construction of the Berlin Wall did stop the flood of refugees from East to West, and it did
defuse the crisis over Berlin. (Though he was not happy about it, President Kennedy conceded that
“a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.”) Over time, East German officials replaced the makeshift
wall with one that was sturdier and more difficult to scale. A 12-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide mass of
reinforced concrete was topped with an enormous pipe that made climbing over nearly impossible.
Behind the wall on the East German side was a so-called “Death Strip”: a gauntlet of soft sand (to
show footprints), floodlights, vicious dogs, trip-wire machine guns and patrolling soldiers with orders
to shoot escapees on sight.
In all, at least 171 people were killed trying to get over, under or around the Berlin Wall. Escape from
East Germany was not impossible, however: From 1961 until the wall came down in 1989, more than
5,000 East Germans (including some 600 border guards) managed to cross the border by jumping
out of windows adjacent to the wall, climbing over the barbed wire, flying in hot air balloons,
crawling through the sewers and driving through unfortified parts of the wall at high speeds.
The Berlin Wall: The Fall of the Wall
On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for
East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in his city’s relations with the West. Starting at
midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country’s borders. East and
West Berliners flocked to the wall, drinking beer and champagne and chanting “Tor auf!” (“Open the
gate!”). At midnight, they flooded through the checkpoints.
More than 2 million people from East Berlin visited West Berlin that weekend to participate in a
celebration that was, one journalist wrote, “the greatest street party in the history of the world.”
People used hammers and picks to knock away chunks of the wall–they became known as
“mauerspechte,” or “wall woodpeckers”—while cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after
section. Soon the wall was gone and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945. “Only today,”
one Berliner spray-painted on a piece of the wall, “is the war really over.”
The reunification of East and West Germany was made official on October 3, 1990, almost one year
after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
SOURCE J
The history of the division of Berlin from 1945 to 1990. [http://www.history.com/topics/cold-
war/berlin-wall Accessed 2014/07/28]
SOURCE K The Berlin Airlift 1948/49. The map shows the Allied occupation zones of Germany, with
the airlift into West Berlin which is inside the Soviet zone. [http://www.mediagallery.usatoday.com Accessed
2014/07/29]
SOURCE L
Berlin at the end of World War 11.[www.abovetopsecret.comAccessed 2014/07/29]
SOURCE M
Berlin Wall under construction 1961. Barbed wire is being replaced by brick.
[www.mediagallery.usatoday.comAccessed 2014/07/29]
What were the Results?
1. Cold War got worse
It almost started an all-out war.
2. East and West Germany
Germany split up. In May 1949, America, Britain and France united their zones
into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In October 1949, Stalin
set up the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) .
3. NATO and the Warsaw Pact
In 1949, the western Allies set up NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) as
a defensive alliance against Russia. NATO countries surrounded Russia; in 1955,
the Soviet Union set up the Warsaw Pact – an alliance of Communist states.
4. Arms Race
After Berlin, the USA and the USSR realised that they were in a competition for
world domination. They began to build up their armies and weapons.
SOURCE N
The results of the Berlin blockade of 1948/9.
[http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war9.htm Accessed 2014/07/29]
Source O
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, holding a shotgun in his hands. [http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war9.htm Accessed
2014/07/29]
SOURCE P
The division of Germany in 1945 [http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war4.htmAccessed 2014/07/29]
The Cold War was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in the Western
Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others such as Japan ) and powers in the Eastern Bloc
(the Soviet Union and its allies in Warsaw Pact). China was originally close to the USSR but became
distanced over the question of fidelity to Marxism.
Historians have not fully agreed on the dates, but 1946-1991 is common. It was "cold" because there
was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars in
Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan that the two sides supported. TheCold War split the temporary
wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with
profound economic and political differences over communism and capitalism, totalitarianism and
liberal democracy.
The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat but they each armed heavily
in preparation of an all-out nuclear World War III. Each side had a nuclear deterrent that deterred an
attack by the other side, on the basis that such an attack would lead to total destruction of the attacker:
the doctrine of mutually assured destruction or MAD. Aside from the development of the two sides'
nuclear arsenals, and deployment of conventional military forces, the struggle for dominance was
expressed via proxy wars around the globe, psychological warfare, propaganda and espionage, and
technological competitions such as the Space Race.
SOURCE Q
The Cold War defined.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War Accessed 2014/07/30]